Excel: Scalar product of two ranges

Q: Why does this sit in the top quartile of Excel VBA answers?

Answer score +17 vs the Excel VBA archive median ~5; this entry is strong. The score plus 11 supporting upvotes on the question itself (+11) means the asker and 16 subsequent voters all validated the approach.

Q: Which Excel VBA pattern ranks just above this one at #56?

The pattern one rank above is “Is there any way I can speed up this VBA algorithm?”. If your use case overlaps, compare both before committing.

The Problem (Q-score 11, ranked #57th of 303 in the Excel VBA archive)

The scenario as originally posted in 2014

I am trying to find a proper way to calculate the scalar product of two ranges. For instance, the product of A1:A3 and B1:B3 would be A1*B1 + A2*B2 + A3*B3. Is there a good way to do this? Hardcoding this calculation is quite a tedious thing to do with large ranges.

Why community consensus is tight on this one

Across 303 Excel VBA entries in the archive, the accepted answer here holds strong answer (top 25 %%) status — meaning voters are unusually aligned on the right fix.

The Verified Solution — strong answer (top 25 %%) (+17)

Verbal answer — walkthrough without a code block

Note: the verified answer is a prose walkthrough. If you need a runnable sample, check Excel VBA entries ranked in the top 10 of the same archive.

Use this one

=SUMPRODUCT(A1:A3,B1:B3)

When to Use It — classic (2013–2016)

Ranked #57th in its category — specialized fit

This pattern sits in the 95% tail relative to the top answer. Reach for it when your scenario closely matches the question title; otherwise browse the Excel VBA archive for a higher-consensus alternative.

What changed between 2014 and 2026

The answer is 12 years old. The Excel VBA object model has been stable across Office 2013, 2016, 2019, 2021, 365, and 2024/2026 LTSC, so the pattern still compiles. Changes that might affect you: 64-bit API declarations (use PtrSafe), blocked macros in downloaded files (Mark-of-the-Web), and the shift toward Office Scripts for web-first workflows.

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Frequently Asked Questions

Why does this sit in the top quartile of Excel VBA answers?
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Answer score +17 vs the Excel VBA archive median ~5; this entry is strong. The score plus 11 supporting upvotes on the question itself (+11) means the asker and 16 subsequent voters all validated the approach.

The answer has no code block — how do I turn it into a snippet?
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Use the walkthrough above as a checklist, then open a top-10 Excel VBA archive entry for a concrete starting template you can adapt.

Published around 2014 — what’s changed since?
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Published 2014, which is 12 year(s) before today’s Office 2026 build. The Excel VBA object model has had no breaking changes in that window. Three things to re-test: (1) blocked macros on downloaded files (Mark-of-the-Web), (2) 64-bit API declarations (PtrSafe, LongPtr), (3) any shift toward Office Scripts for web scenarios.

Which Excel VBA pattern ranks just above this one at #56?
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The pattern one rank above is “Is there any way I can speed up this VBA algorithm?”. If your use case overlaps, compare both before committing.

Data source: Community-verified Q&A snapshot. Q-score 11, Answer-score 17, original post 2014, ranked #57th of 303 in the Excel VBA archive. Last regenerated April 14, 2026.