Enable macros with pop-up bar/dialog box rather than "File" menu button

Question

It appears that MS Excel opens macro-enabled workbooks in one of three ways:

1. A pop-up bar that includes an "Enable macros" button;
2. A pop-up dialog box that includes an "Enable macros" button; or
3. No pop-up at all with a hidden "Enable Content" button maddeningly hidden within the "File" menu under the "Info" section.

Is there any way to force Excel to use a pop-up notification that always allows the user to automatically enable macros with the convenient click of a button? This is especially critical given that I have macros that run automatically when the workbook opens. However, under the third option mentioned above, the user would never know to click the "Enable Content" button in the File>Info menu.

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

Answer 1

Well you cannot influence this behavior in any way with your Excel file because it is part of the VBA security.

1. The yellow bar "SECURITY WARNING Macros have been disabled." with the "Enable Content" button is the default way how Excel tells you that macros are disabled.

2. The pop-up dialog box comes up only if the Visual Basic Editor is also open while you open a workbook.

3. "File" › "Info" option always works additionally to (1) and (2) so at least (1) or (2) should trigger too. If nothing pops up then the user probably chose one of these security settings:

   • "Disable all macros without notification" or
   • "Disable all macros except digitally signed macros" and your macro isn't signed

For more info see: How To Enable Macros In Excel: Step-By-Step Guide To Dealing With 3 Common Scenarios

A good alternative would be to digitally sign your code with a officially trusted certificate so users would not need to activate macros. They would only once need to trust your certificate on each computer. (If it is a company environment use GPO to trust the certificate on any company computers automatically).