how to lock keyboard in excel vba

Question

vba coading to lock keyboard entry in excel vba text box input and allow only bar code scanner input

Answer 1

Dear @eepurchasekoradi,

Good day. Thank you for posting your question in the Microsoft Q&A forum!

As per your description, I understand you're looking to lock user input in an Excel VBA text box so that it only accepts input from a barcode scanner.

In this case, to ensure that you get professional help, I suggest you post on the Office VBA support and feedback for expert assistance. This is a specific channel related to VBA support. Please refer to the guidance in the article to obtain the best possible support.

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I appreciate your patience and understanding and thank you for your time and cooperation. Please feel free to reply below if you have any update or further concern.  

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Answer 2

To lock keyboard input in an Excel VBA TextBox and allow only barcode scanner input, you can use the KeyPress event of the TextBox control. This event allows you to filter the input based on the ASCII values of the characters. Typically, barcode scanners send input as a series of characters followed by an Enter key press.

Here’s an example of how you can implement this:

Private Sub TextBox1_KeyPress(ByVal KeyAscii As MSForms.ReturnInteger)
    ' Allow only numeric characters (ASCII 48-57) and control characters (like Enter)
    If Not (KeyAscii >= 48 And KeyAscii <= 57) And KeyAscii <> vbKeyReturn Then
        KeyAscii = 0 ' Cancel the key press
    End If
End Sub

In this code:

• The KeyPress event checks if the pressed key is a numeric character (ASCII values 48 to 57) or the Enter key.
• If the key pressed is not allowed, it sets KeyAscii to 0, effectively canceling the input.

Make sure to replace TextBox1 with the actual name of your TextBox control. This way, the TextBox will only accept input from a barcode scanner that typically sends numeric values.

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References:

• Getting started with VBA in Office