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📘 Excel VBA Course · Lesson 6 of 15 — see all lessons

Loops let a macro repeat work: process every row, every sheet, every file. VBA has four kinds, and choosing the right one makes code simpler.

For…Next: a known number of times

Dim i As Long
For i = 2 To lastRow
    Cells(i, "D").Value = Cells(i, "B").Value * Cells(i, "C").Value
Next i

Add Step to change the increment: For i = 10 To 1 Step -1 counts down (essential when deleting rows).

For Each: every item in a collection

Dim ws As Worksheet
For Each ws In ThisWorkbook.Worksheets
    ws.Range("A1").Font.Bold = True
Next ws

Dim c As Range
For Each c In Range("B2:B100")
    If c.Value < 0 Then c.Font.Color = vbRed
Next c

Use For Each for sheets, workbooks, cells in a range or items in a collection — no counter needed.

Do While / Do Until: until a condition changes

Dim r As Long: r = 2
Do While Cells(r, 1).Value <> ""
    ' process row r
    r = r + 1
Loop

Do Until Cells(r, 1).Value = ""   ' same thing, opposite wording
    r = r + 1
Loop

Step through a Do While loop in the VBA Playground and watch the running total build up.

Leaving a loop early

For Each c In Range("A2:A1000")
    If c.Value = "TOTAL" Then Exit For
Next c

Exit For and Exit Do jump straight past the loop. VBA has no “continue” keyword; use an If around the body instead.

Nested loops

For r = 1 To 12
    For c = 1 To 12
        Cells(r, c).Value = r * c    ' a times table
    Next c
Next r

Making loops fast

• Turn off screen updating: Application.ScreenUpdating = False (lesson 13).
• Read the range into an array, loop over the array, write back once (lesson 11).
• Avoid .Select and .Activate inside loops.

Try it yourself: step by step

1. Run L06_RunningTotal: column I fills with a running total using Do While.
2. Rewrite it as a For r = 2 To lastRow loop — same result.
3. Add If .Cells(r, "C").Value = "North" Then so only North invoices are added.
4. Time it: put t = Timer at the start and MsgBox Timer - t at the end, then add Application.ScreenUpdating = False and compare.
5. Watch loops run line by line in the VBA Playground.