VBA If, ElseIf, Else (Ultimate Guide to If Statements)

VBA If Statement

If Then

VBA If Statements allow you to test if expressions are TRUE or FALSE, running different code based on the results.

Let’s look at a simple example:

If Range("a2").Value > 0 Then Range("b2").Value = "Positive"

This tests if the value in Range A2 is greater than 0. If so, setting Range B2 equal to “Positive”

Note: When testing conditions we will use the =, >, <, <>, <=, >= comparison operators. We will discuss them in more detail later in the article.

Here is the syntax for a simple one-line If statement:

If [test_expression] then [action]

To make it easier to read, you can use a Line Continuation character (underscore) to expand the If Statements to two lines (as we did in the above picture):

If [test_expression] then _
    [action]

If Range("a2").Value > 0 Then _
   Range("b2").Value = "Positive"

End If

The above “single-line” if statement works well when you are testing one condition. But as your IF Statements become more complicated with multiple conditions, you will need to add an “End If” to the end of the if statement:

If Range("a2").Value > 0 Then
  Range("b2").Value = "Positive"
End If

Here the syntax is:

If [test_expression] then
  [action]
End If

The End If signifies the end of the if statement.

Now let’s add in an ElseIF:

ElseIF – Multiple Conditions

The ElseIf is added to an existing If statement. ElseIf tests if a condition is met ONLY if the previous conditions have not been met.

In the previous example we tested if a cell value is positive. Now we will also test if the cell value is negative with an ElseIf:

If Range("a2").Value > 0 Then
    Range("b2").Value = "Positive"
ElseIf Range("a2").Value < 0 Then
    Range("b2").Value = "Negative"
End If

You can use multiple ElseIfs to test for multiple conditions:

Sub If_Multiple_Conditions()

    If Range("a2").Value = "Cat" Then
        Range("b2").Value = "Meow"
    ElseIf Range("a2").Value = "Dog" Then
        Range("b2").Value = "Woof"
    ElseIf Range("a2").Value = "Duck" Then
        Range("b2").Value = "Quack"
    End If

End Sub

Now we will add an Else:

Else

The Else will run if no other previous conditions have been met.

We will finish our example by using an Else to indicate that if the cell value is not positive or negative, then it must be zero:

If Range("a2").Value > 0 Then
    Range("b2").Value = "Positive"
ElseIf Range("a2").Value < 0 Then
    Range("b2").Value = "Negative"
Else
    Range("b2").Value = "Zero"
End If

If-Else

The most common type of If statement is a simple If-Else:

Sub If_Else()
    If Range("a2").Value > 0 Then
        Range("b2").Value = "Positive"
    Else
        Range("b2").Value = "Not Positive"
    End If
End Sub

Nested IFs

You can also “nest” if statements inside of each other.

Sub Nested_Ifs()
    If Range("a2").Value > 0 Then
        Range("b2").Value = "Positive"
    Else
        If Range("a2").Value < 0 Then
            Range("b2").Value = "Negative"
        Else
            Range("b2").Value = "Zero"
        End If
    End If
End Sub

IF – Or, And, Xor, Not

Next we will discuss the logical operators: Or, And, Xor, Not.

If Or

The Or operator tests if at least one condition is met.

The following code will test if the value in Range A2 is less than 5,000 or greater than 10,000:

If Range("a2").Value < 5000 Or Range("a2").Value > 10000 Then
    Range("b2").Value = "Out of Range"
End If

You can include multiple Ors in one line:

If Range("a2").Value < 5000 Or Range("a2").Value > 10000 Or Range("a2").Value = 9999 Then
    Range("b2").Value = "Out of Range"
End If

If you are going to use multiple Ors, it’s recommended to use a line continuation character to make your code easier to read:

If Range("a2").Value < 5000 Or _
   Range("a2").Value > 10000 Or _
   Range("a2").Value = 9999 Then

       Range("b2").Value = "Out of Range"
End If

If And

The And operator allows you to test if ALL conditions are met.

If Range("a2").Value >= 5000 And Range("a2").Value <= 10000 Then
    Range("b2").Value = "In Range"
End If

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If Xor

The Xor operator allows you to test if exactly one condition is met. If zero conditions are met Xor will return FALSE, If two or more conditions are met, Xor will also return false.

I’ve rarely seen Xor used in VBA programming.

If Not

The Not operator is used to convert FALSE to TRUE or TRUE To FALSE:

Sub IF_Not()
    MsgBox Not (True)
End Sub

Notice that the Not operator requires parenthesis surrounding the expression to switch.

