How do I ignore the first row in an Excel macro that deletes all rows based on a criteria?

Question

This macro is designed to compare the data in column C and D and if C does not match D in a certain row, it deletes the entire tow. The problem is that it deletes the header

Answer 1

If you use a descriptive variable naming, eg. rename i into iRow you will never forget that this is your row counter, that is counting from row 9999 to row 1 in For iRow = 9999 To 1 Step -1. So you need to change the 1 into a 2 to omit the first row.

I recommend to use a dynamic start for your loop that automatically finds the last used row. This prevents unnecessary loop steps and you don't need to increase it for larger worksheets.

Option Explicit

Public Sub DeleteNonMatchingRows()
    Dim LastRow As Long
    LastRow = Cells(Rows.Count, "C").End(xlUp).Row 'find last used row in column C

    Dim iRow As Long
    For iRow = LastRow To 2 Step -1 
        If Range("C" & iRow) <> Range("D" & iRow) Then
            'Range("C" & iRow).EntireRow.Delete
             Rows(iRow).Delete 'directy delete a row
        End If
    Next iRow
End Sub