Excel Macro Troubleshooting Tips

Troubleshoot a simple Excel macro, if an error message appears. Use the Debug button to find and fix a small problem in the code. How to fix the problem in the F8 key stops working while stepping through a macro. What to do if the Project Explorer list is missing

Error Message Debug Button

F8 Key Stops Working

Project Explorer Folders Missing

Get Sample File

Error Message Debug Button

Occasionally, when you try to run a macro, an error message will appear, such as the "Run-Time Error '9': Subscript Out of Range" error shown below.

On this error message, there are 3 buttons available -- End, Debug and Help.

To stop the macro, click the End button.
To get information about the error, click Help. In this case, you would end up on page on the Microsoft website, with a list of possible causes and solutions for the Subscript Out of Range error.
To go to the VBE and try to solve the problem, click the Debug button.

Debug the Macro

In this example, a macro was recorded, to go to a sheet named "Main", then select cell C3 on that sheet. When the macro is run, the above error message appears.

Here is the VBA code, for the GoToMainSheet macro:

Sub GoToMainSheet()
' GoToMainSheet Macro
    Sheets("Main").Select
    Range("C3").Select
End Sub

We'll use the Debug button, to troubleshoot the problem:

In the error message, click the Debug button
The VBE opens, showing the GoToMain Sheet macro, and a line of code is highlighted in yellow, with a yellow arrow n the margin at the left.
Excel showed the error message, because it can't complete the highlighted line of code.
Look in the Project Explorer window, and check the list of sheets for the active workbook.
There are 3 sheets, named "Intro", "Sheet2" and "Sheet3" -- there isn't a sheet named "Main"

We'll stop the debugger, and fix the code.

On the VBE Toolbar, click the Reset button

The code stops running, and the yellow highlighting disappears.

Fix the Code

Next, you'll edit the code, to change the sheet name.

Solution 1: Not Recommended

In the line of code, you could replace "Main" with "Intro", which is the current name of the first sheet in the workbook.
However, with that solution, the code could show an error again, if anyone changes the sheet name in the future.

Sheets("Intro").Select

This is not the best solution

Solution 2: Recommended

Instead of using the name from the Sheet tab, we'll use the sheet's Code Name. It is much less likely to be changed, by anyone other than the programmer..
In the Project Explorer, you can see the sheet's Code Name, followed by the name that appears on the sheet tab.
The first sheet's Code Name is "Sheet1", so change the code to use that name.

Sheet1.Select

This solution is better, because the code will continue to run, even if the name on the sheet tab is changed.

Save the Changes and Test the Macro

On the VBE Toolbar, click the Save button, then close the VBE window, and return to Excel
Run the macro again, and it should work correctly, without showing an error.

F8 Key Stops Working

When debugging Excel VBA code, you can use the F8 key, or the Step Into command, to step through the code, one line at a time.

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However, in Excel 2010, you might encounter the problem where the F8 key (or Step Into) stops working, part way through a procedure. Sometimes, this occurs after the code opens another file. Instead of stopping at the next line of code, it runs to the end of the procedure, or to the next breakpoint.

To fix this problem, you can make the following change in the Registry. As always, make a backup of the Registry, before making any changes, and try this at your own risk!

Thanks to Ross Connell, for sharing this solution.

The registry change affects RPC Debugging, and you can read more about it on the Microsoft website: Debugging COM Clients and Servers Using RPC Debugging

Close Excel
Make a backup of the Registry file, then open the Registry -- there are instructions on the Microsoft website
Go to the applicable Registry Key:
- For 32-bit Office on 64-bit Window go to registry key:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\Microsoft\VBA

For 32-bit Office on 32-bit Window go to registry key:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\ Microsoft\VBA

For 64-bit Office on 64-bit Windows go to registry key:
- HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\ Microsoft\VBA
NOTE: If you can't find those keys, do a search in the Registry Editor (Edit>Search) for "Microsoft\VBA" (Thanks to Peter Tanner for that tip)

Right-click in the window at the right, and click New
Click DWORD (In the screen shot below, the DWORD is for 32-bit Office running on a 64-bit computer)

regist add dword

Name the DWORD as DisableOrpcDebugging7
Right-click the DWORD, and click Modify
Change Value to 1, and click OK.

The completed DWORD will appear in the Registry

Close the Registry, and re-open Excel, where the F8 key should now work correctly, stepping through the code.

Project Explorer Folders Missing

When you work in the Visual Basic Editor, the Project Explorer is usually visible, showing a list of all the open VBA projects.

Click the + or - button at the left of a project name, to open and close the list of objects for that project.

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NOTE: If a project is protected, and hasn't been unlocked during the current session, you will be prompted for a password when you click the + button.

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Show Folder Contents

Then, click the + or - button at the left of a folder name, to open and close the list of objects for that folder.

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Folders Are Missing

Occasionally, the project explorer folders might disappear, and an alphabetical list of the workbook's objects appears below the project name.

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To show the objects grouped into folders again, follow these steps:

Click on the project name, for an unlocked project
In the toolbar at the top of the Project Explorer window, click the Toggle Folders button.

The folders will reappear for all projects, with objects groups into folders.

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Get Sample File

Debug Button: To test the VBA debugging steps, get the Error Message Debug Button sample file. The zipped Excel file is in xlsm format, and contains the macro named GoToMainSheet. To test the macro, be sure to enable macros when you open the workbook