Why won't macros work in Excel on Mac?

Can you do macros in Excel on Mac?

Macro (aka VBA) can be used to execute code automatically in Excel. This can be used in Excel for Mac, but it's not the same as the standard Excel VBA editor.

Macros are also different from the macros used to automate business applications. These macros are used to create customised reports or create automated calculations.

There are a few differences between Excel for Mac and Windows: Macros are not stored in the same location as your regular documents. Instead, macros are stored in your desktop and are not visible by default. To view the macros that are stored on your desktop, open the Excel for Mac application and then choose File - > Preferences. In the list of preferences that appears on the left side of the window, look for the Display macros in Workbooks window item and tick it. This will allow you to see the macros stored in your desktop. You will now be able to view macros using the Excel for Mac VBA editor.

To use macros, you must first open the Workbook in which you want to use the macro. From the menu bar in the top left of the window, select Tools - > Macros. The Macros window opens.

You cannot do this in Excel for Mac, but you can write them directly into your document as an alternative. Macro code. You can write macros to perform a range of functions in a single document. For example, you could write a macro to generate a particular letterhead and then save the letterhead document as a template.

Why won't macros work in Excel on Mac?

(Excel for Mac)

I have a Mac running on OSX 10.11 and I have all the required tools to compile macros, like Microsoft Excel. However I can't get any macros to run when I try to run them. I'm aware that there is a problem with macros on Mac because some older versions of Excel for Mac do not work with newer versions of Excel that require macros (it opens up as read only) but if I open up Excel to v.2014 on the same computer I am able to run macros. It doesn't seem to make a difference if I have multiple different versions of Excel on my computer or only one. Is there something I can change on my computer or do I need to get a new version of Excel for Mac?

Macros in excel will work in most cases, however there are a few scenarios. If your macros were designed for Windows Excel they probably won't work in Excel for Mac. Or if your macros rely on features of Windows Excel that have been modified in Mac Excel or the other way around.

As for versions you can try creating a blank workbook and see if it works. This way it eliminates the problem that Mac Excel doesn't read only files from the other version. If it works on the blank one but not on your current setup you know it's not an error in Mac Excel.

Macro functions work in Excel/Numbers if you run the app as Excel.app -- so even if you rename the original app file to "Excel" and open up Excel -- it will still show the Excel/Numbers window (in contrast to Excel.app).

However, if you use Excel's desktop icon rather than Excel.app (ie. Double-click a spreadsheet file), then opening the document in Excel by double-clicking the file may throw up "read only" errors.

Mac users should run the Excel files as Excel.app -- double-clicking documents is an option for Windows users. But if you're using VBA for macros, the issue in Excel for Mac will cause your macro functions to fail in Excel.

How do I enable Excel macros?

The following link explains how to enable macros in Excel. To enable macros, press the ALT key and then the F5 key to start Excel. If you are prompted to run or save a file, choose Run without saving. To prevent the file from opening automatically, choose Open, and then click the Open button on the File tab of the ribbon. In the window that appears, select New, Blank Workbook. Then, choose Save As and save the file to your computer.