What is Excel VBA Login Form?
An Excel VBA login form is a user interface created within Microsoft Excel using VBA code to manage user authentication and access control. It is often used in scenarios where you want to restrict access to certain parts of an Excel workbook or to perform specific actions only when a user is properly authenticated. The form typically consists of input fields for the user to enter their username and password. There might be additional controls like buttons for submitting the login credentials and maybe a “Forgot Password” link.
Consider the following example:
We have built a UserForm and customized it. To the Command Button “Click Here,” we add the following VBA Login Form code. To the Command Button “Click Here”, we add the following VBA Login Form code.
If this login form is run, you’ll get a prompt to enter your Username and Password.
Table of Contents
Key Takeaways
- A VBA login form is created within Microsoft Excel to manage user authentication and access control to sensitive data or functionalities within the workbook.
- It typically includes input fields for username and password, along with buttons for submitting login credentials and possibly a “Forgot Password” option.
- Behind the form, the VBA code handles authentication logic, including verifying entered credentials against predefined usernames and passwords.
- Upon successful authentication, the VBA code controls access to specific sheets, cells, or functionalities within the workbook based on user roles and permissions.
- VBA login forms have limitations in security compared to dedicated authentication systems, so sensitive data should be handled cautiously.
How Does the Form Work?
Behind the form, you write VBA code to handle the logic of the login process. It includes checking the entered credentials against a predefined set of usernames and passwords, verifying the user’s identity and granting access or denying it based on the authentication result. Once the user is authenticated, you can use VBA to control access to specific sheets, cells, or other elements within the Excel workbook. For example, you might only allow certain users to edit specific ranges or execute specific macros.
How to Create a VBA Login User Form?
Learn how to create a VBA Login UserForm by following the steps below.
Step 1: Open the VBA Workbook and choose the “Developer” icon. Then go to the far left and select “Visual Basic.”
It opens the Excel VBA Editor. Insert a UserForm by clicking on “Insert” on the toolbar and selecting “UserForm” from the dropdown menu.
A blank UserForm is created with which you can create a Login Form.
Step 2: Protect the Worksheet of your choice beforehand in a module.
Create a subroutine to protect “Sheet1” and provide a password.
Step 3: Customize the UserForm in VBA to accept input from the user and check it with the password to unprotect the sheet.
Step 4: Change the properties of the UserForm, as shown.
Step 5: Create a frame encompassing the email and password textboxes and edit.
Step 6: Edit the names of the textboxes for the name of the email and password.
Step 7: Insert a command button and edit its properties.
The UserForm currently looks like this.
Step 8: Edit the VBA Login Code in the command button.
Step 9: Get the values of the username and the password from the text boxes.
Step 10: Define an If condition if the login details are correct. This will unprotect the sheet and close the User Form. Both the username and password can be checked using an If condition. With the VBA And function, you can check if both the values for the username and the password given by the user are correct or not.
Unload is the function used to close an object or in this case, the UserForm. There is no need for the User Form to be up after you’ve entered the details. The form will close after the MsgBox function is printed.
Step 11: Declare an Else condition in case your credentials are incorrect.
This returns a Message Box printing that the credentials are invalid. You can retry as many times as possible.
Code:
Private Sub Login_Click()
username = emailbox.value
password = pwdbox.value
If (username = “admin@example.com” And password = “vba123”) Then
MsgBox “Unprotected sheet!”
ThisWorkbook.Sheets(“Sheet1”).Unprotect
Unload Me
Else
MsgBox “Invalid credentials. Please try again.”
End If
End Sub
Step 9: Run the User Form and type in the credentials.
Sheet1 is unprotected. Now you can edit, add and delete values to your preference.
Example For Creating Login User Form
See an interesting example where you can hide and unhide worksheets using the VBA Login Form.
Suppose you have built a VBA subroutine to hide “Sheet2.” You need to provide granular access to that specific sheet. You can do that by creating a VBA Login Form.
From the VBA Login Form download, you can customize the Login Form to your preferences.
