Select multiple columns of data for a UsedRange Excel VBA

Question

Hope someone can help. I am trying to select data from 4 columns to be part of one UsedRange .

I do not wish to select the entire column, just the data in each of the four columns (C,E,F,H) as one range. If there were no gaps in the sheet I could easily use `Range(C1:H5) etc.

Each column has different number of rows which regularly change.

Answer 1

You can use Union to combine ranges into one

Dim rng As Range
Dim CLastRow As Long, ELastRow As Long, FLastRow As Long, HLastRow As Long

' Update with your Sheet reference
With YourSheet
    CLastRow = .Cells(.Rows.Count, "C").End(xlUp).Row
    ELastRow = .Cells(.Rows.Count, "E").End(xlUp).Row
    FLastRow = .Cells(.Rows.Count, "F").End(xlUp).Row
    HLastRow = .Cells(.Rows.Count, "H").End(xlUp).Row

    Set rng = Union(.Range("C1:C" & CLastRow), _
                    .Range("E1:E" & ELastRow), _
                    .Range("F1:F" & FLastRow), _
                    .Range("H1:H" & HLastRow))
End With

Personally though, I'd keep them as separate ranges and just do the same operation on each of them if needed.

Answer 2

You can create a multi-area Range with the Union method , like so:

Set Combined_Rage = Union(Range1, Range2) 'You can have up to 30 different Ranges

Please note that Worksheet.UsedRange is something completely different, and is a read-only object set by Excel

Answer 3

A dynamic solution using a loop and union()

This selects the exact used range of each column. Disadvantage is that this selection doesn't allow copy/paste (see alternative solution).

Option Explicit

Public Sub SelectUsedRangeOfSeveralColumns()     
    Dim ws As Worksheet
    Set ws = ThisWorkbook.Worksheets("Sheet1")

    Dim ArrCols As Variant 'define which columns to select
    ArrCols = Array("C", "E", "F", "H")

    Dim UnifiedRange As Range 'we collect the ranges here

    Dim Col As Variant
    For Each Col In ArrCols
        If UnifiedRange Is Nothing Then 'first range
            Set UnifiedRange = ws.Range(Col & "1", ws.Cells(ws.Rows.Count, Col).End(xlUp))
        Else 'all following ranges
            Set UnifiedRange = Union(UnifiedRange, ws.Range(Col & "1", ws.Cells(ws.Rows.Count, Col).End(xlUp)))
        End If
    Next Col

    'this is just to visualize what the UnifiedRange contains
    UnifiedRange.Select
End Sub

---

Alternative: Maximal used range is selected

Advantage of this one is that you can copy/paste while the first selection doesn't allow copy/paste.

Option Explicit

Public Sub SelectMAXUsedRangeOfSeveralColumns()
    Dim ws As Worksheet
    Set ws = Worksheets("Sheet1")

    Dim ArrCols As Variant
    ArrCols = Array("C", "E", "F", "H")

    Dim LastRow As Long
    Dim UnifiedRange As Range

    Dim Col As Variant
    For Each Col In ArrCols
        LastRow = Application.Max(LastRow, ws.Cells(ws.Rows.Count, Col).End(xlUp).Row)
        If UnifiedRange Is Nothing Then
            Set UnifiedRange = ws.Columns(Col)
        Else
            Set UnifiedRange = Union(UnifiedRange, ws.Columns(Col))
        End If
    Next Col

    Set UnifiedRange = Intersect(UnifiedRange, ws.Range(ArrCols(0) & "1", ws.Cells(LastRow, ArrCols(UBound(ArrCols)))))

    'this is just to visualize what the UnifiedRange contains
    UnifiedRange.Select
End Sub

---

Or even shorter

Might be not as accurate as the long version.

Option Explicit

Public Sub SelectMAXUsedRangeOfSeveralColumns()
    Dim ws As Worksheet
    Set ws = Worksheets("Sheet1")

    Dim UnifiedRange As Range
    Set UnifiedRange = Intersect(ws.UsedRange, ws.Range("C:C,E:E,F:F,H:H"))


    'this is just to visualize what the UnifiedRange contains
    UnifiedRange.Select
End Sub