Syntax

expression.ScreenUpdating

expression A variable that represents an Application object.

Remarks

Turn screen updating off to speed up your macro code. You won't be able to see what the macro is doing, but it will run faster.

Remember to set the ScreenUpdating property back to True when your macro ends.

Example

This example demonstrates how turning off screen updating can make your code run faster. The example hides every other column on Sheet1, while keeping track of the time it takes to do so. The first time the example hides the columns, screen updating is turned on; the second time, screen updating is turned off. When you run this example, you can compare the respective running times, which are displayed in the message box.

Visual Basic for Applications 
Dim elapsedTime(2) Application.ScreenUpdating = True For i = 1 To 2 If i = 2 Then Application.ScreenUpdating = False startTime = Time Worksheets("Sheet1").Activate For Each c In ActiveSheet.Columns If c.Column Mod 2 = 0 Then c.Hidden = True End If Next c stopTime = Time elapsedTime(i) = (stopTime - startTime) * 24 * 60 * 60 Next i Application.ScreenUpdating = True MsgBox "Elapsed time, screen updating on: " & elapsedTime(1) & _ " sec." & Chr(13) & _ "Elapsed time, screen updating off: " & elapsedTime(2) & _ " sec."
Freeze screen changes while running a macro? screen screen updating Screen updating property screenupdating ScreenUpdating property Speedup macro execution? Turn off screen updates during macro execution?

See also: