Excel expert David Ringstrom, CPA, takes you step-by-step through the process of creating and using macros—one of Excel’s most powerful features. In this comprehensive presentation, he introduces the concept of Excel macros as well as the Visual Basic for Applications (VBA) macro. David also explains step-by-step how to use the Record Macro feature and Excel’s Personal Macro Workbook. After completing this course, you’ll be equipped to use macros immediately. 

David demonstrates every technique at least twice: first, on a PowerPoint slide with numbered steps, and second, in Excel 2016. He draws your attention to any differences in Excel 2013, 2010, or 2007 during the presentation as well as in his detailed handouts. David also provides an Excel workbook that includes most of the examples he uses during the webcast.  

Topics Covered:

  • Making sense of the Enable Content prompt related to macros in Excel.
  • Uncovering macro-related commands within Excel’s user interface.
  • Automating a repetitive task, such as formatting a set of phone numbers consistently.
  • Utilizing the Relative References setting for creating Excel macros to be played back on any cell versus specific cells.
  • Understanding the purpose and nuances of Excel’s Personal Macro Workbook.
  • Recording a contact info macro.
  • Deciphering and managing Excel’s macro security prompts.
  • Converting .XLS workbooks to the up-to-date .XLSX format with just two keystrokes.
  • Understanding how macros are used in Excel, along with the risks and benefits associated with them.
  • Learning the risks and frustrations of using merged cells in Excel worksheets.
  • Learning how to use Excel’s Record Macro feature to create simple macros, without having any knowledge of programming.

Course Series

This course is included in the following series:

4 CoursesExcel Efficiency: Macros

  1. Excel Efficiency: Intro to Macros Part 1
  2. Excel Efficiency: Intro to Macros Part 2
  3. Excel Efficiency: Intro to Macros Part 3
  4. Excel Efficiency: Intro to Macros Part 4
Learning Objectives
  • Discover how to create general-use macros with the Relative Reference setting for Excel’s Macro Recorder.
  • Recognize when to use the Hide and Unhide commands in an Excel Personal Macro Workbook.
  • Identify how to apply Visual Basic for Applications (VBA) macros in Excel.
Last updated/reviewed: August 20, 2023

Included In Certifications

This course is included in the following Certification Programs:

17 CoursesExcel Modeler Certification

  1. Excel Efficiency: VLOOKUP
  2. Excel Efficiency: Logic Functions
  3. Excel Efficiency: Filtering and Formatting Data
  4. Excel Efficiency: Intermediate Pivot Tables
  5. Excel Efficiency: Auditing Spreadsheets
  6. Excel Efficiency: Minimizing Worksheet Errors
  7. Excel Efficiency: Workbook Links
  8. Excel Efficiency: What-If Analysis in Microsoft Excel
  9. Excel Efficiency: Quick and Easy Financial Statements in Excel
  10. Excel Efficiency: Budget Spreadsheets
  11. Hands-On Excel: Waterfall Calculations
  12. Excel Efficiency: Table Feature
  13. Excel Efficiency: Intro to Macros Part 1
  14. Excel Efficiency: Intro to Macros Part 2
  15. Excel Efficiency: Excel Chart Speed Tips
  16. Excel Efficiency: Taming Large Spreadsheets
  17. Excel Efficiency: Internal Controls
171 Reviews (534 ratings)

Reviews

5
Anonymous Author
This course was a fantastic introduction to macros, especially for someone who has not used macros before. The instructor was clear and helpful, and moved at an adequate pace to keep track of each step in creating a macro. On one or two minor occasions, the video program didn't follow the same order as the slides, so I would possibly edit the video to fix these issues. I would also consider increasing the amount of CPA credits from 2 to 2.5 CPE credits, as between listening to the video, pausing to follow the instructor's steps on a separate Excel document, and taking the final exam, the course took more than 2 hours.

4
Member's Profile
I had limited experience w macros prior to taking this course, but had familiarity with some functionality that was covered. what was really helpful was the fairly comprehensive review of macros generally, and a lot of details that I knew nothing about, such as the "personal" workbook that stores macros, use of "relative references", and the errors avoided by using shortcut keys rather than the mouse when building a macro.

