Leading the way in Microsoft Office Development

Step 1 - Display the Forms toolbar

Remember that the controls available on the Forms toolbar are only made available for Excel 95 backwards compatibility.

Select (View > Toolbars > Forms) to display the Forms toolbar.

Click on the control that you want to add to the worksheet.

When you hover over a control a screen tip will be displayed to identify the type of control.

As soon as you select a control your mouse pointer will change to a black cross allowing you to place the control.

Step 2 - Adding a Control

When you place the control on the worksheet it will appear with a dotted line around it and will have eight white handles allowing you to resize it.

An alternative way to select a control is to use the "Select Objects" button on the Drawing toolbar and just drag the mouse over the control.

You can delete a control by pressing the Delete key when the control is selected.

You can create a default size control by just clicking on the worksheet.

Step 3 - Adding a Button

Inserting a button will automatically display the Assign Macro dialog box.

When you add a Button to a worksheet you will be automatically prompted to assign a macro. This can be done immediately, at a later stage.

This allows you to select a macro to run when the button is pressed.

This can be done at a later date if the macro has not been written yet.

Step 4 - Selecting Controls

Depending on the type of control you can only select the control when the cursor is displayed as a white cross. Not when then cursor is displayed as a hand.

You can size controls automatically to fit cells by holding down the Alt key as you adjust the size.

Step 5 - Using the Shortcut Menu

When a control is selected you can press the Right mouse button to display a shortcut menu.

Step 6 - Formatting your Control

The Format Control dialog box has four tabs although the first three are the same for all controls.

The Size, Protection and Properties tabs are all discussed in more detail on the Formatting a Control page later in this section.

The Control tab is probably the most important tab as its settings determine the data limits for the control and the cells for any input or output.

This settings on this tab vary depending on which control is selected.

You can link a text box to data in a cell. Select the textbox. Type in the formula bar "=A4" and press Enter ??

Step 7 - Things to Remember

The Forms toolbar is only for backwards compatibility and should not really be used. You should use the Control Toolbox toolbar instead.

To select multiple controls you can use the Shift and Ctrl keys.

You can un-select a control by pressing the ESC key.

When a worksheet control is selected you can press the shortcut key (Ctrl + 1) to display the (Format > Control) dialog box.