Excel 2016 - Com Add-In: Inquire - Not loaded. A runtime error occurred during the loading of the COM Add-In

Question

The COM Add-In appears under the Inactive Application Add-ins section, when attempting to use the Manage COM Add-ins feature to enable I continue to receive the error "A runtime error occurred during the loading of the COM Add-In.". Everything on the internet refers to Office 2013 still being able to utilize this add-in, while Microsoft themselves state 2016 in some of their literature the majority of their information refers back to 2013. I do have Office Professional Plus 2016 installed as well.

What you can do with Spreadsheet Inquire in Excel 2016 for Windows

If Microsoft Office 365 or Office Professional Plus 2013 is installed on your computer, the Spreadsheet Inquire add-in is available in Excel.

https://support.office.com/en-US/article/What-you-can-do-with-Spreadsheet-Inquire-in-Excel-2016-for-Windows-5444eb12-14a2-4d82-b527-45b9884f98cf

COM Add-in Name: Inquire

Publisher: Microsoft Corporation

Path ... Office15\DCF\NativeShim.dll

Desc: NativeShim Inquire Addins used by SpreadsheetIQ

At this point I've reviewed all registry information, attempted to transfer usable 2013 files as well as consulted other forums where users have experienced the same issue. Any resolution would be greatly appreciated.

https://www.reddit.com/r/excel/comments/3m00nb/excel_2016_missing_feature/

Answer 1

Hi Everyone,

Thanks for all your help investigating this issue.  The good news is that we have a fix for this problem, and it's scheduled to be released in an update this week.  Once you get the update, check your Office version number in Excel by going to File > Account > About Excel.  The version number should say 16.0.6528 or greater if you have the update that includes the fix for this issue with Inquire.

Thanks,

Steve (MS)

Answer 2

I wonder if this is related to a problem I had several months ago. Inquire just disappeared from my ribbon. I tried reactivating it but it wouldn't come back.

What did bring it back was a desperate act of uninstalling and reinstalling Office. Of Excel's newest features, Inquire is one of my top 2 or 3 favorites. Any way ...

Hopefully, there's a fix outside of reinstalling all of Office.

Answer 3

Hi Steve,

See below,

Answer 4

Reinstalling didn't do the trick for me.

Answer 5

This is really bizarre.

Thanks for following up and letting us know.