Edit the “Visible” property of the Worksheet as “xlSheetVeryHidden”. This ensures that you cannot see “Sheet2” unless the owner of the Workbook wants you to.
This adds an extra layer of security to your VBA workbook. By making the sheet invisible, other users may not be aware of the hidden sheet while using it or when it is shared with them.
Step 1: Select “Insert” from the Excel VBA Editor’s toolbar and then select “UserForm” from the drop-down.
It creates a blank UserForm.
Step 2: Customize the properties of the UserForm.
Step 3: Insert a new Label into the User Form and customize its properties.
Step 4: Customize the font of the label by double-clicking the “Font” part of the properties tab.
The size of the font is set to 14. The User Form looks like this.
Step 5: Create two buttons “Yes” and “No”. Both of the buttons will serve some functionality.
Step 6: Customize the “Yes” button’s properties.
Step 7: Similarly, customize the properties of the “No” command button.
The User Form currently looks as shown below.
Step 8: Edit the functionalities of the “No” command button by double-clicking on the command button.
Step 9: Print a Message Box saying that the access is denied if the user cannot provide the password.
Close the User Form using the Unload property. “Me” refers to the current UserForm.
Step 10: Go back to the UserForm and edit the functionalities of the “Yes” command button.
Step 11: Get the user’s input using an InputBox function.
Set the question as a string and also set the title with the ‘,’ as a delimiter between the two values in the InputBox bracket.
Step 12: Check if the password entered by the user matches or not using an If condition.
Step 13: Set the visible component of the Worksheet function in VBA with the keyword “xlSheetVisible.”
Step 14: Print a Message Box to show that the process is completed. Then, close the UserForm.
End the If conditional statement.
Code:
For the “No” button
Private Sub CommandButton2_Click()
MsgBox “You can’t view the sheet!”
Unload Me
End Sub
For the “Yes” button
Private Sub CommandButton1_Click()
password = Application.InputBox(“Enter the Password”, “View Sheet2”)
If password = “2345” Then
ThisWorkbook.Worksheets(“Sheet2”).Visible = xlSheetVisible
MsgBox (“Logged in Successfully!”)
Unload Me
End If
End Sub
Step 15: Press “F5” or the green arrow button to run the UserForm. It is as shown below.
If you click “No” in the VBA Login Form:
The UserForm then closes. But if you click on the “yes” button.
After entering the password, you get.
If you go to the WorkBook, you can see that “Sheet1” is visible.
The UserForm then closes. With that, you’ve successfully hidden a worksheet and unhidden it using a VBA Login Form.
You can make use of the VBA Login Form download to save your templates. By exporting it locally, you need not create a new UserForm from scratch all the time.
Important Things To Note
- Use secure methods to authenticate users, such as password hashing or encryption.
- Ensure that user input is validated and sanitized to prevent injection attacks.
- Encrypt or obfuscate sensitive data stored in the workbook.
- Regularly update passwords, restrict access to sensitive modules, and audit access logs.
- Avoid storing passwords directly in the VBA code or workbook. Instead, use secure methods like hashing.
- Ensure that only authorized users have access to sensitive functions and data.
- Avoid exposing sensitive information through error messages or debugging features.
- Ensure the login form is user-friendly and intuitive while maintaining security measures.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Yes. You can customize the appearance of a VBA Login Form. Since it is built from a UserForm, You can customize its appearance to your wishes by changing its properties in the Properties tab.
To add a “Forgot Password” feature, you can add the following features.
● Create a Password Reset form
● Generate a new password with any logic.
● Show the new password to the user.
● Update the new password in the Login Form.
Yes, you can restrict access to specific sheets or workbooks using a VBA Login form. You can hide sheets, which can only be viewed with a password, or you can also unprotect protected sheets to edit values.
To prevent unauthorised access if someone bypasses your Login Form, you can follow these steps:
● Lock sensitive sheets with password protection.
● Encrypt sensitive data within the workbook.
● Utilize digital signatures for workbook integrity.
● Monitor and restrict VBA project access.
● Implement multi-factor authentication.
● Regularly review and update access controls.
● Limit sharing and distribution of the workbook.
Recommended Articles
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