Learn How to Eliminate a Row from Several Excel Files Using Two Simple Techniques

Excel is a powerful spreadsheet application that allows you to store, manipulate, and analyze data in various ways. One of the common tasks you may encounter is deleting the same row from multiple workbooks in Excel formula. This means that you want to remove a specific row from several Excel files that have the same structure and format, but different data.

There are two main methods to achieve this goal: using grouping and using VBA. Grouping is a feature that lets you select and perform actions on multiple worksheets or workbooks at the same time. VBA, or Visual Basic for Applications, is a programming language that you can use to automate tasks and customize Excel’s functionality.

Procedures

Using Grouping

To delete the same row from multiple workbooks using grouping, follow these steps:

1. Open all the workbooks that you want to modify in Excel. Make sure they have the same number and order of worksheets, and the same row that you want to delete.
2. Right-click on any sheet tab in any workbook, and choose Select All Sheets from the context menu. This will group all the worksheets in all the workbooks together.
3. Select the row that you want to delete by clicking on its row number. You can also select multiple rows by dragging the mouse or using the Shift key.
4. Press the Delete key on your keyboard, or right-click on the selected row and choose Delete from the context menu. This will delete the same row from all the grouped worksheets.
5. Right-click on any sheet tab again, and choose Ungroup Sheets from the context menu. This will ungroup all the worksheets and workbooks.

Using VBA

To delete the same row from multiple workbooks using VBA, follow these steps:

1. Open all the workbooks that you want to modify in Excel. Make sure they have the same number and order of worksheets, and the same row that you want to delete.
2. Press Alt + F11 on your keyboard to open the Visual Basic Editor. This is where you can write and run VBA code.
3. In the Visual Basic Editor, click on Insert > Module. This will create a new module where you can write your code.
4. Copy and paste the following code into the module:

Sub DeleteSameRow()
    Dim xWs As Worksheet
    Set xWs = ActiveSheet 'store the current worksheet
    ThisWorkbook.Worksheets.Select 'select all worksheets in the current workbook
    Rows("4:5").Select 'select the row or rows that you want to delete
    Selection.Delete 'delete the selected row or rows
    xWs.Select 'return to the original worksheet
End Sub

Note: In the code, 4:5 means that the row 4 and 5 will be deleted from all the worksheets in the current workbook. You can change this to any row or range of rows that you want.

5. Press F5 on your keyboard to run the code. This will delete the same row from all the worksheets in the current workbook.
6. Repeat steps 2 to 5 for each workbook that you want to modify. Alternatively, you can save the code as a macro and assign it to a button or a shortcut key for easier access.

Explanation

The following is a comprehensive explanation of the code and the logic behind it:

Sub DeleteSameRow()
    'This is the name of the subroutine, or the procedure that performs the task
    Dim xWs As Worksheet
    'This declares a variable named xWs as a Worksheet object
    Set xWs = ActiveSheet
    'This assigns the current worksheet to the variable xWs
    ThisWorkbook.Worksheets.Select
    'This selects all the worksheets in the current workbook
    Rows("4:5").Select
    'This selects the row or rows that you want to delete
    Selection.Delete
    'This deletes the selected row or rows
    xWs.Select
    'This returns to the original worksheet that was stored in the variable xWs
End Sub
'This marks the end of the subroutine

The code uses the Select and Delete methods to perform the task. The Select method selects a range of cells, a worksheet, or a workbook, depending on the object that it is applied to. The Delete method deletes the selected object, whether it is a cell, a row, a column, a worksheet, or a workbook.

The code also uses a variable to store the current worksheet, so that it can return to it after deleting the row from all the worksheets. A variable is a name that represents a value or an object in VBA. To use a variable, you need to declare it with the Dim statement, and assign it a value or an object with the Set statement.

Example

To illustrate how the code works, let us use a scenario and an example. Suppose you have three workbooks named Sales1.xlsx, Sales2.xlsx, and Sales3.xlsx. Each workbook has three worksheets named Jan, Feb, and Mar. Each worksheet has the same structure and format, but different sales data for each month. You want to delete the row 4 from all the worksheets in all the workbooks, because it contains an error.

Here is an example of how the worksheets look like before and after deleting the row 4:

To delete the row 4 from all the worksheets in all the workbooks, you can use either the grouping method or the VBA method. The grouping method is simpler and faster, but it requires you to open all the workbooks and group all the worksheets manually. The VBA method is more complex and slower, but it allows you to automate the task and run it with a single click or a shortcut key.

Other Approaches

Besides the grouping and the VBA methods, there are other possible approaches to delete the same row from multiple workbooks in Excel formula. Here are some of them:

• Using Power Query: Power Query is a feature that lets you import, transform, and combine data from various sources in Excel. You can use Power Query to load all the workbooks into a single query, delete the row 4 from the query, and then export the query back to the workbooks.
• Using Find and Replace: Find and Replace is a feature that lets you search and replace data in Excel. You can use Find and Replace to search for the value or the formula in the row 4, and then replace it with nothing or a blank space. This will effectively delete the row 4 from all the workbooks.
• Using Conditional Formatting: Conditional Formatting is a feature that lets you apply formatting rules to data in Excel. You can use Conditional Formatting to highlight the row 4 with a color or a font style, and then filter or sort the data by the color or the font style. This will make the row 4 easier to identify and delete from all the workbooks.

These are some of the other approaches that you can try, but they may have some limitations or drawbacks. For example, Power Query may not be available in some versions of Excel, Find and Replace may affect other data that you do not want to delete, and Conditional Formatting may not work well with large or complex data sets. Therefore, you should choose the approach that suits your needs and preferences best.