How to Delete Sheets Without Confirmation Prompts Using VBA In Excel

There are times when we have to create or add sheet and later on we found of no use of that sheet, hence we get need to delete sheet quickly from the workbook. This article focus on saving time & provide code for removing sheets without any prompt message box using vba macro / code. It could be one sheet or several.  And excel gives a popup alert to confirm the sheet deletion.  If its one sheet, its manageable.  But if you have to delete several sheets, you will get one popup per sheet.

You often create multiple sheets using VBA. But in the end, you don’t need them actually. You would want to delete them after your work is done. It will keep your file lighter, faster and sensible.

VBA code to delete a sheet is simple

Sheets("SheetName").Delete

Let's say you have this code to add a sheet and then delete it when work is done.

Sub AddAndDeleteSheet()
Sheets.Add 'Adds a new sheet to the active workbook

'----

'----

'----

'some work on sheet done
ActiveSheet.Delete 'deletes the active Activesheet

End Sub

When you execute this code, Sheets.Add will work without any prompt but when compiler will come to  ActiveSheet.Delete it will prompt a message like this.

pasted image 0 (1)

Since you are deleting sheets using VBA, you know what you are doing. You would like to tell Excel not to show this warning and delete the damn sheet.

To do this we will switch off the display alert button of Excel Application.

The code below will bypass this alert message and the sheet will be deleted without any intimation.

Sub AddAndDeleteSheet()

Application.DisplayAlerts = False 'switching off the alert button
Sheets.Add

'----

'----

'----

'some work on sheet done
ActiveSheet.Delete

Application.DisplayAlerts = True 'switching on the alert button

End Sub

Here we are deleting Activesheet using VBA. You can delete any sheet using VBA. Just write Sheets("Sheetname").delete. Moving on...

DisplayAlerts is a property of Application object in VBA. Here we are switching it off at the beginning of our code and switching it on at the end of the code. The above code will confirm deletion without any intimation.

Note:The above code will ignore all the warnings thrown by excel. If you want to allow only sheet deletion than use this line.

Application.DisplayAlerts = False 'switching off the alert button

ActiveSheet.Delete

Application.DisplayAlerts = True 'switching on the alert button

This will ignore only sheet deletion warning.

Pro Tip: This lines of code make your VBA code more efficient. Always use them at the beginning of your macro and turn them back on wherever is your code expected to exit routine.
Warning: If not turned on before exiting the subroutine, you may not see any warning at all. Even if your code is not running. This may cause many problems.

If you have multiple sheets to delete and are using a loop, try this code  –

Option Explicit

Sub macro2()

Dim i As Long

Application.DisplayAlerts = False

For i = 1 to Worksheets.Count

If Worksheets(i).Name Like "Test*" Then Worksheets(i).Delete

Next i

Application.DisplayAlerts = True

End Sub

That’s it. It’s done. It easy like switching your fan on and off. Isn’t it?

image 29

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Delete sheets without confirmation prompts using VBA in Microsoft Excel

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Comments

  1. Are you sure that your code to delete multiple sheets work?
    For me it works by starting at the end (last sheet)

    Sub delWorksheet()
    ' delete all Worksheet without "Something"

    Dim n As Long

    Application.DisplayAlerts = False

    For n = Worksheets.Count To 1 Step -1
    If Worksheets(n).Name Like "Something" Then
    'do nothing
    Else
    Worksheets(n).Delete
    End If
    Next n

    Application.DisplayAlerts = True

    End Sub

  2. I tried to click on the Excel Forum link, but my company laptop has the site blocked. It says because it may pose a security threat? Any other way I can access? Thanks again

    • Hi Tracy,

      Your company might has set some sort of firewall and because of that you might not be able to access the site. Could you try using some other internet connection may be at home or so.

      Do let us know if it works then.

      Best regards,
      Team Excel Tip & Excel Forum

  3. Hi, I told you I would be back. Here is my new situation. I need to move all the data from the multiple tabs onto a new worksheet. All of the worksheets have the same headers and # of columns of data, so I would need on the new worksheet to have them all line up underneath each other so no rows are skipped. On the new worksheet, I would need column A to be titled "Facility #" and the facility # is on each tab name. For example, the tabs are named the actual facility #, which is anywhere between 3 - 5 digits, _2015 month #. (IE - 79810_201506). Thanks again for your assistance 🙂

    • Hi Tracy,

      Thanks once again for writing us.

      We would request you to login on Excel Forum for your any difficulty or complicated MS-Excel/VBA query. Our experts will surely assist you.

      Keep visiting us!

      Thanks,
      Team Excel Tip & Excel Forum

  4. I got it! There were 2 spaces behind the 2015, so I changed it to 7 and added to 2 spaces. Thanks again for your assistance. Will have another situation soon. MANY THANKS! 🙂

  5. Thanks for your quick response. I tried that, but nothing happened. I saved the macro and rebooted hoping that would make a difference. Any other suggestions? Thanks again 🙂

  6. Hi Tracy,

    Please check the following code:

    Sub DeleteSheets()
    Dim Counter As Integer
    Application.DisplayAlerts = False
    For Counter = ThisWorkbook.Worksheets.Count To 1 Step -1
    If Right(Worksheets(Counter).Name, 5) = "_2015" Then Sheets(Counter).Delete
    Next Counter
    Application.DisplayAlerts = True
    End Sub

    Regards,
    Ashish

  7. I am trying to delete multiple sheets with the ending _2015. I would like to delete them all at once. The problem is there are about 120 sheets and they either have the ending ###_2015 and others are the ###_2015## (these are the ones I want to keep). I am either deleting everything or the warning appears and I delete them one at a time. Thanks in advance 🙂

      • Hi Teressa,

        Greetings from Excel Tip & Excel Forum!

        Thanks for visiting us and If you really want to learn VBA in depth, keep visiting us regularly as we at Excel Tip, try to bring new stuff every day on MS-Excel & VBA.

        In case you have any complicated or simply query, you can visit us at Excel Forum and can ask to our experts.

        Thanks,
        Team Excel Tip & Excel Forum

  8. "If anyone uses ASAP utilities (personally I can't live without it) there is a list all range names function that lists all range names on a new worksheet.

    Even after deleting all range names in INSERT/DEFINE/DELETE menu it still lists them all. Is this a problem with ASAP or are they still really there?"

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