XL: Macros to Sort Tabs in the Active Workbook

ID: Q105069

The information in this article applies to:

Microsoft Excel for Windows, versions 5.0, 5.0c
Microsoft Excel for Windows NT, version 5.0
Microsoft Excel for Windows 95, versions 7.0, 7.0a
Microsoft Excel 97 for Windows
Microsoft Excel for the Macintosh, versions 5.0, 5.0a
Microsoft Excel 98 Macintosh Edition

SUMMARY

Although there is no built-in tool to alphanumerically sort sheets, charts, modules, Microsoft Excel 4.0 macro sheets, and dialog sheets in a workbook, you can do this with a macro.

NOTE: In Microsoft Excel 97 and Microsoft Excel 98, you cannot sort modules, since they are displayed in the Visual Basic Editor.

MORE INFORMATION

Microsoft provides programming examples for illustration only, without warranty either expressed or implied, including, but not limited to, the implied warranties of merchantability and/or fitness for a particular purpose. This article assumes that you are familiar with the programming language being demonstrated and the tools used to create and debug procedures. Microsoft support professionals can help explain the functionality of a particular procedure, but they will not modify these examples to provide added functionality or construct procedures to meet your specific needs. If you have limited programming experience, you may want to contact the Microsoft fee-based consulting line at (800) 936-5200. For more information about the support options available from Microsoft, please see the following page on the World Wide Web:

   http://www.microsoft.com/support/supportnet/refguide/

Sample Visual Basic Procedure

The following macro sorts all of the tabs in the active workbook in ascending order.

   Sub Sort_Active_Book()
       Dim i As Integer, j As Integer
       For i = 1 To Sheets.Count
           For j = 1 To Sheets.Count - 1
               If UCase$(Sheets(j).Name) > UCase$(Sheets(j + 1).Name) Then
                   Sheets(j).Move After:=Sheets(j + 1)
               End If
           Next j
       Next i
   End Sub

NOTE: If you want to sort the tabs in descending order instead of ascending order, change the greater than sign (>) to a less than sign (<) in the following line:

   If UCase$(Sheets(j).Name) > UCase$(Sheets(j + 1).Name) Then

so that it resembles this line:

   If UCase$(Sheets(j).Name) < UCase$(Sheets(j + 1).Name) Then

To use the macro, follow these steps:

1. Start Microsoft Excel and create a new workbook.

2. Using Microsoft Excel 97 or Microsoft Excel 98:

   - Press ALT+F11 to start Visual Basic Editor.
   - Click Module on the Insert menu.
   - Type the macro in the code window of the module.
   - When you're done, click "Close and Return to Microsoft Excel" on
     the File menu.

   Using Microsoft Excel 5.0 or 7.0:

   - Point to Macros on the Insert menu, and click Module.
   - Type the macro on the module sheet.

3. Open the workbook for which you want to sort the sheet tabs.

4. On the Tools menu, point to Macros and then click Macro (version

   97 or version 98) or click Macro on the Tools menu (versions 5.0 or
   7.0).

5. In the Macros list, click the Sort_Active_Book macro and click Run.

The tabs of the workbook will be sorted.

Additional query words: 5.00 5.00c 7.00 8.00 XL98 XL97 XL7 XL5 worksheet tab how to

Keywords          : kbprg kbdta kbdtacode PgmHowto KbVBA 
Version           : WINDOWS:5.0,5.0c,7.0,97; MACINTOSH:5.0,98
Platform          : MACINTOSH WINDOWS
Issue type        : kbhowto

Last Reviewed: May 17, 1999