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SharePoint - Excel Compatibility Issues with Macros/ActiveX

Anonymous
2019-03-26T17:00:39+00:00

Hi all,

Have been trying to get an Excel document working within SharePoint online. The document was created in Excel offline, and with very basic macros (drop down menus with auto-fill functionality) and it works flawlessly within Excel. It is a simple, lightweight document after all.

Once uploaded to SharePoint however, there are compatibility warnings and the drop-down macros do not function:

Unsupported FeaturesThere are some features in your workbook that we can't show in the browser.

We can't show these features in the browser: 

• Objects such as form toolbar controls, toolbox controls and ActiveX controls

But you can see all of the content in this workbook by opening the file in Excel.

I have tried every browser - I.E., Edge, Chrome... you name it and the issue persists. I have read that this may be a bug that has spanned several years with no fix other than a 3rd party extension for Chrome. This is too much of a security risk for the business, so looking for a workaround.

Many thanks.

Microsoft 365 and Office | SharePoint | For business | Windows

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Anonymous
2019-03-27T15:51:58+00:00

Dear Liam,

Thanks for your updates.

Some users have submitted their feedback about the features you are talking about in this issue on our Excel Online UserVoice.  UserVoice is a direct platform for users to submit their requirements for improving our products to our product developers. Now many new features have been released based on users’ feedback. I strongly suggest you vote and keep close eyes in the following places. If our product developers plan to deploy the new features, they will post the latest information about the feedback there directly.

please enable macros for Excel online

Please show these features in the browser: • Objects like form toolbar controls, toolbox controls, and ActiveX controls.

Best Regards,

Cliff

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  1. Anonymous
    2019-03-27T08:32:38+00:00

    Hi Cliff,

    Many thanks for the swift response and confirming the unfortunate. 

    Very disappointing that a Microsoft product does not work across all systems, as the point of us using SharePoint is team collaboration. Having to download the spreadsheet to work on it offline completely defeats the point. 

    Is there a scheduled fix for this? 

    Thanks,

    Liam

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  2. Anonymous
    2019-03-26T19:44:29+00:00

    Dear LDoggett,

    The Controls feature such as ActiveX controls and form toolbar controls will prevent a workbook from being viewed in Excel Online and the macro feature isn’t supported in Excel Online. If you only have macro in a workbook, you can open it in Excel Online but the macro will not be run in Excel Online. Based on the error message, the workbook you are using also contains the Controls feature. So given the situation, you may need to open the workbook in Excel 2016 instead.

     

    For your reference: Differences between using a workbook in the browser and in Excel

    Thanks for your understanding.

    Cliff

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