issues opening macro embedded excel spreadsheets

Copper Contributor

I am a independent contractor working from home. The company I work with uses various spreadsheets to use as a tool to do the work. I can't open all of the functions needed to work. Please advise.

 

7 Replies

@bmitchellelgmailcom 

 

You would need to give a few more bits of information to get a fully reliable diagnosis and treatment plan.

 

Like, for example, what functions are you not able to "open"? If they're things like FILTER, SORT, UNIQUE, LET, LAMBDA, then the diagnosis probably would be that you're working with an older generation of Excel than is the company you're contracting with. Treatment plan: update to a Microsoft 365 Subscription.

 

It's worth it, and the expense would be for you deductible as a business expense. 

anybody with a answer?
You wait 9 minutes and post this?!
Do you realize we're NOT independent contractors being paid to answer questions, but rather volunteers who do this as time permits among other activities, like work in some cases, life itself in others.
And, on top of it all, you had an answer. Four minutes before your impatience got the better of you.

I called and spoke with Microsoft support, they tried to update the office 365, but the problems still persisted. I'm lost! If they don't know how to fix it......????????

You haven't given any actual descriptions of the problems. Diagnosis (medical and otherwise) is dependent on precise descriptions of symptoms, followed by various tests to confirm or deny hypotheses as to possible cause. All you've given is the equivalent of "I don't feel well." Well, maybe it's more like "I feel really rotten." But certainly nothing on which one can proceed. I assume that after the attempt at updating Office 365, you did re-boot. If not, that would be the next step. If so, and still not working, give us something more to work with. But if the experts at Microsoft support failed, you're going to need to exercise patience.
The company I contract for uses various spreadsheets as a tool to order circuits and create documents. When downloading the spreadsheet from the shared site, it does not allow me to open various embedded fields (macros) need to complete the work. When I downloaded the doc, it was missing those fields. All of the other people on the team don't have any issue with downloading this doc (excel). I called Microsoft to talk to technical support and they were unable to fix it. I thought they were directing me to next level technical support to get it resolved. If I can't access this file, I can't do my job...so forgive me for being a little anxious.

@bmitchellelgmailcom 

 

So give some more information. I can only suggest questions that need to be answered. If all others working for the same company and using the same spreadsheets have no difficulty, that means right off the bat, by definition, there's something distinctive in your setup. Maybe a different model computer from everybody else. (For example, if you're on a Mac and everybody else is on a PC/DOS system, or vice versa). So start looking for distinctions, what differentiates your system -- hardware and software -- from those others who are working effectively. The underlying cause could be something considered insignificant so don't overlook small details.  

Do you have this problem with one or two of their "various spreadsheets" but not with all of them? There could be a combination of distinctive features to those particular spreadsheets PLUS your  hardware/software. Look again, here, for distinctive features of the spreadsheet that doesn't work as compared and contrasted with those that do.

And so forth.

 

[Those are not random questions. I used to teach diagnostic thinking in technical settings, to PhD scientists. Those are the questions you start with when there's a perplexing situation where something isn't working as expected, especially if it's happening (as it appears to be here) with one person or computer, but not with others.]