VBA UBound Function

UBOUND or also known as Upper Bound, this function in VBA is used with its opposite function which LBOUND or also known as Lower Bound function, the use of this function is to define the length of an array in a code and as the name suggests UBOUND is used to define the upper limit of the array.

How do you tell the maximum length of the array in excel? Yes, we can manually see and update the maximum length of the array but if you are doing it all these while then today is the end of it because we have a function called UBOUND to determine the maximum length of the array. Follow this article to have more knowledge of UBOUND function in Excel VBA.

UBOUND stands for Upper Bound. Often times in coding we may require to find the maximum length of the array. For example, MyResult(24) means array name MyResult holds 25 values to it because array starts from zero, not from one. So 24 means +1 i.e. totally 25 values.

Here the maximum length of the array is 24, instead of supplying the array length manually we can use the built-in function UBOUND to get the maximum length of the array.

The code is: UBOUND (MyResult) i.e. UBOUND (24)

So Excel VBA UBOUND function represents the upper bound of array size.

How to use the VBA UBound Function in Excel?

The formula of VBA UBOUND is very simple because it has only two parameters to it.

UBound (Arrayname [,Dimension])

Array Name: This is the name of the array name we have defined. For example, in the above example, MyResult is the array name.
[Dimension]: If the array has more than one dimension then we need to specify the dimension of the array. If you ignore it will treat the first dimension by default.

The Excel VBA UBOUND function is very useful in determining the length of the loops while running the loops.

Examples of UBOUND Function in Excel VBA

Below are the practical examples of the VBA UBound Function.

You can download this VBA UBound Function Template here – VBA UBound Function Template

Example #1

To start the proceedings let me write the simple code. Follow the below steps to apply VBA UBOUND function.

Step 1: Start the excel macro and define the variable name.

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Code:

Sub Ubound_Example1()
    Dim ArrayLength(0 To 4) As String

Step 2: I will assign values to this array name.

Code:

Sub Ubound_Example1()
  Dim ArrayLength(0 To 4) As String
  ArrayLength(0) = "Hi"
  ArrayLength(1) = "Friend"
  ArrayLength(2) = "Welcome"
  ArrayLength(3) = "to"
  ArrayLength(4) = "VBA Class"
End Sub

Step 3: Now using a message box with UBOUND function we will see the maximum length of the array.

Code:

Sub Ubound_Example1()
  Dim ArrayLength(0 To 4) As String
  ArrayLength(0) = "Hi"
  ArrayLength(1) = "Friend"
  ArrayLength(2) = "Welcome"
  ArrayLength(3) = "to"
  ArrayLength(4) = "VBA Class"
  MsgBox "Upper Bound Length is: " & UBound(ArrayLength)
End Sub

Step 4: Run this code, by pressing the F5 key or you can also run code manually as shown in the below screenshot.

the message box will show you the upper bound number of the array will be shown in the message box.

Like this using Excel VBA UBOUND function, we can get the upper bound length of an array.

Example #2 – Using the Excel VBA UBOUND Function to Copy the Data

Assume you have a list of data in one excel sheet like the below one.

This data is going to update on a daily basis and you need to copy this data to the new sheet every time it updates. Updating this manually will take a considerable amount of time in your workplace but I will show you simple macro code to automate this.

Step 1: Create a macro and define the array variable.

Code:

Sub Ubound_Example2()
  Dim DataRange() As Variant
End Sub

Step 2: Now activate the datasheet by refereeing to its name.

Code:

Sub Ubound_Example2()
    Dim DataRange() As Variant
    Sheets("Data Sheet").Activate
End Sub

Step 3: Now assign the data range to the defined variable by using the below code.

Code:

Sub Ubound_Example2()
    Dim DataRange() As Variant
    Sheets("Data Sheet").Activate
    DataRange = Range("A2", Range("A1").End(xlDown).End(xlToRight))
End Sub

Step 4: Now add a new worksheet to the workbook.

Code:

Sub Ubound_Example2()
    Dim DataRange() As Variant
    Sheets("Data Sheet").Activate
    DataRange = Range("A2", Range("A1").End(xlDown).End(xlToRight))    
    Worksheets.Add
End Sub

Step 5: Now add the data to the newly added sheet by using Excel VBA UBOUND function in the form of the below code.

Code:

Sub Ubound_Example2()
    Dim DataRange() As Variant
    Sheets("Data Sheet").Activate
    DataRange = Range("A2", Range("A1").End(xlDown).End(xlToRight))     
    Worksheets.Add    
    Range(ActiveCell, ActiveCell.Offset(UBound(DataRange, 1) - 1, UBound(DataRange, 2) - 1)) = DataRange
End Sub

The above code will offset the cells by the maximum length returned by the UBOUND function and this range will be equal to the value of the array name “DataRange”

Step 6: Now run this code it will paste the value to the new sheet.

This code is a dynamic one because even when the data increases horizontally and vertically it will automatically take the range. Now I will add some dummy lines to the data.

Now I will once again run this code, it will now add the newly added lines as well.

Code:

Sub Ubound_Example2()
    Dim DataRange() As Variant
    Sheets("Data Sheet").Activate
    DataRange = Range("A2", Range("A1").End(xlDown).End(xlToRight))   
    Worksheets.Add   
    Range(ActiveCell, ActiveCell.Offset(UBound(DataRange, 1) - 1, UBound(DataRange, 2) - 1)) = DataRange  
    Erase DataRange
End Sub

Things to Remember

UBOUND returns the maximum length of the array.
The array starts from 0, not from 1.
If you want the lower value of the array then you need to use LBOUND.
If the array has more than one dimension then you need to specify the dimension number as well.