How to Insert Double or Single Quotes

calendar_today Asked Jun 30, 2010
thumb_up 21 upvotes
history Updated April 16, 2026

Question posted 2010 · +10 upvotes

I have a long list of names that I need to have quotes around (it can be double or single quotes) and I have about 8,000 of them. I have them in Excel without any quotes and I can copy all of the names and paste them no problem but there are still no quotes. I have looked and looked for an Excel formula to add quotes to the name in each row but I have had no luck. I have also tried some clever find and replace techniques but no have worked either. The format I am looking for is this:

“Allen” or ‘Allen’

Any of those would work. I need this so I can store the info into a database. Any help is greatly appreciated. Thanks

[b]PS:[/b]

I have found other people online needing the same thing done that I need done and this solution has worked for them but I do not know what do with it:

You can fix it by using a range variable (myCell for example) and then use that to iterate the ‘selection’ collection of range objects, like so

Sub AddQuote()
Dim myCell As Range
    For Each myCell In Selection
        If myCell.Value <> "" Then
            myCell.Value = Chr(34) & myCell.Value
        End If
    Next myCell
End Sub

Another solution that also worked for others was:

Sub OneUglyExport()

Dim FileToSave, c As Range, OneBigOleString As String

FileToSave = Application.GetSaveAsFilename

Open FileToSave For Output As #1

For Each c In Selection

If Len(c.Text) <> 0 Then _

    OneBigOleString = OneBigOleString & ", " & Chr(34) & Trim(c.Text) & Chr(34)

Next

Print #1, Mid(OneBigOleString, 3, Len(OneBigOleString))

Close #1

End Sub

Accepted answer +21 upvotes

To Create New Quoted Values from Unquoted Values

  • Column A contains the names.
  • Put the following formula into Column B = """" & A1 & """"
  • Copy Column B and Paste Special -> Values

Using a Custom Function

Public Function Enquote(cell As Range, Optional quoteCharacter As String = """") As Variant
    Enquote = quoteCharacter & cell.value & quoteCharacter
End Function

=OfficePersonal.xls!Enquote(A1)

=OfficePersonal.xls!Enquote(A1, "'")

To get permanent quoted strings, you will have to copy formula values and paste-special-values.

Excel VBA objects referenced (5)

  • Application — Using events with the Application object
  • Application — Working with Other Applications
  • Range — Refer to Cells by Using a Range Object
  • Range — Delete Duplicate Entries in a Range
  • Selection — Working with the Selection Object

Top excel-vba Q&A (6)

+21 upvotes ranks this answer #18 out of 136 excel-vba solutions on this site — top 13%.