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

Hi stephenmutschler - I believe you are experiencing a different problem than the one discussed in this thread, which is that the Inquire tab would not load in Excel.  Can you provide specific details of the error that you see when you try to compare files?  Please let me know exactly what steps you take and what error messages you see.

Answer 3

This is the case# 30126-4841091 I spent 2 hours on the phone with a technician and still had issues on all 3 PC's using Office 2016 with the compare tool inside Excel. Also the new office tools inside 2016 would not even open compare two worksheets tool. 

I have removed 2016 and went back to 2013 and the compare tool is working correctly.

Answer 4

Steve

Is the bug fix for Windows 10? Also is it only for 32 bit version? Currently I am trying to hunt down the fix, but I can't find any update with the version number you suggest. I am running W10 Office 2016 Pro Plus.

My current version is: 16.0.4366.1000 64-bit

Grateful for clarification of how I should move forward.

Thanks

JH

Answer 5

Hi JH - Here's an article that describes how to update your Office installation - https://support.office.com/en-us/article/Install-Office-updates-2ab296f3-7f03-43a2-8e50-46de917611c5?ui=en-US&rs=en-US&ad=US. 

If the updates aren't working, then maybe you need to repair or re-install Office on that computer.