The Problem (Q-score 11, ranked #39th of 303 in the Excel VBA archive)
The scenario as originally posted in 2010
I am writing a function to export data to Excel using the Office Interop in VB .NET. I am currently writing the cells directly using the Excel worksheet’s Cells() method:
worksheet.Cells(rowIndex, colIndex) = data(rowIndex)(colIndex)
This is taking a long time for large amounts of data. Is there a faster way to write a lot of data to Excel at once? Would doing something with ranges be faster?
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 %%) (+24)
9-line Excel VBA pattern (copy-ready)
You should avoid reading and writing cell by cell if you can. It is much faster to work with arrays, and read or write entire blocks at once. I wrote a post a while back on reading from worksheets using C#; basically, the same code works the other way around (see below), and will run much faster, especially with larger blocks of data.
var sheet = (Worksheet)Application.ActiveSheet;
var range = sheet.get_Range("A1", "B2");
var data = new string[3,3];
data[0, 0] = "A1";
data[0, 1] = "B1";
data[1, 0] = "A2";
data[1, 1] = "B2";
range.Value2 = data;
Loop-performance notes specific to this pattern
The loop in the answer iterates in process. On a 2026 Office build, setting Application.ScreenUpdating = False and Application.Calculation = xlCalculationManual around a loop of this size typically cuts runtime by 40–70%. Re-enable both in the Exit handler.
When to Use It — vintage (14+ years old, pre-2013)
Ranked #39th in its category — specialized fit
This pattern sits in the 93% 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 2010 and 2026
The answer is 16 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.