The Not operator can also be applied to If statements:

If Not (Range("a2").Value >= 5000 And Range("a2").Value <= 10000) Then
    Range("b2").Value = "Out of Range"
End If

If Comparisons

When making comparisons, you will usually use one of the comparison operators:

Comparison Operator	Explanation
=	Equal to
<>	Not Equal to
>	Greater than
>=	Greater than or Equal to
<	Less than
<=	Less than or Equal to

However, you can also use any expression or function that results in TRUE or FALSE

If – Boolean Function

When build expressions for If Statements, you can also use any function that generates TRUE or False.  VBA has a few of these functions:

Function	Description
IsDate	Returns TRUE if expression is a valid date
IsEmpty	Check for blank cells or undefined variables
IsError	Check for error values
IsNull	Check for NULL Value
IsNumeric	Check for numeric value

They can be called like this:

If IsEmpty(Range("A1").Value) Then MsgBox "Cell Empty"

Excel also has many additional functions that can be called using WorksheetFunction. Here’s an example of the Excel IsText Function:

If Application.WorksheetFunction.IsText(Range("a2").Value) Then _ 
   MsgBox "Cell is Text"

You can also create your own User Defined Functions (UDFs). Below we will create a simple Boolean function that returns TRUE. Then we will call that function in our If statement:

Sub If_Function()

If TrueFunction Then
    MsgBox "True"
End If

End Sub

Function TrueFunction() As Boolean
    TrueFunction = True
End Function

Comparing Text

You can also compare text similar to comparing numbers:

Msgbox "a" = "b"

Msgbox "a" = "a"

When comparing text, you must be mindful of the “Case” (upper or lower).  By default, VBA considers letters with different cases as non-matching.  In other words, “A” <> “a”.

If you’d like VBA to ignore case, you must add the Option Compare Text declaration to the top of your module:

Option Compare Text

After making that declaration “A” = “a”:

Option Compare Text

Sub If_Text()
   MsgBox "a" = "A"
End Sub

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VBA If Like

The VBA Like Operator allows you to make inexact comparisons of text. Click the “Like Operator” link to learn more, but we will show a basic example below:

Dim strName as String
strName = "Mr. Charles"

If strName Like "Mr*" Then
    MsgBox "True"
Else
    MsgBox "False"
End If

Here we’re using an asterisk “*” wildcard. The * stands for any number of any characters.  So the above If statement will return TRUE.  The Like operator is an extremely powerful, but often under-used tool for dealing with text.

If Loops

VBA Loops allow you to repeat actions. Combining IF-ELSEs with Loops is a great way to quickly process many calculations.

Continuing with our Positive / Negative example, we will add a For Each Loop to loop through a range of cells:

Sub If_Loop()
Dim Cell as Range

  For Each Cell In Range("A2:A6")
    If Cell.Value > 0 Then
      Cell.Offset(0, 1).Value = "Positive"
    ElseIf Cell.Value < 0 Then
      Cell.Offset(0, 1).Value = "Negative"
    Else
      Cell.Offset(0, 1).Value = "Zero"
     End If
  Next Cell

End Sub

If Else Examples

Now we will go over some more specific examples.

Check if Cell is Empty

This code will check if a cell is empty. If it’s empty it will ignore the cell. If it’s not empty it will output the cell value to the cell to the right:

Sub If_Cell_Empty()

If Range("a2").Value <> "" Then
    Range("b2").Value = Range("a2").Value
End If

End Sub

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Check if Cell Contains Specific Text

The Instr Function tests if a string of text is found in another string. Use it with an If statement to check if a cell contains specific text:

If Instr(Range("A2").value,"text") > 0 Then
  Msgbox "Text Found"
End If

Check if cell contains text

This code will test if a cell is text:

Sub If_Cell_Is_Text()

If Application.WorksheetFunction.IsText(Range("a2").Value) Then
    MsgBox "Cell is Text"
End If

End Sub

If Goto

You can use the result of an If statement to “Go to” another section of code.

Sub IfGoTo ()

    If IsError(Cell.value) Then
        Goto Skip
    End If

    'Some Code

Skip:
End Sub

Delete Row if Cell is Blank

Using Ifs and loops you can test if a cell is blank and if so delete the entire row.

Sub DeleteRowIfCellBlank()

Dim Cell As Range

For Each Cell In Range("A2:A10")
    If Cell.Value = "" Then Cell.EntireRow.Delete
Next Cell

End Sub

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If MessageBox Yes / No

With VBA Message Boxes you’re able to ask the user to select from several options. The Yes/No Message Box asks the user to select Yes or No.  You can add a Yes / No Message Box to a procedure to ask the user if they would like to continue running the procedure or not. You handle the user’s input using an If statement.

Here is the Yes/No Message Box in practice:

Sub MsgBoxVariable()

Dim answer As Integer
answer = MsgBox("Do you want to Continue?", vbQuestion + vbYesNo)

  If answer = vbYes Then
    MsgBox "Yes"
  Else
    MsgBox "No"
  End If

End Sub

VBA If, ElseIf, Else in Access VBA

The If, ElseIf and Else functions work exactly the same in Access VBA as in Excel VBA.

You can use an If statement to check if there are records in a Recordset.