How to make a macro that allows the user to choose and open a word file

Question

I have an Excel file and I want to have a macro in it that allows the user to choose any Word File and then open this selected file. Is this possible?

May I know what is the correct way to achieve my objective?

Answer 1

To select the file, you can use Excel Application's .GetOpenFilename method.
The method returns the selected file's full path.

Dim oWFile As String
oWFile = Application.GetOpenFilename("Word File, *.docx")

Now to open the file, you need to get/create an instance of Word.
Meaning you have to bind Word to Excel. Sample below

Dim oWApp As Word.Application
'~~> get instance if already existing
On Error Resume Next
Set oWApp = GetObject(, "Word.Application")
On Error GoTo 0
'~~> create it otherwise
If oWApp Is Nothing Then Set oWApp = CreateObject("Word.Application")
'~~> make sure it is visible
oWApp.Visible = True
'~~> Open the word file using the grabbed/created Word Application Object
'~~> and the full file path we get using the .GetOpenFilename method
oWApp.Documents.Open oWFile

I used Early Binding where in you need to reference the Microsoft Word Object Library.
To do this, in VBE go to Tools > References and select
Microsoft Word 14.0 Object Library (for office 2010).
The number varies depending on the office version.