Excel Macro: Copy and Paste a Range

One of the most common action you’ll need to learn is copying and pasting a range of data. It’s very easy to do this manually. In normal data, we use either CTRL + C to copy a selection of data and then use CTRL + V to paste the selected data in the target cell. It’s just as easy to copy and paste via VBA.

Range.Copy method

Range.Copy Method is a very convenient Method to copy and paste Range to destination in one line of code. All the formatting and formulas will be copied and pasted.

Syntax

expression.Copy (Destination)

Destination is optional. If this argument is omitted, Microsoft Excel copies the range to the Clipboard. It returns Variant.

Example 1: Copy Range and paste to another worksheet

The below code copy Sheet1 A1 to Sheet2 B1.

Sheets("Sheet1").Range("A1").Copy (Sheets("Sheet2").Range("B1"))

If there are more than one Range to copy, you just need to specific the first Range of the destination.

Sheets("Sheet1").Range("A1:B1").Copy (Sheets("Sheet2").Range("B1"))

Example 2: copy row

The below code copy from Sheet1 row 1:2 to Sheet2 row 6.

Note that if you copy a row to destination, the destination Range must be a Row or a Range in column A.

Sheets("Sheet1").Rows("1:2").Copy (Sheets("Sheet2").Range("A6"))

OR

Sheets("Sheet1").Rows("1:2").Copy (Sheets("Sheet2").Rows("6:6"))

OR

Sheets("Sheet1").Rows("1:2").Copy (Sheets("Sheet2").Rows("6:7"))

Example 3: copy row and paste to new inserted row

ActiveCell.EntireRow.Copy
ActiveCell.EntireRow.Insert

Example 4: copy column

The below code copy Sheet1 column A:B to Sheet2 column B:C (because it pastes at B1).

Sheets("Sheet1").Columns("A:B").Copy (Sheets("Sheet2").Range("B1"))

Example 5: copy multiple Range to a new Workbook

In case the copied Columns are not adjacent to each other, Set a Range to combine those Columns (or Rows).

The below code copy range1 and then paste to A1 of new workbook.

Sub CopyToNewWorkbook()
     Set range1 = Range("A:B, E:F")
     range1.Copy
     Set newbook = Workbooks.Add
     Range("A1").PasteSpecial
 End Sub

Example 6: destination argument omitted

The following code example inspects the value in column D for each row on Sheet1. If the value in column D equals A, the entire row is copied onto SheetA in the next empty row. If the value equals B, the row is copied onto SheetB.

Sub CopyRows()
    Sheets("Sheet1").Select
    ' Find the last row of data
    FinalRow = Cells(Rows.Count, 1).End(xlUp).Row
    ' Loop through each row
    For i = 2 To FinalRow
        ' Decide if to copy based on column D
        ThisValue = Cells(i, 4).Value
        If ThisValue = "A" Then
            Cells(i, 1).Resize(1, 33).Copy
            Sheets("SheetA").Select
            NextRow = Cells(Rows.Count, 1).End(xlUp).Row + 1
            Cells(NextRow, 1).Select
            ActiveSheet.Paste
            Sheets("Sheet1").Select
        ElseIf ThisValue = "B" Then
            Cells(i, 1).Resize(1, 33).Copy
            Sheets("SheetB").Select
            NextRow = Cells(Rows.Count, 1).End(xlUp).Row + 1
            Cells(NextRow, 1).Select
            ActiveSheet.Paste
            Sheets("Sheet1").Select
        End If
    Next i
End Sub

Range.PasteSpecial method

When working with your spreadsheet, you likely often have to copy formulas and paste them as values. To do this in a macro, you can use the PasteSpecial method.

Syntax

expression.PasteSpecial (Paste, Operation, SkipBlanks, Transpose)

It returns Variant.

Parameters

XlPasteType enumeration

XlPasteSpecialOperation enumeration

Example 1: paste values

Sub PasteSpecialValues()
    Sheets("Sheet1").Range("A1:D5").Copy
    Sheets("Sheet1").Range("A7:D11").PasteSpecial xlPasteValues
    'Remove the animation around the copied cell
    Application.CutCopyMode = False
End Sub

Note: To remove the animation around the copied cell add below code:

Application.CutCopyMode = False

Example 2: paste formats

Sheets("Sheet1").Range("A1:D5").Copy
Sheets("Sheet1").Range("A7:D11").PasteSpecial xlPasteFormats

Example 3: paste formulas

Sheets("Sheet1").Range("A1:D5").Copy
Sheets("Sheet1").Range("A7:D11").PasteSpecial xlPasteFormulas

Example 4: EntireRow copy and paste

Sub EntireRowCopy()
    'Paste the data of row 3 in row 8
    Worksheets("Sheet1").Activate
    Rows(3).EntireRow.Copy
    'PasteSpecial Method without argument copies the format as well.
    Rows(8).EntireRow.PasteSpecial
End Sub

Example 5: Multiply

This example replaces the data in cells A1:C2 on Sheet1 with the multiply of the existing contents and cells D1 on Sheet1.

VBA Code

Sub pasteMultiply()
    Range("D1").Copy  'D1 contains value 3
    Range("A1:C2").PasteSpecial Operation:=xlPasteSpecialOperationMultiply
End Sub

Result

Example 6: Add

This example replaces the data in cells D1:D2 on Sheet1 with the sum of the existing contents and cells A1:A2 on Sheet1.

VBA Code

Sub PasteSpecialOperationAdd()
    With Worksheets("Sheet1")
        .Range("A1:A2").Copy
        .Range("D1:D2").PasteSpecial Operation:=xlPasteSpecialOperationAdd
    End With
End Sub

Result

How to Use This Macro