How to Deselect in Excel VBA (7 Methods)

How to Launch VBA Editor in Excel

To access the Microsoft Visual Basic window, go to the Developer tab and click on Visual Basic.

You can also open it by pressing Alt+F11 on your keyboard.

Go to the Insert tab and click on Module to open the code Module.

We will use the following dataset showing Products and Revenue Earned by various Sales Reps.

Method 1 – Using CutCopy Mode to Deselect

Steps:

• Go to the Microsoft Visual Basic code Module and enter the following code:

Sub SelectCutCopyMode()
Dim SelectedCell As Range
Set SelectedCell = Range("E1")
SelectedCell.Select
Application.CutCopyMode = False
Columns(SelectedCell.Column).Hidden = True
End Sub

Set SelectedCell = Range("E1")
SelectedCell.Select
Application.CutCopyMode = False
Columns(SelectedCell.Column).Hidden = True

• Select a range that you need to deselect.

• Press F5 to run the code.
• Cell E1 will be selected, and column E will be hidden.

Method 2 – Using the .Protect Property

Steps:

• Select any cell or range in your worksheet.

• Open the VBA code Module and enter the following code:

Sub DeselectProtect()
Dim ws As Worksheet
Set ws = ActiveSheet
With ws
.EnableSelection = xlNoSelection
.Protect
End With
End Sub

Set ws = ActiveSheet
With ws
.EnableSelection = xlNoSelection
.Protect
End With

• Run the code, and you will see that no cells have been selected. In the following figure, the active cell is B4, which is not selected.

Method 3 – Select Another Cell to Deselect a Specific Range or Column

Steps:

• Enter the following code in the VBA Module:

Sub SelectAnotherCell()
ThisWorkbook.Sheets("Another").Range("A1").Select
End Sub

ThisWorkbook.Sheets("Another").Range("A1").Select

• B4 to B12 is our selected range. We want to select a cell outside this range to deselect this range.

• Run the VBA code, and the range B4:B12 is no longer selected. Instead, cell A1 is now selected.

Read More: Excel VBA to Select First Visible Cell in Filtered Range

Method 4 – Removing Active Cells from a Selection

Steps:

• Select the active cell, which is the first cell of the range.
• Remove the active cell from the selected range.
• Enter the following VBA code:

Sub DeselectActiveCell()
    Dim rng As Range
    Dim rngSelected As Range 
    For Each rng In Selection.Cells
        If StrComp(rng.Address, ActiveCell.Address, _
        vbBinaryCompare) <> 0 Then
            If rngSelected Is Nothing Then
            Set rngSelected = rng
            Else
            Set rngSelected = Application.Union(rngSelected, rng)
            End If
        End If
    Next rng  
    If Not rngSelected Is Nothing Then
        rngSelected.Select
    End If   
End Sub

For Each rng In Selection.Cells
        If StrComp(rng.Address, ActiveCell.Address, _
        vbBinaryCompare) <> 0 Then
            If rngSelected Is Nothing Then
            Set rngSelected = rng
            Else
            Set rngSelected = Application.Union(rngSelected, rng)
            End If
        End If
    Next rng

The selected range is B4:D12 and the active cell is B4. We want to remove the active cell using the code.

• Run the VBA code, and you will find that the new active cell is C4.

Method 5 – Using Selection.Locked to Deselect

Steps:

• Enter the VBA code below:

Sub DeselectLocked()
    Range("E1").Select
    Selection.Locked = True
End Sub

 Range("E1").Select
    Selection.Locked = True

The range we want to deselect is B4:B12 in this example.

• Press F5 to run the VBA code to deselect the specified range.

Method 6 – Deselecting Specific Cells from a Selection

Steps:

• Enter the following code in the VBA code Module:

Sub DeselectSpecificCell()
    Dim rng As Range
    Dim selectedRange As Range
    Dim deleteRange As Range
    Dim remainingRange As Range
    Dim xTitleId As String    
    xTitleId = "Deselect Cells"    
    Set selectedRange = Application.Selection
    Set selectedRange = Application.InputBox("Select Range :", _
    xTitleId, selectedRange.Address, Type:=8)    
    Set deleteRange = Application.InputBox("Deselect Cells", _
    xTitleId, Type:=8)    
    For Each rng In selectedRange
        If Application.Intersect(rng, deleteRange) Is Nothing Then
            If remainingRange Is Nothing Then
            Set remainingRange = rng
            Else
            Set remainingRange = Application.Union(remainingRange, rng)
            End If
        End If
    Next  
    If Not remainingRange Is Nothing Then
        remainingRange.Select
    End If
End Sub

 For Each rng In selectedRange
        If Application.Intersect(rng, deleteRange) Is Nothing Then
            If remainingRange Is Nothing Then
            Set remainingRange = rng
            Else
            Set remainingRange = Application.Union(remainingRange, rng)
            End If
        End If
    Next

• Run the code by pressing the F5.
• An Input Box will appear where you need to insert the whole range. We have selected the range B4:B12.
• Click OK.

• Another Input Box will pop up, where you must input the cells you want to deselect. Then press OK.

• The specified cells will be deselected.

Method 7 – Selecting a Cell Outside the Visible Range

Steps:

• Select a cell outside this range.
• Enter the code below:

Sub DeselectOutsideRange()
Dim rng As Range
Application.ScreenUpdating = False
Set rng = Application.ActiveWindow.VisibleRange
rng(rng.Cells.Count + 1).Select
Application.ScreenUpdating = True
End Sub

Application.ScreenUpdating = False
Set rng = Application.ActiveWindow.VisibleRange
rng(rng.Cells.Count + 1).Select
Application.ScreenUpdating = True

• Run the code. The newly selected cell is A18, which is the next cell after the last visible cell.

Read More: How to Select Visible Cells in Excel with VBA

How to Deselect a Shape in Excel VBA

In this example, we will use VBA to deselect a shape in an Excel worksheet. The VBA code is given below.

Sub DeselectShape()
    Dim ws As Worksheet
    Dim rng As Range
    Dim cell As Range  
    Set ws = ThisWorkbook.Sheets("Shape") '
    Set rng = ws.Range("D5:D12")  
    For Each cell In rng      
        If cell.Value > 5000 Then
            cell.Interior.Color = RGB(0, 255, 0)
        End If
    Next cell  
    On Error Resume Next
    ws.Shapes(Application.Caller).Select (False)
    On Error GoTo 0
    ActiveSheet.Range("A1").Select  
End Sub

   ws.Shapes(Application.Caller).Select (False)
    On Error GoTo 0
    ActiveSheet.Range("A1").Select

The rectangular shape is selected in the following figure. We want to deselect it using the above code.

Run the code and go back to the Excel sheet. The shape is deselected, and cell A1 is selected.

Things to Remember

• The first method is convenient as it selects a cell outside the specified range and then hides it.
• The second method is the best way to deselect cells in Excel.
• Remember to carefully consider the specific requirements of your task and choose the most appropriate method for deselecting cells or ranges in Excel VBA.

Download the Practice Workbook

Download this workbook to practice.

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• Excel VBA: Select Visible Cells After Autofilter