XL2000: Deleting a Cell Changes the UsedRange Property

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This article was previously published under Q231007

Symptoms

In Microsoft Visual Basic for Applications, the UsedRange property of the worksheet returns an incorrect address for the actual used range of the worksheet. If you attempt to use the Select method with the address returned by the UsedRange property, you receive the following error message:

Run-time error '1004':

Select method of range class failed.

And the macro fails.

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Cause

This problem occurs when you do the following:

You resize row heights on the worksheet.

-and-
You delete a cell.

-and-
You run a macro that uses the UsedRange property, such as in the following example:
ActiveSheet.UsedRange.Select

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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 return the correct used range on the worksheet, use the SpecialCells method instead of the UsedRange property. The following sample macro returns the used range of the worksheet.

NOTE: The sample macro below finds cells that contain data, such as text, values, and formulas. It does not find cells that only contain formatting and no real data.

Sub MyUsedRange()
Dim ar As Range, r As Double, c As Integer, tr As Double, tc As Integer
Dim ur As Range, fr As Double, fc As Integer, tfr As Double, tfc As Integer

On Error Resume Next
   fc = ActiveSheet.Columns.Count
   fr = ActiveSheet.Rows.Count
   Set ur = Union(ActiveSheet.UsedRange.SpecialCells(xlCellTypeConstants), _
      ActiveSheet.UsedRange.SpecialCells(xlCellTypeFormulas))
   If Err.Number = 1004 Then
      Err.Clear
      Set ur = ActiveSheet.UsedRange.SpecialCells(xlCellTypeConstants)
   End If
   If Err.Number = 1004 Then
      Err.Clear
      Set ur = ActiveSheet.UsedRange.SpecialCells(xlCellTypeFormulas)
   End If
   If Err.Number = 0 Then
      For Each ar In ur.Areas
         tr = ar.Range("A1").Row + ar.Rows.Count - 1
         tc = ar.Range("A1").Column + ar.Columns.Count - 1
         If tc > c Then c = tc
         If tr > r Then r = tr
         tfr = ar.Range("A1").Row
         tfc = ar.Range("A1").Column
         If tfc < fc Then fc = tfc
         If tfr < fr Then fr = tfr
      Next
      Range(Cells(fr, fc), Cells(r, c)).Select
   ElseIf Err.Number = 1004 Then
      Range("A1").Select
   End If
End Sub

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