Please Note: This article is written for users of the following Microsoft Word versions: 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, and Word in Microsoft 365. If you are using an earlier version (Word 2003 or earlier), this tip may not work for you. For a version of this tip written specifically for earlier versions of Word, click here: Understanding the While...Wend Structure.
Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated November 1, 2021)
This tip applies to Word 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, and Word in Microsoft 365
Macros in Word are written in a language called VBA. Like other programming languages, VBA includes certain programming structures that are used to control how the program executes. One of these structures is the While...Wend structure. This structure has the following syntax:
Please Note:
This article is written for users of the following Microsoft Word versions: 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, and Word in Microsoft 365. If you are using an earlier version (Word 2003 or earlier), this tip may not work for you. For a version of this tip written specifically for earlier versions of Word, click here:
While condition
program statements
Wend
When a macro is executing and this structure is encountered, the language tests whatever condition you have defined. You can see examples of conditions in many of the macros used in WordTips. If the condition is true, then the program statements between the While and Wend statements are executed. If the condition is not true, execution of the macro continues with the program line following the Wend statement. If the condition is true when Wend is encountered, the macro will loop back up to the While statement and keep executing the loop until the condition becomes false.
Note:
WordTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Word training. (Microsoft Word is the most popular word processing software in the world.) This tip (11518) applies to Microsoft Word 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, and Word in Microsoft 365. You can find a version of this tip for the older menu interface of Word here: Understanding the While...Wend Structure.
Learning Made Easy! Quickly teach yourself how to format, publish, and share your content using Word 2013. With Step by Step, you set the pace, building and practicing the skills you need, just when you need them! Check out Microsoft Word 2013 Step by Step today!
You can make running macros very easy if you assign a shortcut key to the macro. This tip demonstrates how easy it is to ...
Discover MoreIf you develop a macro to process your document, you may want the macro to save the document to disk. This is easily done ...
Discover MoreTypographical measurements are often expressed in points. There are several formatting settings that, when accessed ...
Discover MoreFREE SERVICE: Get tips like this every week in WordTips, a free productivity newsletter. Enter your address and click "Subscribe."
2021-11-04 22:20:37
Tomek
Correction:
You can also exit loop in the middle, e.g., using "If condition Then Exit Do"
2021-11-04 22:13:58
Tomek
The While...Wend loop is not very flexible. it is better to use Do ... Loop in case you need additional logic within the loop. In one form:
Do While condition
... program statements ...
Loop
it is essentially the same.
However the condition test can come at the beginning (Do While condition or Do Until condition)
or at the end (Loop {While | Until} condition.
You can also exit loop in the middle, e.g., using "If condition Then Exit Loop"
Got a version of Word that uses the ribbon interface (Word 2007 or later)? This site is for you! If you use an earlier version of Word, visit our WordTips site focusing on the menu interface.
Visit the WordTips channel on YouTube
FREE SERVICE: Get tips like this every week in WordTips, a free productivity newsletter. Enter your address and click "Subscribe."
Copyright © 2025 Sharon Parq Associates, Inc.
Comments