Overview
Macros allow you to automate repetitive Excel tasks without writing code by hand. In this practical session, David Ringstrom, CPA and author of Excel for Dummies, demonstrates how to record, edit, manage, and safely use Excel macros to streamline everyday work. You’ll learn how the macro recorder works, when to use relative references, how to store macros in the Personal Macro Workbook, and how to automate multi-step cleanup tasks such as formatting and preparing exported reports. The session also covers macro security, saving macro-enabled files, and creating one-click shortcuts for running macros efficiently.
David has more than 30 years of experience as a spreadsheet and accounting software consultant and speaker. He has presented over 2,500 live webinars and is the author or co-author of ten books, including “Microsoft 365 Excel All-in-One for Dummies”, “Microsoft 365 Excel for Dummies”, “Exploring Microsoft Excel’s Hidden Treasures”, and “QuickBooks Online for Dummies”.
In his webinars, David demonstrates every technique twice: first on a PowerPoint slide with numbered steps and then live in Excel for Microsoft 365 for Windows. He highlights any differences in Excel 2024, 2021, or 2019 during the presentation and in his detailed handouts. Attendees also receive an Excel workbook containing most of the examples he uses, making it easy to follow along and apply the techniques later. David additionally supports Excel for Mac users by answering their follow-up questions via email.
Learning Objectives
· Recall the Excel menu that contains the Record Macro command.
· Identify the Excel setting that instructs Excel not to capture cell addresses but instead positioning of cells.
· Identify the file format required to preserve macros within a workbook.
Areas Covered
· Making sense of the Enable Content prompt related to macros in Excel.
· Finding PERSONAL.XLSB in the XLSTART folder for sharing or backup.
· Preserving macros by saving workbooks in the XLSM format versus the default XLSX format.
· Using Filter to exclude totals and blank rows from exported data.
· Creating and running a simple “Hello, world!” macro.
· Starting the macro recorder and preparing the exported report for automation.
· Capturing steps relative to the active cell to fix placement issues.
· Recognizing limitations and common mistakes when using the macro recorder.
Who Will Benefit
Designed for Excel users who perform repetitive tasks and want to save time by automating workflows with recorded macros.
