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Perry320's avatar
Perry320
Copper Contributor
Jan 16, 2024

My macros are disappearing

My macros are disappearing.  It seems to be random.  There are several tricks I can use to get them back, but the problem keeps coming back.  
Macros and VBA
Perry320's avatar
Perry320
Copper Contributor
Jan 17, 2024
Ok... here are some workarounds. Not solutions. But one of them has always gotten my macros back. The easiest: IF you can get into a VBA module, simply hit the RUN button ON THE VBA ribbon. This runs one of the macros and seems to reset the rest. The problem is, that usually, you can't get into a module. Another: If Excel hangs up when you are trying to get into the macro screen, click the red X button on the top right of the screen as quickly as you can. Then when it appears, hit the RESTART button. Another: make a Word document with your macros. Again, IF you can get into the VBA modules, you can paste the Word copy into it and that will work. Another: This one takes a while. Copy the problem file on an exterior hard drive. Open it on a different computer. When it opens, click YES on the Enable Functions button. Save the file on the exterior drive, and save back to the original computer. That one has always worked, but it is a pain.
Nevin930's avatar
Nevin930
Copper Contributor
Feb 16, 2024

Perry320 We have been having the same issues with all our users. Restoring the file to a previous known working version is the easiest solution. Today, 2/16/24, we are testing having some users move to Office 2021 LTSC to see if its an issue with Office 365. 

  • eluebehusen's avatar
    eluebehusen
    Copper Contributor
    Apr 02, 2024

    Nevin930 I have the same thing happen with my macro-heavy workbooks, and it's gotten so bad that I  am constantly saving backup versions to date-coded folders (with descriptions of any changes) cos this problem is arbitrary, chronic, and infuriating.  In some cases, my previously-fine backups (I always check to see if the macros are there with [ALT]-[F8] before closing) are likewise corrupted.  This has been going on for years, and the "just back up every new version" has become the only way to save my work from total Excel annihilation.

    • Perry320's avatar
      Perry320
      Copper Contributor
      Apr 02, 2024

      It's April 2, and I still haven't had one macro disappear.  Since my last post, I have discovered another workaround.  Buttons.  I was able to get rid of 26 macros on one file by using option buttons.  On another file, radio buttons.  But I still have a couple simple ones, and they haven't vanished.  I MIGHT have remembered the icon that mysteriously appeared on my computer:  One Drive.  I'm not sure, but I saw the icon somewhere, and it struck a cord.  Good luck.  I was on the brink of giving up a project I had been working on for a year because of this problem.    

      • eluebehusen's avatar
        eluebehusen
        Copper Contributor
        Apr 02, 2024

        Perry320 mine are data-intensive crop-yield modeling workbooks that are linked to databases for weather data, crop yield data, and satellite vegetation health data... so I am sure I am pushing Excel to the limits.  But I am also the only person in our office this keeps happening to.  It just happened now, and the previous two versions of the workbook I backed up, which worked fine when I backed them up, are likewise f___ng corrupt and now useless.  This sends me to a dark, angry place.  I suspect there is either a DLL file or something within my MS Office or Excel that is corrupt.  Our IT has already wiped my MS office clean and reinstalled it, and that doesn't seem to have stopped the problem.  I am really at my wit's end.  

  • Perry320's avatar
    Perry320
    Copper Contributor
    Feb 16, 2024

    I didn't post this on the main thread because I had no absolute answer.  Here is what happened:  I discovered an icon on my screen that I didn't put there.  I checked my downloads and there it was.  I could shoot myself for not making a note of what it was, but I didn't.  I deleted it.  Since I did that not ONE of my macros has disappeared. Not a single problem.  I'm not 100% sure it was that download... but...  awfully big coincidence if it wasn't.  Like I said, since I wasn't sure of anything, and didn't remember the name of the download, so I didn't want to post a response.  Nevin930 

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