Automate Excel Tasks: Loop Through Folder and Protect Workbooks With VBA

Discover how to automate your Excel tasks with VBA by applying macros to all `.xlsx` files in a folder. Learn the solution to loop through files, delete specific sheets, and protect the workbook.
---
This video is based on the question https://stackoverflow.com/q/75250326/ asked by the user 'ojmayo' ( https://stackoverflow.com/u/20697980/ ) and on the answer https://stackoverflow.com/a/75250495/ provided by the user 'GWD' ( https://stackoverflow.com/u/12287457/ ) at 'Stack Overflow' website. Thanks to these great users and Stackexchange community for their contributions.

Visit these links for original content and any more details, such as alternate solutions, latest updates/developments on topic, comments, revision history etc. For example, the original title of the Question was: Loop through folder and applying code to all xlsx

Also, Content (except music) licensed under CC BY-SA https://meta.stackexchange.com/help/licensing
The original Question post is licensed under the 'CC BY-SA 4.0' ( https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/ ) license, and the original Answer post is licensed under the 'CC BY-SA 4.0' ( https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/ ) license.

If anything seems off to you, please feel free to write me at vlogize [AT] gmail [DOT] com.
---
Automate Excel Tasks: Loop Through Folder and Protect Workbooks with VBA

Are you looking to streamline your workflow by automating repetitive tasks in Excel? One common requirement is processing multiple .xlsx files in a folder to carry out operations like deleting specific sheets and protecting the workbook. If you've ever struggled with applying macros to several files at once, you're not alone. In this blog, we'll address that challenge and provide a detailed solution using VBA (Visual Basic for Applications).

Understanding the Problem

The original issue arises when trying to apply a VBA macro to all Excel files in a folder. Users commonly want to delete certain sheets (like "Summary Copying" and "Sum Totals") and protect their workbooks without opening each file manually. When the code runs, it fails to correctly access and modify the files as intended.

The Solution

To solve this problem, we need to create a VBA subroutine that effectively loops through the specified folder, opens each Excel workbook, deletes the identified sheets, and then protects the workbook before saving the changes.

Here's a breakdown of the solution and how to implement it:

Step 1: Set Up Your VBA Environment

Open Excel: Launch Excel and access the Developer tab. If it's not visible, you can enable it via Excel Options.

Open the VBA Editor: Press Alt + F11 to open the VBA editor.

Insert a Module: Right-click on any of the items in the Project Explorer, go to Insert, and then choose Module. This is where you will write your code.

Step 2: Write the VBA Code

Here's the complete code you will use:

[[See Video to Reveal this Text or Code Snippet]]

Step 3: Code Explanation

File Path: The Dir function is used to point to the folder where your .xlsx files are stored (C:\Users\user\Documents\Destroy\), searching for files with the extension .xlsx.

Opening Workbooks: Each workbook is opened in a loop for processing.

Deleting Worksheets: The code checks each worksheet's name, and if it matches either "Summary Copying" or "Sum Totals", it deletes it without alerting the user.

Protecting Workbooks: After modifying the workbook, ProtectBookStructure is invoked with a password to secure it.

Saving Changes: Finally, it closes each workbook while ensuring all changes are saved.

Additional Notes

Ensure that the ProtectBookStructure function exists in your VBA project. This function should contain the logic for protecting the workbook structure appropriately.

If some workbooks might already be password protected, this code may not work on those files, so be cautious.

Conclusion

By leveraging VBA to loop through a folder of Excel files, this automated approach enables you to efficiently delete unwanted sheets and protect your workbooks. Not only does this save time, but it also minimizes the potential for errors in manually modifying each document. With these steps, you can easily manage your Excel files and maintain a streamlined workflow. Happy coding!

Видео Automate Excel Tasks: Loop Through Folder and Protect Workbooks With VBA канала vlogize