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You can use a button (a Form control) or a command button (an ActiveX control) to run a macro that performs an action when a user clicks it.

• Learn about the button and the command button

• Add a button (Form control)

• Add a command button (ActiveX control)

Learn about the button and the command button

Both a Form control button and an ActiveX control command button are also referred to as a push button. You might use a button or a command button to automate the printing of a worksheet, the filtering of data, or the calculation of numbers. In general, a Form control button and an ActiveX control command button are similar in appearance and function. However, they do have a few differences, which are explained in the following sections.

Button (Form control)

Command button (ActiveX control)

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Add a button (Form control)

1. If the Developer tab is not available, display it.

   Display the Developer tab

   1. Click the Microsoft Office Button , and then click Excel Options.
   2. In the Popular category, under Top options for working with Excel, select the Show Developer tab in the Ribbon check box, and then click OK.

       Note   The Ribbon is a component of the Microsoft Office Fluent user interface.

2. On the Developer tab, in the Controls group, click Insert, and then under Form Controls, click Button .

   

3. Click the worksheet location where you want the upper-left corner of the button to appear.
4. Assign a macro (macro: An action or a set of actions that you can use to automate tasks. Macros are recorded in the Visual Basic for Applications programming language.) to the button.

   For more information about how to create and edit macros, see the Help section, Macros.

5. To specify the control properties of the button, right-click the button, and then click Format Control.

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Add a command button (ActiveX control)

1. If the Developer tab is not available, display it.

   Display the Developer tab

   1. Click the Microsoft Office Button , and then click Excel Options.
   2. In the Popular category, under Top options for working with Excel, select the Show Developer tab in the Ribbon check box, and then click OK.

       Note   The Ribbon is a component of the Microsoft Office Fluent user interface.

2. On the Developer tab, in the Controls group, click Insert, and then under ActiveX Controls, click Command Button .

   

3. Click the worksheet location where you want the upper-left corner of the command button to appear.
4. To edit the ActiveX control, make sure that you are in design mode. On the Developer tab, in the Controls group, turn on Design Mode .
5. To specify the control properties of the command button, on the Developer tab, in the Controls group, click Properties .

    Tip   You can also right-click the command button, and then click Properties.

    Note   Before you click Properties, make sure that the object for which you want to examine or change properties is already selected.

   The Properties box appears. For detailed information about each property, select the property, and then press F1 to display a Visual Basic Help (Visual Basic Help: To get Help for Visual Basic, point to Macro on the Tools menu, and then click Visual Basic Editor. On the Help menu, click Microsoft Visual Basic Help.) topic. You can also type the property name in the Visual Basic Help Search box. The following table summarizes the properties that are available.

   If you want to specify	Use this property
   General:
   Whether the control is loaded when the workbook is opened. (Ignored for ActiveX controls.)	AutoLoad (Excel)
   Whether the control can receive focus and respond to user-generated events.	Enabled (Form)
   Whether the control can be edited.	Locked (Form)
   The name of the control.	Name (Form)
   The way the control is attached to the cells below it (free floating, move but do not size, or move and size).	Placement (Excel)
   Whether the control can be printed.	PrintObject (Excel)
   Whether the control is visible or hidden.	Visible (Form)
   Text:
   Font attributes (bold, italic, size, strikethrough, underline, and weight).	Bold, Italic, Size, StrikeThrough, Underline, Weight (Form)
   Descriptive text on the control that identifies or describes it.	Caption (Form)
   Whether the contents of the control automatically wrap at the end of a line.	WordWrap (Form)
   Size and Position:
   Whether the size of the control automatically adjusts to display all the contents.	AutoSize (Form)
   The height or width in points.	Height, Width (Form)
   The distance between the control and the left or top edge of the worksheet.	Left, Top (Form)
   Formatting:
   The background color.	BackColor (Form)
   The background style (transparent or opaque).	BackStyle (Form)
   The foreground color.	ForeColor (Form)
   Whether the control has a shadow.	Shadow (Excel)
   Image:
   The bitmap to display in the control.	Picture (Form)
   The location of the picture relative to its caption (left, top, right, and so on).	PicturePosition (Form)
   Keyboard and Mouse:
   The shortcut key for the control.	Accelerator (Form)
   A custom mouse icon.	MouseIcon (Form)
   The type of pointer that is displayed when the user positions the mouse over a particular object (standard, arrow, I-beam, and so on).	MousePointer (Form)
   Whether the control takes the focus when clicked.	TakeFocusOnClick (Form)

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