The question that user ProfessionalOk4935 raises is one every spreadsheet veteran has to face eventually: when does a trusted tool become a crutch? Our view is clear, you are not behind the curve, but you are at a decision point. VBA remains powerful for specific, file-level automation tasks, like stitching together reports across multiple workbooks or generating email bodies from cell data. However, the tools you're hearing about, Power Query and dynamic arrays, are not replacements for VBA in every case. They are replacements for the *majority* of cases, and that distinction matters.
What this means in practical terms is that your VBA skills are not obsolete, but they are becoming specialized. Power Query handles data ingestion, transformation, and merging from dozens of sources with a visual interface that requires no programming. Dynamic arrays like `FILTER`, `SORT`, and `UNIQUE` let you build formulas that spill results across cells, eliminating the need for loops and helper columns. For the day-to-day work of cleaning, reshaping, and summarizing data, which is what most spreadsheet automation is, these tools are faster, easier to debug, and more maintainable than VBA. If you are spending three hours writing a macro to do what Power Query can do in three clicks, you are not behind the curve; you are working harder than you need to.
The key insight from the discussion is that the most effective users do not abandon VBA entirely. They reserve it for the edge cases that the modern toolset cannot handle cleanly: automating Outlook, interacting with the file system, or building complex UI interactions. For everything else, they lean on Power Query and dynamic arrays because those tools are designed for the problems spreadsheets were always meant to solve. The question is not whether to drop VBA, but whether you are using it for tasks that a newer, more accessible tool handles better. If you are, then investing time in Power Query and dynamic arrays will pay back quickly in reduced maintenance and faster iteration.
So here is the concrete point: start your transition with one repetitive task you currently automate with VBA. Rebuild it in Power Query or with dynamic arrays. Time yourself. Compare the result. If the new version is faster to create and easier to change, you have your answer for the next task. If it is not, you keep VBA in your pocket for that specific use case. That is not falling behind, that is upgrading your toolkit with precision.