4
Anonymous Author
Great information. Would be nice if the instructor talked a little about the sample workbook provided - do we need to make separate copies. The one workbook, Sales_by_Customer or something like that just came out of nowhere. I have years of Excel experience and I'm a quick learner, even in a virtual environment, but found myself having to do a lot of backtrack and reviewing in this course.

5
Anonymous Author
David is very good. I will take more of his courses. His way of presentation is very helpful where he will start with specific instruction/steps and then he will demonstrate it. I always thought macro is very complicated but David made it simple. Right after taking this course (in fact while taking this course), I was able to create at least three macros that save me time at work.

5
Anonymous Author
Intro to Macros Part 1 provides a good start to simple macros. I am looking forward to the future macro courses to have more advanced functionality especially how to prompt for a file location. Just learning about Center Across Selection versus Merge was helpful to avoid some problems with spreadsheets. David is a good instructor.

5
Anonymous Author
Helpful bite-sized course that focuses on simple Macros for an appropriate introductory course. General familiarity with MS Excel is super useful to make this more fruitful. Good reminder to use broader keystroke commands during this course. Focus on the Learn Function keeps this course from getting too complicated.

4
Anonymous Author
I did not do continuous play but the sections seemed to cut off when doing the individual plays - it was confusing at first because I thought the subject of information was complete when the instructor had not yet gone through the example. Overall though the instructor was very clear and presented at a good pace.

4
Member's Profile
I liked the visual that showed all the steps before we went through it together. Very helpful for someone who has never used macros. I would have liked to move through the demos a little faster. In a couple instances I found myself finishing the demo before the webcast so I would fast forward.

5
Anonymous Author
Great beginner course into macros. I had limited experience in macros and did not bother to learn their usage because they seemed complicated. However, this course outlines their functionality and limitations in a seamless approach. Will definitely be taking David's other macro courses.

5
Member's Profile
Another Excellent course.. I now know how to created and use macros and can apply this knowledge to my actual job, which is fantastic. So.. not only do I earn the CPE credits I need to renew my CPA license I have enhanced my skills in Excel greatly

5
Member's Profile
David Ringstrom's courses are very thorough and this one is no exception. He gives many examples and explains each one as if it's the first one so the repetition sticks. The examples he provides are ones that most people will find useful.

5
Member's Profile
I enjoy David's courses. They are interesting, thorough and have a great work flow. I like how he outlines what he is about to do through explaining the relevant issues and then demonstrates. I think that reinforces the learning.

5
Member's Profile
Excellent presentation informative and easy to follow instructions, i am impressed the way Mr.Ringstorm explained the the topic he made it very simple and clear. definitely going to take more courses with hum in the future Thanks

4
Member's Profile
Easy to follow course. I would prefer that he skip the powerpoint parts and jump straight into the macros (it doubles the length in most cases). It is informative, but it does not get into any VBA. I assume that is in future parts.

5
Anonymous Author
Very useful introduction to macros for a beginner! I did not have experience in dealing with them other than running them, but now I feel confident I have a better understanding of the process of creating a macro after this lesson.

4
Member's Profile
I learned a lot about macros in this session. David explained the topic and demonstrated the steps very well and I look forward to extending my knowledge on the topic. I also would not mind doing another class with David.

5
Anonymous Author
Best class I have found covering this topic yet. Finally not just informative, but walks through process in detail and provided helpful examples to make daily tasks way easier. Centering across will save me so much hassle.

5
Anonymous Author
Great course. I will be taking the remaining Macro courses provided by David. His pacing is excellent and his visual guides are thoughtful and thorough. I already have uses for implementing macros into my responsibilities.

5
Anonymous Author
My favorite Excel instructor. Shows the steps prior to taking them, makes it easy to follow, pace is easy to follow. I have already used the macro recorder but this course showed me many things I did not know.

5
Member's Profile
Have not done much work with Macros, thought it too technical a subject, but this was an excellent beginning course and provided some very practical examples on how powerful and simple the Macro can be.

