Article ID: 213542 - Last Review: October 11, 2006 - Revision: 4.2

XL2000: Range.PasteSpecial Changes Selection

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SYMPTOMS

If you use a line of code in a Microsoft Visual Basic for Applications macro that is similar to the following 
 Range(<cell address>).PasteSpecial

where <cell address> is a range of cells, the active selection changes to the range that is specified by cell address.

This behavior is different from behavior in earlier versions of Microsoft Excel. Versions of Microsoft Excel earlier than Excel 97 do not change the selection when this line is executed. The macro may not produce the desired results if the selection must remain unchanged after the macro executes the PasteSpecial method.
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CAUSE

In Microsoft Excel 5.0 and 7.0, whether the PasteSpecial method leaves the selection on the pasted cells depends on the object to which the PasteSpecial method is applied. If PasteSpecial is applied to the ActiveCell or Selection objects, the selection changes. However, if the PasteSpecial method is applied to a Range object, the selection does not change.

For consistency, this behavior changed in Microsoft Excel. When the macro executes the PasteSpecial method, the selection changes to the pasted cells in all cases.

This behavior is by design of Microsoft Excel.
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WORKAROUND

Microsoft provides programming examples for illustration only, without warranty either expressed or implied. This includes, but is not limited to, the implied warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose. This article assumes that you are familiar with the programming language that is being demonstrated and with the tools that are used to create and to debug procedures. Microsoft support engineers can help explain the functionality of a particular procedure, but they will not modify these examples to provide added functionality or construct procedures to meet your specific requirements.
To restore the selection after the macro executes a PasteSpecial method, store the selection in a variable before the macro executes the PasteSpecial method, and then select that range after the PasteSpecial method is completed. The following sample macro illustrates how to do this: 
   Sub CopyAndPaste()

       Range("A1:B5").Copy                 ' Copy cells A1:A5
       Set rng = Selection                 ' Store the selection
       Range("D1").PasteSpecial xlValues   ' Perform the PasteSpecial
       rng.Select                          ' Reselect the range

   End Sub

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APPLIES TO
  • Microsoft Excel 2000 Standard Edition
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Keywords: 
kbdtacode kbprb kbprogramming KB213542
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