How to: Refer to Multiple Ranges

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By using the appropriate method, you can easily refer to multiple ranges. Use the Range and Union methods to refer to any group of ranges. Use the Areas property to refer to the group of ranges selected on a worksheet.

Using the Range Property

You can refer to multiple ranges with the Range property by inserting commas between two or more references. The following example clears the contents of three ranges on Sheet1.

Sub ClearRanges() 
 Worksheets("Sheet1").Range("C5:D9,G9:H16,B14:D18"). _ 
 ClearContents 
End Sub

Named ranges make it easier to use the Range property to work with multiple ranges. The following example works when all three named ranges are on the same sheet.

Sub ClearNamed() 
 Range("MyRange, YourRange, HisRange").ClearContents 
End Sub

Using the Union Method

You can combine multiple ranges into one Range object by using the Union method. The following example creates a Range object called myMultipleRange, defines it as the ranges A1:B2 and C3:D4, and then formats the combined ranges as bold.

Sub MultipleRange() 
 Dim r1, r2, myMultipleRange As Range 
 Set r1 = Sheets("Sheet1").Range("A1:B2") 
 Set r2 = Sheets("Sheet1").Range("C3:D4") 
 Set myMultipleRange = Union(r1, r2) 
 myMultipleRange.Font.Bold = True 
End Sub

Using the Areas Property

You can use the Areas property to refer to the selected range or to the collection of ranges in a multiple-area selection. The following procedure counts the areas in the selection. If there is more than one area, a warning message is displayed.

Sub FindMultiple() 
 If Selection.Areas.Count > 1 Then 
 MsgBox "Cannot do this to a multiple selection." 
 End If 
End Sub