Is there a way to define a shortcut key (e.g. Ctrl-Y) to start a VBA sub/macro while the VBE window is active? - vba

Question

I'm trying to automate some development steps by using VBA code and want to start those macros with a shortcut key while the VBE window is active/on top. Is there a way to do this? The Macro dialog in VBE does not offer the Options button, which allows to define a shortcut key in Excel proper. I also have not found a way to solve my problem via the VBE toolbar customization.

Answer 1

The F5 key us the shortcut to run this. This can be viewed by hovering the pointer over the "continue" option in the toolbar so the dialog pop up displays.

Answer 2

You cannot define Keyboard shortcuts within the VBE.
As long as your Subroutine gets no parameter:
put the cursor inside the subroutine and press F5
put the cursor outside of any routine and press F5 - you will get a list of Subs that you can start
Enter the name of the sub in the immediate window (Ctrl+G) and press Enter
If your Subroutine expects some parameter (even if it is only optional), only the method with the immediate window works. But you can write a short wrapper routine that calls the subroutine you want to call.

Answer 3

Thanks for the replies on my question. I was aware of the options presented there. As it seems that no real shortcut capabilities are available in VBE, I finally used a custom menu to access the VBA code I want to start during VBE sessions. I now have access to all of them (distributed over several modules and partially with long, description like names) via one macro (I call DM = short for DeveloperMenu) I (still) need to start via the immediate window.
Code below. Of course the specific menu items are custom for my environment and need to be adapted.
Sub Dm(Optional dummy As Boolean)
Call CreateAndDisplayDevelopmentPopUpMenu
End Sub
Sub CreateAndDisplayDevelopmentPopUpMenu(Optional dummy As Boolean)
Dim menuName As String
menuName = "Development"
'Delete PopUp menu if it exist
On Error Resume Next
Application.CommandBars(menuName).Delete
On Error GoTo 0
'Create the PopUpmenu
Call DevelopmentPopUpMenu(menuName)
'Show the PopUp menu
On Error Resume Next
Application.CommandBars(menuName).ShowPopup
On Error GoTo 0
End Sub
Sub DevelopmentPopUpMenu(menuName As String)
Dim MenuItem As CommandBarPopup
'Add PopUp menu
With Application.CommandBars.Add(name:=menuName, position:=msoBarPopup, _
MenuBar:=False, Temporary:=True)
'First add buttons
With .Controls.Add(type:=msoControlButton)
.caption = "&RebuildDefs"
' .faceId = 71
.OnAction = "'" & ThisWorkbook.name & "'!" & "'RebuildAllDefs ""True""'"
End With
With .Controls.Add(type:=msoControlButton)
.caption = "&ToggleAddIn"
' .faceId = 71
.OnAction = "'" & ThisWorkbook.name & "'!" & "ToggleAddIn"
End With
'Second menues
Set MenuItem = .Controls.Add(type:=msoControlPopup)
With MenuItem
.caption = "&Watch"
With .Controls.Add(type:=msoControlButton)
.caption = "&Start watch"
' .faceId = 71
.OnAction = "'" & ThisWorkbook.name & "'!" & "startWatch"
End With
With .Controls.Add(type:=msoControlButton)
.caption = "&End watch"
' .faceId = 72
.OnAction = "'" & ThisWorkbook.name & "'!" & "DeleteAllwatches"
End With
End With
Set MenuItem = .Controls.Add(type:=msoControlPopup)
With MenuItem
.caption = "&HeartBeat"
With .Controls.Add(type:=msoControlButton)
.caption = "&Start HeartBeat"
' .faceId = 71
.OnAction = "'" & ThisWorkbook.name & "'!" & "heartBeat"
End With
With .Controls.Add(type:=msoControlButton)
.caption = "St&op HeartBeat"
' .faceId = 72
.OnAction = "'" & ThisWorkbook.name & "'!" & "stopHeartBeat"
End With
End With
End With
End Sub

Answer 4

TL;DR - You need to change the tools name and add an & in front of the letter you want to be the hotkey. The shortcut will now be Alt + <first letter following &>.
The above method is the only custom shortcut (a.k.a. Accelerator Key) method that is native to the VBE (if I'm not mistaken). I know this question is old, but it ranks much higher than the actual answer, so I thought I'd leave my results for the next person (which will probably be me again next year).
If you customize the VBE toolbar, you should be able to find a button labeled "Modify Selection" (you might need to click the "Rearrange Commands" button first from the Commands tab for a pop-up window with a working "Modify Selection" button if the button on the Commands tab is grayed out). On the drop-down context menu you'll see a textbox for the tool's name. This is the textbox where you add the & in front of the letter in the name that you want to use as the shortcut key. For effectively the same answer but slightly different procedure/implementation, see this answer: https://stackoverflow.com/a/23954017