Learn to use AI at work, with Claude. Yes, at your 9-to-5 desk job. Free in the 9-5 Survivors Lab

Ask Flex / Automating repetitive tasks

Ask Flex

How do you automate Excel reports using macros?

"Everyone says "just use a macro" for my Excel reports. I don't know what that is and I'm scared to ask."You asked Google. Flex answered.
Flex the robot at his sunny office desk pressing one big teal button while the printer beside him fires out a neat stack of identical memos, feet up, coffee in hand, and little Clawd peeking out of the printer's paper tray
Flex's short answer

A macro is Excel recording your mouse clicks and keystrokes once so it can replay them with one click, which is why Microsoft's own example is a monthly report. You press Record Macro on the Developer tab, do the steps once, press Stop Recording, and from then on the macro does them for you.

✱ Flex's tips

Record it once. Replay it monthly.

1

Turn on the Developer tab

It's hidden at first. Microsoft shows how.

2

Practice on a copy

Record on a copy of the file, not the real one.

3

Record one job at a time

Format the totals. Stop. That's one macro.

4

Let AI explain the code

Paste it in. Ask what each line does.

Try this in your own Claude or ChatGPT

I want to record an Excel macro for a report I make every month. Here are the steps I do by hand, in order: [list them]. Tell me, in plain words, exactly what to click to record it, which of my steps will record well and which ones won't, and what to do if the macro stops with an error. I'm on [Windows or Mac].

Before you paste work stuff into any AI, check what your company allows.
Free tool

Hand It Off or Keep It

Ten everyday office tasks, one at a time. Tap whether you'd hand it to AI or keep it. See Flex's call and why. A two-minute game.

Play a round
Flex the robot at his sunny office desk pressing one big teal button while the printer beside him fires out a neat stack of identical memos, feet up, coffee in hand, and little Clawd peeking out of the printer's paper tray
Inside the Lab

Learn this in the Lab, free

A free group where you learn to use Claude for the repeat parts of your job: email, reports, forms. Start with a 15-minute chat that maps what Claude can do in your job.

  • Free
  • No coding
  • Works in Claude
Start free on Skool
✱ What people ask
What's the easiest way to use macros to automate repetitive tasks?

Record one. Developer tab, Record Macro, do the steps once, Stop Recording. No code needed to start.

How do I automate Excel reports using VBA?

VBA is the code behind a macro. Record a macro first, then paste its code into a chat AI and ask for the change you want.

How do I make automated reports in Excel without macros?

Formulas and one clean template get you most of the way. Flex has a page on it.

✱ More from this pile: Automating repetitive tasks
How do you use AI to write a memo?How do you write a memo?Can you use AI to write your report?How do you automate Excel reports?Can I automate my job?How do you automate your job with AI?Should you automate your job?How do you automate administrative tasks?What does "automate repetitive tasks" mean?How do you work smarter, not harder?How do you be more efficient at work?How do you automate using Power Automate? Hand It Off or Keep It
From Nikki's blogFlex tells you how. Nikki tells you what it felt like. Read it on Clawd and Me. Read it →

Want to hand this to Claude?

Start in the Lab with the free 9-to-5 Job Triage: a 15-minute chat that maps what Claude can do in your job. Everything inside is free.

Start free on Skool