Activate vs Select

 

One thing VBA programmers often grapple with is whether or not to use .Activate or .Select when working with objects like worksheets and cells. So what is the difference, and when would you use one method over another?  To put it simply, .Activate sets focus to a single object, while .Select allows for multiple items to be selected.  As an example, you can select multiple cells on a worksheet, but only one of those cells can be active at any given time.

Having explained this, there is another important issue surrounding these two functions, and that is, whether they should be used at all…  My experience has taught me that they are rarely ever required, if at all.

To find out why, please read my post on Performance Tuning in Excel: Activate vs Cell Referance