5
Member's Profile
Good teaching to build the foundation, macros are tricky to first time users and this helped me understand alot of the little mistakes I did not know before. Looking forward to the next 2 macro lessons!

5
Member's Profile
Easy to follow instruction. Creating onscreen example of how everything worked was most helpful. I am a visual person. Check the first section - begins over again instead of covering the last slide.

5
Member's Profile
Great intro to creating macros in Excel. Focuses on the Macro Recorder feature, which is an easy way to begin learning the macro process. Looking forward to taking more in depth courses on this topic!

4
Member's Profile
Interesting course, and the videos are well done. I would suggest reviewing the order you have your clips listed. It seems like some are our of order and a couple of the clips end at odd places.

3
Anonymous Author
Very basic plus this instructor is very repetitive, but oddly the exam had more excel based questions not really any around creating a macro which is what this course was suppose to be teaching.

5
Anonymous Author
Great introduction to Macros. Covered the very basics and gave a few examples of macros that could be very helpful. Also pointed out some of the pitfalls to look out for when using macros.

5
Anonymous Author
Macros are something I seem always forget once I have set up what I need. I appreciated the different examples of types of Macros, which was aslo a refresher on those features in general.

5
Member's Profile
Very helpful, I liked that the topic was overviewed by the speaker with pictures and numbered steps and then demonstrated. Easy to follow along with the instructor and apply hands on.

5
Member's Profile
I wish I had have taken this course a long time ago. It would have saved me much time! The presenter was very knowledgeable and engaging. It is well worth the time to take this course.

4
Anonymous Author
I already knew how to use the macro recorder, but this course helped fill in some gaps in my knowledge. It also helped me get a broader view and added some features to my tool kit.

4
Anonymous Author
A very solid course for getting both a basic understanding of Excel Macros, as well as the ability to walkaway with a clear understanding of how they can be applied in your work.

5
Anonymous Author
This course is a great introduction for Macro novices like myself. Notes from this course will serve as valuable reference material as I move on to more Macro classes.

5
Member's Profile
instructor makes too many typing errors which can be distracting. Also he repeated some steps over and over...especially about the icon for the recorder at the bottom.

5
Member's Profile
Great course for someone who has never used macros before - very introductory but that's what I needed. Goes no further than explaining use of the record button.

5
Anonymous Author
I like that the course was clear and concise. It was also nice that there was preview of the tasks that he was going to do before actually executing the example.

5
Member's Profile
Great lesson. It gives insight into the basics of MACROs in Excel. Definitely worth recommending for those looking for automating some repetitive tasks in Excel.

5
Anonymous Author
Course is great to provide a starting point. There are very good examples and demonstrations on how Macros work and how it can be set up. Worth the 2 hours

5
Anonymous Author
Instructions were clear and uncomplicated. i liked that the instructor first told us what steps we were going to take and then demonstrated those steps.

5
Member's Profile
Great intro to macros. This course explained what a macro is, and a couple different ways to record them as well as examples of when they are useful.

5
Member's Profile
Lots of really good information on creating the macros and creating shortcuts. The phone number clean-up is spot on for what I need, great example.

5
Anonymous Author
Informative course on how to create and use Macros. I like how David numbers the steps while explaining the process then shows the steps in action.

5
Anonymous Author
Macros are great! These make my job so much easier. I did not know about assigning icons and using Alt+ number to quickly run my Macro. Nice!

5
Member's Profile
In addition to macro recorder basics, I learned a couple of excel features! I appreciated the thorough explanations, common issues, and risks.

5
Member's Profile
Another great Excel class that will be very useful and great reference material. Covered how to create Macros and provided good practice.

5
Anonymous Author
A great introduction to macros. David also provided many other tips throughout this course. I look forward to putting these into action.

5
Member's Profile
Great process with screenshots explaining key steps then actually performing. Appreciate not feeling like he's just reading from text.

