Excel VBA: Insert Formula with Relative Reference (3 Ways)

In this article, we’ll discuss how to use Excel VBA to insert a formula with relative cell references in a single cell or a range of cells.

Excel VBA to Insert Formula with Relative Reference (Quick View)

Sub Insert_Formula_in_Single_Cell()
Set Cell = Range("I5")
Formula = "=(E5-D5)/D5"
Cell.Formula = Formula
End Sub

Using VBA to Insert a Formula with Relative Cell Reference: 3 Possible Ways

Here we have a dataset with the Names of some Products and their Sales in some given years for a company called Mars Group.

We want to calculate the Sales Growth percentage for the year 2016-17 in column I.

The formula for Sales Growth is:

For example, for the first product Desktop, the formula in cell I5 will be:

For the second product Laptop, it’ll be:

And so on.

Our objective is to insert these formulas with relative cell references using VBA.

Example 1 – Inserting into a Single Cell

For example, let’s insert the formula (E5-D5)/D5 into cell I5.

Step 1 – Declaring the Destination Cell

We declare the destination cell into which the formula will be entered. Here it’s I5.

Set Cell = Range("I5")

Step 2 – Allocating the Formula

Now we allocate the specified formula, (E5-D5)/D5.

Formula = "=(E5-D5)/D5"

Step 3 – Inserting the Formula into the Cell

Finally, we’ll insert the formula into the cell.

Cell.Formula = Formula

The complete VBA code is:

VBA Code:

Sub Insert_Formula_in_Single_Cell()
Set Cell = Range("I5")
Formula = "=(E5-D5)/D5"
Cell.Formula = Formula
End Sub

Output:

Run this code. It’ll enter the formula (E5-D5)/D5 into cell I5. The output of the formula is 26%.

Example 2 – Inserting into a Single Column

Step 1 – Declaring the Range of the Destination Column

We declare the range of the destination column, I5:I4.

Set Rng = Range("I5:I14")

Step 2 – Allocating the Formula and Inserting It into the First Cell

Formula = "=(E5-D5)/D5"
Rng.Cells(1, 1).Formula = Formula

Step 3 – Copying the Formula

We copy the formula from the first cell.

Rng.Cells(1, 1).Copy

Step 4 – Pasting It to the Rest of the Cells with a For-Loop

Now we iterate through a For loop to paste the formula to the rest of the cells in the column using the xlPasteFormulas property of VBA.

For i = 2 To Rng.Rows.Count
    Rng.Cells(i, 1).PasteSpecial Paste:=xlPasteFormulas
Next i

Step 5 (Optional) – Turning Off CutCopyMode

You can skip this step if you want.

Application.CutCopyMode = False

The complete VBA code is:

VBA Code:

Sub Insert_Formula_in_Single_Column()
Set Rng = Range("I5:I14")
Formula = "=(E5-D5)/D5"
Rng.Cells(1, 1).Formula = Formula
Rng.Cells(1, 1).Copy
For i = 2 To Rng.Rows.Count
    Rng.Cells(i, 1).PasteSpecial Paste:=xlPasteFormulas
Next i
Application.CutCopyMode = False
End Sub

Output:

Run this code. It’ll enter the Sales Growth formula into each cell of column I5:I14 with incremental cell references.

For example, cell I5 will get (E5-D5)/D5.

Cell I6 will get (E6-D6)/D6.

And so on.

Example 3 – Inserting into Multiple Columns

Let’s enter the formulas for the Sales Growth percentages for the years 2016-2017, 2017-2018, and 2018-2019 into the range I5:K14 of the worksheet.

Step 1 – Declaring the Destination Range

Same as the earlier two methods, we declare the destination range, I5:K14, first.

Set Rng = Range("I5:K14")

Step 2 – Allocating the Formula, Inserting It into First Cell, Copying It, and Pasting It into First Column

These lines are pretty similar to method 2.

Formula = "=(E5-D5)/D5"
Rng.Cells(1, 1).Formula = Formula
Rng.Cells(1, 1).Copy
For i = 2 To Rng.Rows.Count
    Rng.Cells(i, 1).PasteSpecial Paste:=xlPasteFormulas
Next i

Step 3 – Pasting the Formula to the Rest of the Columns

We iterate through two more For loops to paste the formula in the rest of the column.

For i = 1 To Rng.Rows.Count
    For j = 2 To Rng.Columns.Count
        Rng.Cells(i, j).PasteSpecial Paste:=xlPasteFormulas
    Next j
Next i

Step 4 (Optional) – Turning Off the CutCopyMode

Finally, we turn off the CutCopyMode of VBA. Again, you can skip this step if you want.

Application.CutCopyMode = False

The complete VBA code is:

VBA Code:

Sub Insert_Formula_in_Multiple_Columns()
Set Rng = Range("I5:K14")
Formula = "=(E5-D5)/D5"
Rng.Cells(1, 1).Formula = Formula
Rng.Cells(1, 1).Copy
For i = 2 To Rng.Rows.Count
    Rng.Cells(i, 1).PasteSpecial Paste:=xlPasteFormulas
Next i

For i = 1 To Rng.Rows.Count
    For j = 2 To Rng.Columns.Count
        Rng.Cells(i, j).PasteSpecial Paste:=xlPasteFormulas
    Next j
Next i

Application.CutCopyMode = False

End Sub

Output:

Run this code, and it’ll insert the Sales Growth formula in each cell of the range I5:K14, with incremental cell references.

For example, cell I5 will get (E5-D5)/D5.

Cell J5 will get (F5-E5)/E5.

On the next row, cell I6 will get (E6-D6)/D6.

Cell J6 will get (F6-E6)/E6.

And so on.

Things to Remember

In this article, we’ve used the xlPasteFormulas property, which is one of 12 properties of the PasteSpecial method of VBA.

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