Forum Discussion
As of Noon January 3, 2024, macros have stopped working in Word 365. How can this be corrected?
I have contacted Microsoft and their techs directed me to this forum. I've restarted the computer. I've reinstalled the Office 365 app. I've done nothing to change the Normal Template.
How do I know they stopped working? Earlier today, when I ran a macro it did what it was supposed to do. A little after noon EST, I get error messages instead. I cannot edit the ones I've had for years. I cannot create a new one.
Further, on my laptop, macros have completely disappeared from the ribbon; so, the plot thickens.
Hi Carol,
These are recorded macros?
If so, they would be in your Normal.dotm file. Check the date on that file.
Where is the Normal Template / How to Find the Normal Template
What is its size?
Is there any other file in that folder (your user templates folder) that has "normal" in the name.
Do not do anything with any of these files until you get more from me once you answer the questions I've asked. (If you are in a hurry, at least make backups of all of them).
Resources for the future (do not directly address your problem):
Again, a search on the other forum will lead you to many ideas and help. That forum has many more people providing answers, although some are not all that knowledgeable. You can trust responses from anyone there with the MVP or Moderator tag.
I keep few of my working macros in the Normal template. Most are in other global templates. I have been working with Word for more than thirty years. The Normal Template is important but has been a fragile place to keep important things.
Yes, these are recorded macros that I have used for years.
I was able to open the Microsoft Visual Basic for Applications and there is no information on there. In a left hand columnn there is Project - No Open, a few inches down Properties, under that Alphabetic and Categorized.
I wish I could send screen shots of what I'm seeing.
- I type words and print them on paper for a living. No fancy formats, just words on paper. This is way beyond my skill level. Any idea what combination of keystrokes I made to get me in this predicament? I've had issues in the past with macros but was able to solve the problem by just rewriting them. I am new to Word 365 having finally switched from Word 2003 just last year. If I could I would reload 2003 in a heartbeat, but my discs no longer let me do that.
Microsoft has confused things with their naming.
Microsoft 365 is a subscription product that sometimes is used to describe the web version and can also include the traditional applications which have to be downloaded and installed.
If you have access to the visual basic editor, you are using the traditional downloaded applications.
Do you have a copy of your old Normal.dot file from Word 2003? That is where your macros were recorded.
If so, you could simply save it in your Word Startup Folder and you should have access to the macros.
I recommend opening that file in Word and then, in the visual basic editor renaming the project and module. Your macros should be in the NewMacros module. I again urge you to look at the article on organizing your macros. You may also want to look at Organizing your Add-Ins by Greg Maxey and VBA Basics by Greg Maxey.
Many of the Macro tools can be found on the Developer Tab.