A macro is typically a small program that contains a list of keystrokes, actions and commands. Applications like MS Excel allow you to create macros and then simply loadup the macro so you can easily perform a series of actions. In MS Excel for example, a macro is capable of taking two columns of data and then combining the data of both into a third column. Most popular applications like word processors, database systems and spreadsheets support macros. The purpose of macros is that they can save a large amount of time for regularly performed actions.