API reference · Others

SetMacroMode

Disables Excel screen updates, events and alerts, and selects manual calculation.

SubOthers→No return value (Sub)Source L9

Signature#

Sub SetMacroMode()

Parameters#

This procedure takes no parameters.

Returns#

Sub. No return value; changes four Application-wide Excel settings.

Example#

SEE THE TRANSFORMATIONChange Excel application settings

Before

Illustrative initial settingsValues / state

No array dimensions

Item	Value
ScreenUpdating	True
EnableEvents	True
DisplayAlerts	True
Calculation	“Automatic”

After

Immediately after the callValues / state

No array dimensions

Item	Value
ScreenUpdating	False
EnableEvents	False
DisplayAlerts	False
Calculation	“Manual”

These are application settings, so array shape does not apply. The initial state is illustrative; the example captures the actual settings and restores them afterward.

Shaded headers are array indices, not data. Quoted cells are text. Values shown are derived from the source, not an Excel execution.

Option Explicit

Public Sub ExampleOthersSetMacroMode()
    Dim utility As New Others
    Dim oldUpdating As Boolean, oldEvents As Boolean
    Dim oldAlerts As Boolean, oldCalculation As XlCalculation
    Dim savedNumber As Long, savedDescription As String

    oldUpdating = Application.ScreenUpdating
    oldEvents = Application.EnableEvents
    oldAlerts = Application.DisplayAlerts
    oldCalculation = Application.Calculation
    On Error GoTo Failed

    utility.SetMacroMode
    Debug.Print Application.Calculation

RestoreSettings:
    On Error Resume Next
    Application.Calculation = oldCalculation
    Application.DisplayAlerts = oldAlerts
    Application.EnableEvents = oldEvents
    Application.ScreenUpdating = oldUpdating
    On Error GoTo 0
    If savedNumber <> 0 Then Err.Raise savedNumber, , savedDescription
    Exit Sub

Failed:
    savedNumber = Err.Number
    savedDescription = Err.Description
    Resume RestoreSettings
End Sub

Behavior and edge cases#

Sets Application.ScreenUpdating=False, Application.EnableEvents=False, Application.DisplayAlerts=False, then Application.Calculation=xlCalculationManual, in that order.
These are Excel Application settings affecting the running Excel instance. The routine does not retain prior settings or track nesting.
There is no internal error handling or automatic rollback. An error while assigning a later property may leave earlier properties changed.
DisableMacroMode sets fixed enabled/automatic values; it does not restore a previous state. Capture the original properties and restore them in a cleanup path when the caller must preserve user settings.
The example briefly invokes this API and restores the previously captured settings. It has not been executed against Excel during documentation generation.

Performance#

Four property assignments: O(1) explicit VBA work. Changes to Excel calculation and application behavior can have host-dependent costs.

View implementation

Sub SetMacroMode()
    Application.ScreenUpdating = False
    Application.EnableEvents = False
    Application.DisplayAlerts = False
    Application.Calculation = xlCalculationManual
End Sub