Home > Skills > Data Entry > Scroll Bar Select Date With Excel Scroll Use a scroll bar to change the end date for a summary report. Quickly scroll through data, without using any macros

Introduction

In Excel, you can add a Scroll Bar, and use it to change the values in worksheet cells. In this example, the Scroll Bar will change the end date in a summary report, so you can scroll through the months, and see the data change.

This technique does not require any programming.

Set up the Workbook

In this example, there is a data table, with sales order information.

A pivot table is on a separate worksheet, and is based on the sales order table. The order month is in the row area, region is in the column area, and quantity is in the values area.

Create a List of Dates

On a separate worksheet, named AdminDates, you'll set up a list of dates, and named cells to calculate which date has been selected in the scroll bar.

In this example, we want to be able to scroll to any date in the past 12 months, so you'll use formulas to create a list of 12 month end dates:

1. In column E, enter the numbers 1 to 12, in descending order.
2. In cell F2, enter the following formula, to calculate the last date in the current month:

   =DATE(YEAR(TODAY()),MONTH(TODAY())+1,1)-1

3. In cell F3, enter the following formula, to calculate the last date in the previous month

   =DATE(YEAR(F2),MONTH(F2),1)-1

4. Select cell F3, and copy its formula down to cell F13, to create a list of 12 month end dates.

   

Create the Date Cells

The scroll bar will be linked to a cell, so you'll name a cell on the AdminDates worksheet.

1. On the AdminDates worksheet, in cells B2:C3, enter labels for the scroll bar date cells, and put borders around cells C2:C3.

   

2. Select cell C2, and name it as ScrollBarSel.
3. Name cell C3 as DateSel

   

4. Type the number 12 in cell C2 -- later, the Scroll Bar will automatically put a number in this cell
5. In cell C3, enter the following INDEX / MATCH formula, to pull the selected date from the list of dates. This will find the selected number in column E, and return the date from that row.

   =INDEX(F2:F13,MATCH(ScrollBarSel,E2:E13,0))

6. Format cell C3 as a date, so you can check that the correct date is showing

   

Set Up the Summary Sheet

On another sheet, named Summary, set up a table where you can show three months of data, and a total.

1. You'll add formulas in the next step, and for now, just type dates in the heading row, and put fake numbers in the value cells.
2. Add SUM formulas in the Total column and Total row, to calculate the monthly totals and region totals.

TIP: After you enter the fake numbers, select cells C6:F8, and click the AutoSum command on the Ribbon, to automatically create the SUM formulas.

Add Formulas to the Table Headings

You can add formulas to the summary table headings, so they show the selected date range.

1. On the Summary sheet, in cell E5, type a formula to link to the selected date cell:

   =DateSel

2. In cell C5, type a formula to calculate the previous month's end date, and copy across to cell D5:

   =DATE(YEAR(D5),MONTH(D5),1)-1

Add Formulas to the Value Cells

Next, you'll add formulas to the value cells in the summary table, to pull data from the pivot table..

1. Select cell C6 in the summary table, and type an equal sign.
2. Switch to the pivot table sheet, and click on the first quantity for the East region. A GETPIVOTDATA formula will be automatically created. (If not, change your pivot table settings, to allow Generate GetPivotData.)

   

3. Press Enter, to complete the GETPIVOTDATA formula. I've added line breaks in this example, to make the formula easier to read. The formula refers to a specific date and region, and you'll change those to cell references.

   

4. In the formula, select "East", including the quote marks, and click on cell B6, where the East label is. Add a $ in front of the B, to make the column an absolute reference -- $B6.

   

5. Next, change the DATE formula within the GETPIVOTDATA formula, so it refers to the date heading in cell C5. For this reference, use an absolute reference to the row, and a relative reference to the column -- C$5

   DATE(YEAR(C$5),MONTH(C$5),DAY(C$5))



6. Next, wrap the GETPIVOTDATA formula with an ERRORIF formula, and return a 0 if there is an error. Here is the final formula.

   =IFERROR(GETPIVOTDATA("Quantity",'Region Pivot'!$B$3, "OrderMth",DATE(YEAR(C$5),MONTH(C$5),DAY(C$5)), "Region",$B6),0)

7. Finally, copy the formula across to column E, and down to row 7, to complete the table.

   

8. The table will show the correct quantity for each month and region.

Add the Scroll Bar

Next, follow these steps to add the scroll bar, and link it to the date cell:

1. On the Ribbon's Developer tab, click Insert, and under Form Controls, click Scroll Bar

   

2. On the Summary sheet, above the date headings, draw a scroll bar.
3. Right-click on the scroll bar, and click Format Control
4. In the Format Control window, on the Control tab, change the settings so the values are:
   • Current Value: 1
   • Minimum Value: 1
   • Maximum Value: 12
   • Incremental Change: 1
   • Page Change: 3
   • Cell Link: ScrollBarSel
5. Click OK, to complete the settings

Use the Scroll Bar

Before you can test the Scroll bar, click on the worksheet, to unselect the Scroll bar.

Then, to use the Scroll Bar:

• click the arrow at either end of the Scroll Bar, to go up or down 1 month
• drag the scroll box, to move quickly through the months
• click in the Scroll Bar, to go up or down a page (3 months)

Add a Dynamic Chart and Title

To enhance the report, you can add a chart, based on the three months of data. This video shows how to create the chart, and how to add a worksheet title that shows the selected date range.

The chart title is linked to the worksheet title cell, so it also updates when the date range is changed. The formula in the heading cell uses the TEXT function to format the dates::

="Sales Summary - " & TEXT(C5,"mmm-yy") & " to " &TEXT(E5,"mmm-yy")

Get the Sample File

To download the zipped sample file, in xlsx format, click here: Scroll Bar Date Selector

There are no macros in the file.

More Tutorials

INDEX / MATCH formula

TEXT function

GetPivotData