5
Anonymous Author
The course was very interesting and I learn more about macros. Thank I recommend you take the course if you work with high levels of data

5
Anonymous Author
Great pace and good examples! The instructor was very easy to follow and good at explaining step by step how to create and use macros.

5
Member's Profile
И как всегда, великолепный курс от Дэвида! Все актуально и все интересно!

5
Anonymous Author
Approach used with slides first before showing in Excel is very effective. Slides will also be a useful reference for the future.

4
Member's Profile
There was some repetition, but overall a useful course. I can think of several tasks I could automate using a macro in Excel.

5
Member's Profile
Great comprehensive instruction to the macro recorder function. Love Davids courses but wish they could be condensed slightly.

5
Anonymous Author
This was a great intro to macros. I liked flow of the information, and I have already used the record macro in my daily work.

5
Anonymous Author
This is the first time I have ever used a macro. I found the course easy to understand and moved at just the right pace.

5
Anonymous Author
Good course on Macro 1. Slides were sometimes cutting off or ending abruptly but that did not take away from the experience.

5
Anonymous Author
Great introduction to what macros are about and how to use the basic functions. Will enroll in Parts II through IV as well.

5
Member's Profile
As a beginner, it was very basic and taught in a simple fashion just to grasp the concept of a macro...not over my head!!

5
Anonymous Author
I liked the fact David told us what he was going to do and then showed us. This helped focus and reinforce the learning.

5
Member's Profile
The visual step by step examples very helpful. Great class to learn basics and how to avoid errors when creating macros.

5
Anonymous Author
Very thorough explanation on how to begin using macros! Looking forward to completing additional courses in the series.

5
Anonymous Author
Great introduction to macros. Mr. Ringstrom provides several great examples where macros can provide work efficiencies.

Anonymous Author
Good course, but it would have been so much better to see the actual Excel work rather than just looking at the slides.

5
Member's Profile
A very good outline of the steps to create and manage macros. It opens the door to some pretty powerful stuff in Excel!

5
Anonymous Author
Great course. Ringstrom is a great instructor. Very good illustrations along with actual walkthroughs is very helpful

4
Anonymous Author
this course provided a solid overview of the use of macros in excel. It further provided good examples and walkthroughs

5
Member's Profile
Very informative class on intro to creating macros! Since I am relatively unfamiliar with macros, this helped a lot.

5
Member's Profile
Good Refresher course by a knowledgeable instructor for those who don`t deal with it every day or are the novice.

5
Member's Profile
I have enjoyed a couple of your courses and am having fun creating my own macros now. Thank you for the knowledge!

5
Anonymous Author
The training was very easy to follow-up. I learned so much, andknow will start implementing what I learned today.

5
Member's Profile
Course is well designed - the explain, show and work through approach at a sensible pace is perfect for learning.

5
Anonymous Author
Good pace, allows beginners time to follow the examples and learn by doing the steps along with the instructor.

4
Member's Profile
Instead of still screen shots, live action video while the instructor is explaining would be easier to follow.

4
Anonymous Author
It was helpful. I'm glad the slides had all the information from the presentation so I could refer back to it.

4
Anonymous Author
The handouts provide step by step guidance and the demonstration allows viewers to see the macros in action.

4
Anonymous Author
Very simple beginners course for recording basic macros - best for those who have never used macros in Excel

4
Anonymous Author
Good introduction to macros and how to use. Repetitive process helps for those not as familiar with excel.

4
Member's Profile
Nice introdution to Macro creation via the Recorder feature. Look forward to remaining parts of the suite.

5
Member's Profile
Good class - really enjoyed the content. I do not enjoy having to write reviewed for each class though

4
Anonymous Author
This was a challenging course but well worth the effort for the skills learned. The instructor is good.

