How to make a particular cell mandatory enter before closing workbook?

When you share a workbook to other users for doing a survey which needs the real name registration, for instance, every user under investigation needs to enter their name in B1. But in some times, some users may close the workbook after investigation without entering their names. In this article, I introduce a VBA to make a particular cell mandatory before closing the workbook.

Make a cell mandatory enter with VBA

arrow blue right bubble Make a cell mandatory enter with VBA

1. Enable the workbook that contains the mandatory cell, and press Alt + F11 keys to open Microsoft Visual Basic for Applications window.

2. In the Project pane, double click ThisWorkbook, and go to select Workbook and BeforeClose from right section list, then paste below code to the script. See screenshot:

VBA: Make a cell mandatory

    If Cells(1, 2).Value = "" Then
        MsgBox "Cell B1 requires user input", vbInformation, "Kutools for Excel"
        Cancel = True
    End If

doc mandantory enter 1

3. Then save this code and close this popping window. Now, if the cell B1 is blank when you close the workbook, below dialog will pop out to remind you to enter something in B1. See screenshot:
doc mandantory enter 2

Tip: You can change cell B1 to other cells you want.

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  • To post as a guest, your comment is unpublished.
    Akshay Patil · 1 years ago
    I want to make rows C2 to C7 mandatory and C13 to C19 mandatory?

    Any help?

    2 sets of ranges are here but under the same column.
  • To post as a guest, your comment is unpublished.
    Shea · 2 years ago
    Is there any way that I can Required cell f4 and F5 have data before closing or saving?
    • To post as a guest, your comment is unpublished.
      Sunny · 2 years ago
      Just change B1 to F4 and F5 in the textbox to remind users.
  • To post as a guest, your comment is unpublished.
    zwaeneb · 2 years ago
    Hello, thank you for this formula, it works!

    However, now I have created a template in which several cells are mandatory to fill out. But after creating the template and entering the macro, I cannot close it, because I have to fill out the cells :) So, I cannot send out a template...(where the mandatory cells must still be empty)


    Can you help me?

    Thanks!
    • To post as a guest, your comment is unpublished.
      Ricky I · 5 months ago
      Hi everybody, I found the solution was to pause the macro in the alt+f11 screen. It can then be saved and will restart when next opened. To do this press alt + f11 then in the row of icons above the window (same one as where the little blue file disk icon is) you will see Play, Pause, Stop icons in green and blue (should be under the Debug and Run options). Click the middle pause button then you can save.
    • To post as a guest, your comment is unpublished.
      Rick · 5 months ago
      Hi everybody, I found the solution was to pause the macro in the alt+f11 screen. It can then be saved and will restart when next opened. To do this press alt + f11 then in the row of icons above the window (same one as where the little blue file disk icon is) you will see Play, Pause, Stop icons in green and blue (should be under the Debug and Run options). Click the middle pause button then you can save.
    • To post as a guest, your comment is unpublished.
      Sally · 11 months ago
      I have this same issue. Is there a way to make a cell mandatory but blank for a template?
    • To post as a guest, your comment is unpublished.
      M · 1 years ago
      I'm interested in this also, thanks!
    • To post as a guest, your comment is unpublished.
      zagreb · 2 years ago
      Any update on this?
  • To post as a guest, your comment is unpublished.
    Shabaaz · 3 years ago
    Did you ever fined an answer to this?
    • To post as a guest, your comment is unpublished.
      Sunny · 2 years ago
      Sorry, which question do you mean?
  • To post as a guest, your comment is unpublished.
    ashley · 3 years ago
    how do i make column D16-D300 mandatory if column B16-300 has values? I used the code below for row 16 and tried variations but it is not working. any help is greatly appreciated!


    'us business as a mandatory field- need to fix if none are there and window pops up

    Private Sub Workbook_BeforeClose(Cancel As Boolean)
    'Step 1: Check to see if Cell A1 is blank
    If Sheets("Sensitive Leave Tracker").Range("B16").Value "" And Sheets("Sensitive Leave Tracker").Range("D16").Value = "" Then

    'Step 2: Blank: cancel the Close and tell the user
    Cancel = True
    MsgBox "Cant close field required"
    'Step 3: Not Blank; Save and Close
    Else
    ActiveWorkbook.Close SaveChanges:=True

    End If
    End Sub
    • To post as a guest, your comment is unpublished.
      Sunny · 2 years ago
      Hello, sorry to reply so late. Here is the macro code you may be need. If it works, please let me know. Thanks!

      If Application.WorksheetFunction.CountA(Range("B16:B300")) > 0 Then

      If Application.WorksheetFunction.CountA(Range("D16:D300")) <> Range("D16:D300").Count Then

      MsgBox "Cell D16:D300 requires user input", vbInformation, "Kutools for Excel"

      Cancel = True

      End If

      End If