## 1. Traditional ways to run VBA code in ExcelBefore you let an AI agent touch your workbooks, you need a solid manual playbook. Here are the most reliable ways to run VBA today.### Method 1: Run a macro from the Developer tab1. Open your macro-enabled workbook (`.xlsm`).2. If you don’t see **Developer** on the ribbon, enable it: - Go to **File > Options > Customize Ribbon**. - Under **Main Tabs**, check **Developer**, click **OK**. (Doc: https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/run-a-macro-in-excel-5e855fd2-02d1-45f5-90a3-50e645fe3155)3. On the **Developer** tab, click **Macros**.4. Select your macro name (for example, `CleanLeadData`).5. Click **Run**.**Best for:** occasional runs, debugging.### Method 2: Run VBA directly from the Visual Basic Editor1. Press **Alt + F11** to open the **Visual Basic Editor (VBE)**.2. In **Project Explorer**, double-click the module that contains your macro.3. Place your cursor anywhere inside the `Sub` you want to run.4. Press **F5**, or go to **Run > Run Sub/UserForm**.**Best for:** development, quick tests, stepping through code with **F8**.### Method 3: Assign VBA to a button on the sheet1. On the **Developer** tab, click **Insert**.2. Under **Form Controls**, choose **Button (Form Control)**.3. Draw the button on your worksheet.4. In the **Assign Macro** dialog, pick your macro and click **OK**.5. Rename the button label (e.g. “Run Daily Cleanup”).Now anyone can run your macro safely with one click.**Best for:** non-technical teammates, recurring workflows.### Method 4: Trigger macros with keyboard shortcuts1. Go to **Developer > Macros**.2. Select your macro and click **Options…**.3. In **Shortcut key**, enter a letter (e.g. `d` for daily report).4. Click **OK**, then **Cancel** to close.Now **Ctrl + d** (Windows) or **Option + Command + d** (Mac) runs your macro, as long as the workbook is open.**Best for:** power users running the same macro all day.### Method 5: Run VBA automatically when a workbook opensSometimes you want reports or cleanup to run the moment a file opens.1. Press **Alt + F11** to open VBE.2. In **Project Explorer**, double-click **ThisWorkbook**.3. Paste a procedure like:```vbaPrivate Sub Workbook_Open() Call CleanLeadDataEnd Sub```4. Save the workbook as **Excel Macro‑Enabled Workbook (.xlsm)**.5. Close and reopen the file; Excel will ask to enable macros, then run `Workbook_Open`.(Microsoft doc: https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/topic/automatically-run-a-macro-when-opening-a-workbook-1e55959b-e077-4c88-a696-c3017600db44)**Pros:** fully hands‑off once opened.**Cons:** can confuse users if something breaks on open.## 2. No-code and low-code automation around VBANow imagine you’re a marketer pulling ad spend from Google Sheets and formatting it in Excel for finance. You can add a thin automation layer without writing more VBA.### Method 6: Use Power Query and macros together1. In Excel, go to **Data > Get Data** to pull from CSVs, databases, or even exported Google Sheets files.2. Build a Power Query to clean/shape raw data.3. Record a macro (via **Developer > Record Macro**) that: - Refreshes all queries. - Applies additional formatting. - Saves or exports a report.4. Stop recording; Excel generates the VBA for you.Now a non‑technical teammate can hit a button and redo your entire pipeline.Docs:- Power Query basics: https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/getting-started-with-query-editor-power-query-7104fbee-9e62-4cb9-a02e-5bfb1a6c536a### Method 7: Use Google Sheets as a live data sourceVBA doesn’t run inside Google Sheets, but Sheets can be your live data front‑end.1. Store raw data, form responses, or campaign logs in Google Sheets.2. Periodically export to Excel or connect via tools like Power Query (from a CSV or published URL).3. In Excel, run your VBA cleanup/reporting macros.4. Push summarized data back to Sheets using manual import, or a connector tool.Docs:- Sheets basics: https://support.google.com/docs/answer/6000292- Publish Sheets data for download: https://support.google.com/docs/answer/37579**Pros:** Sheets stays collaborative; Excel does heavy lifting.**Cons:** Some manual export/import unless automated with tools.### Method 8: Simple no-code schedulersUse schedulers like Power Automate, Make, or Zapier to orchestrate when files are opened or refreshed. While they can’t always *run* VBA directly, they can:- Save new data into a folder where your macro‑enabled workbook reads it.- Notify a user (or an AI agent) to open and run the macro.## 3. Scaling with AI agents (Simular) at the keyboardManual methods are fine until you need to do them every hour, across tens of files, for different clients. This is where an AI computer agent like Simular becomes your operations teammate.### Method 9: Agent-as-operator for Excel macros**What it does:**- Opens Excel on your desktop or cloud workspace.- Ensures macros are enabled (Developer tab, security prompts).- Opens the right `.xlsm` workbook.- Clicks **Developer > Macros**, selects `CleanLeadData`, and runs it.- Waits for completion, then saves and closes.**Pros:**- No code changes to your existing VBA.- Perfect for legacy workbooks your team is afraid to touch.**Cons:**- Requires careful initial recording of the workflow so the agent is deterministic.### Method 10: Multi-app agent: Google Sheets + ExcelFor agencies or sales ops teams, real power comes from chaining Google Sheets and Excel.A Simular agent can:1. Open a Google Sheet with ad or CRM data in the browser.2. Export the data (CSV / Excel) to a watched folder.3. Launch Excel, open your VBA-enabled template.4. Refresh data and run macros for cleaning, pivoting, and charting.5. Save a refreshed workbook and upload a summary tab back into Google Sheets for stakeholders.**Pros:**- End-to-end automation across web and desktop.- Works with your existing Sheets and Excel setups; no need to rebuild.**Cons:**- Needs clear logging and guardrails (which Simular supports via transparent, inspectable action traces).### Method 11: At-scale reporting with webhooks and Simular ProIf you’re ready for production-grade scale:- Trigger a Simular Pro agent via webhook when new data lands (for example, when a data pipeline finishes or a CSV hits cloud storage).- The agent runs through your entire Excel macro workflow, exports final outputs (PDFs, XLSX summaries), and stores them in Google Drive or shares links.Because Simular is designed for workflows with thousands to millions of steps, it can reliably:- Handle dozens of client workbooks.- Retry on transient errors (file locked, network hiccups).- Keep every action transparent, so ops can audit exactly what ran.**Pros:**- True hands‑off operations; you design, the agent executes.- Scales with your book of business, not your headcount.**Cons:**- Requires some upfront design of naming conventions, folder structures, and runbooks so the agent can navigate consistently.Once you’ve mastered the manual techniques, letting an AI agent orchestrate them turns VBA from a fragile script into a dependable engine behind your Google Sheets and Excel workflows.

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