5
Anonymous Author
Short and Sharp - very simple to understand. Also additional tips of use of status bar was good one.

5
Member's Profile
Loved it. Many thanks. Definitely will be looking for areas to build macros into my workflow now.

4
Anonymous Author
The instructor took time to explain the concept first before showing it practically on the excel.

5
Member's Profile
New to macros, this was a good introduction - will have to practice getting the language correct.

5
Member's Profile
This course was very informative and taught me several macro tricks that I didnt know. Thank you!

5
Member's Profile
Instructor does a great job of explaining how to use macros and other tips and tricks of Excel.

5
Anonymous Author
End of automating center across selection sound is the beginning, not what the screen is showng

5
Member's Profile
Very good teaching technique; explains goal and steps and then shows actual execution of steps.

5
Anonymous Author
This a really great course. I would recommend it to anyone who does the same tasks every month.

4
Member's Profile
Good introduction to Macros and found it useful especially with the quick access to the Macros

4
Anonymous Author
Great introduction to macros. The tips about relative references in macros are very helpful.

4
Member's Profile
Good introduction to macros. Could provide more info on the text of the macros themselves.

5
Member's Profile
Very well introduction to Macros, which is usually daunting for most of the accountants.

5
Anonymous Author
Good introduction to Excel macros for beginners (creating macros using the macro recorder)

4
Anonymous Author
Great to learn how to automate repetitive things we do in every excel sheet we work with.

5
Anonymous Author
Good introductory course at a good beginning pace. I hope to start recording macros soon!

4
Anonymous Author
This was an ok survey of a broad range of Excel topics. Not much on actual macro coding.

5
Member's Profile
The tutor is great at explaining and showing examples. I learned a lot from this class.

4
Member's Profile
Great intro to macros. A little repetitive but that reinforced what was being taught.

5
Anonymous Author
Glad to find out about the Personal Macro Workbook and other aspects of Excel macros.

5
Member's Profile
Great for beginners to macros and VBA. Thank you, David, for producing this content.

5
Member's Profile
Excellent overview of macro basics. Can't wait to start using this functionality.

4
Member's Profile
I like the speaker; he is easy to follow. The screens are very well presented.

3
Member's Profile
Can't say what it would take to make this work for me. Impossible to follow.

5
Member's Profile
Really helpful for introducing Macro which I didn't have any idea before.

5
Anonymous Author
This course is at the right pace to learn the basic steps to add a macro.

5
Member's Profile
I thought I was an advanced excel user but I learned a few new tricks!

5
Member's Profile
Great refresher course on macros. Easy to follow and very applicable.

5
Member's Profile
pdf file really helpful, so many ways to make easier the excel work.

5
Member's Profile
I like to see all the steps and then watch you do the steps on excel.

5
Member's Profile
I'm not very familiar with macros and this course explained it well.

5
Member's Profile
I really like the labelled examples. Great way to clarify the steps.

5
Member's Profile
Great - I am a beginner with Macros so this gets a very good start.

5
Member's Profile
Very thorough review of how to get started with macros in Excel.

3
Anonymous Author
Easy to understand for someone without a lot of macro knowledge.

5
Member's Profile
Easy to follow, David did a great job explaining macro basics.

5
Member's Profile
Learned lots of new info that I can use in my job right away.

5
Member's Profile
I would recommend this course - it's a good starting point.

5
Member's Profile
This was excellent, I had no idea how much Excel could do.

4
Anonymous Author
Like that he talks about the steps and then executes them

3
Member's Profile
I wish the starter course was more in-depth or tangible.

3
Member's Profile
works for what i need to renew my cpa and cia licenses.

5
Anonymous Author
This was a very good course that was presented well.

4
Anonymous Author
Good overview and refresher of the basics of macros.

5
Member's Profile
The instructor was thorough and very easy to follow.

5
Anonymous Author
Great slides and easy to follow. Highly Recommend!

4
Anonymous Author
Good information, things are different on a Mac.

3
Anonymous Author
Instructor is precise and easy to understand.

5
Anonymous Author
well presented, it simplifies learning Macros

5
Anonymous Author
Guidance was clear and it was well presented.

Member's Profile
Nice simple introduction to recording macros.

4
Member's Profile
great examples which I could use immediately

5
Member's Profile
Great course! Very informative and helpful.

4
Member's Profile
Ready to move on to the next part of macros

5
Member's Profile
Great information. It will be very useful.

5
Member's Profile
Really a good start for understanding Macro

5
Member's Profile
easily understandable, clear explanation.

4
Anonymous Author
Very helpful to get started with macros.

5
Member's Profile
Very clear and thorough presentation.

5
Anonymous Author
excellent information. easy to follow.

4
Anonymous Author
good course for basic intro to macros

5
Member's Profile
Very practical and presented well.

4
Member's Profile
He is very clear in his explanations

5
Anonymous Author
Very useful and easy to understand.

4
Anonymous Author
good reminders and tips for macros

5
Member's Profile
Effective introduction to macros

5
Anonymous Author
Great class - learned so much.

5
Member's Profile
Thorough introduction to macros

5
Anonymous Author
Great course. Well presented.

4
Anonymous Author
Thought it was a good course.

4
Member's Profile
Great tips on creating Macros

5
Anonymous Author
The tutor is very informative

4
Anonymous Author
Simple intro. Straighforward.

5
Anonymous Author
Like this training very much

5
Anonymous Author
Very effective presentation.

5
Member's Profile
Content was very thorough.

5
Anonymous Author
Much better than expected!

5
Member's Profile
Very easy to understand

5
Member's Profile
effective presentation

5
Member's Profile
Good intro to macros

5
Anonymous Author
awesome and helpful

5
Member's Profile
Good introduction.

5
Anonymous Author
Clear and concise

4
Member's Profile
Good information

5
Member's Profile
Good Excel tips!

5
Member's Profile
Helpful intro.

5
Member's Profile
Good refresher

5
Anonymous Author
Love the info

Member's Profile
Very helpful

4
Member's Profile
good class

5
Anonymous Author
helpful

4
Member's Profile
nice

Prerequisites
Course Complexity: Foundational

No Advanced Preparation or Prerequisites are needed for this course.

Education Provider Information
Company: Illumeo, Inc., 75 East Santa Clara St., Suite 1215, San Jose, CA 95113
Contact: For more information regarding this course, including complaint and cancellation policies, please contact our offices at (408) 400- 3993 or send an e-mail to .
Course Questions and Answers(2 Questions)
User picture

Hi, I'm working on a macro and trying to add to my macro commands to identify and delete empty text files in Excel 10. Any suggestions? Thanks

Member's Profile

You can adapt the macro that gets discussed in this thread:

http://www.xtremevbtalk.com/excel/323419-delete-empty-folders-zero-kb-files.html

Instructor for this course
Course Syllabus
INTRODUCTION AND OVERVIEW
  Introduction to Excel Efficiency: Intro to Macros Part 1 4:03
  Introduction to the Macro Recorder6:54
  Merge Cells and Center Across Selection7:07
  Other Ways to Run Macros and Automating Center Across Selection8:50
  Manually Running Our New Macro, Creating an Icon for Our Macro and What are the Risk?10:40
  What is the Personal Macro Workbook?; Deleting a Macro5:45
  Merge Cells and Center Across Selection8:13
  Running the Contact Info Macro, Re-recording with Relative References and Playing Back the Re-Recorded Macro8:16
  Planning to Automate a Repetitive Task; Accounting Report Macro: Clean-Up and Filtering7:26
  Accounting Report Macro: Text to Columns and Stop Recording; Creating a Clickable Shape10:43
  Saving Workbooks That Contain Macros, Macro Security Notification Prompt and Recording a Page Footer Macro10:21
  Viewing the Page Footer Macro, Editing the Page Footer Macro and Creating a Phone List Clean-Up Macro7:55
  Phone List Macro: Find and Replace, Text to Columns/ Number Format and Running the Phone List Clean-Up Macro5:33
CONTINUOUS PLAY
  Excel Efficiency: Intro to Macros Part 1 Full Video1:41:47
SUPPORTING MATERIALS
  Slides: Intro to Macros Part 1PDF
  Intro to Macros Part 1 Glossary/IndexPDF
  Workbook: Excel Efficiency Intro to Macros Part 1XLSX
REVIEW & TEST
  REVIEW QUESTIONSquiz
 FINAL EXAMexam