CommandButton created on Windows not working (seems to stay in "Design mode" - also This workbook contains content that isn't supported in this version of Excel.

Question

When opening a file on my Mac that was originally created in Windows, I'm getting this mess

This workbook contains content that isn't supported in this version of Excel. 

To view the unsupported content in the file, you can open the workbook as read-only. However, if you

change and then save the workbook, unsupported content will not be saved.

When i proceed to open it in Read only mode, I am not able to run VBA commands that were linked to CommandButtons (again in Windows).  I'm guessing that this is some of the content that is not supported, but am not sure.

I'm able to  open the VBA editor and run the commands from there, but if I try clicking on the commandbutton, it looks like it does when I'm in Design Mode in Windows (i.e. a box appears around the button that would allow me to resize/edit it). 

If I right click on the box, it allows me to assign a macro to it (and i choose the name of the VBA that was written to that button).  If I then try clicking the commandbutton, I get the message "Can't find project lbirary," so I uncheck the reference that is labeled "MISSING..." in the box that pops up and check the box with the same label but does NOT start with "missing."

So then I try clicking on the commandbutton again and I get:

Alert

Cannot run the macro "present level entry forms.xlsm'ICommandButtonB.CIick'. The macro may not be available in this workbook or all macros may be disabled.

I'm not sure what to try next...Thanks in advance for ideas.

Note:  I am not 100% sure which product I am using.  I assume that it is Office 365 for business (rather than home), as this is a work computer and when I look at the "About Excel" info it says "Office 365 Subscription"

Answer 1

Hi lzmsn,

Excel for Mac simply does not have the same features as Excel for windows. This error “*This workbook contains content that isn't supported in this version of Excel”*indicates that the workbook contains objects which are not supported in mac version of Excel.

The command button (ActiveX control) are not supported on the mac.

For your reference: Assign a macro to a Form or a Control button

Unlike other versions of Office apps that support VBA, Office 2016 for Mac and later apps are sandboxed.

Sandboxing restricts the apps from accessing resources outside the app container. This affects any add-ins or macros that involve file access or communication across processes.

In Excel for mac, you can add a button (Form control) and a command button (Visual Basic control),

Regards,

Neha

Answer 2

Thanks for the response.  I was able to add one of the buttons available on my Mac (non-Active X) and apply the VBA to it.  Works now!

Answer 3

Thanks Jim-Yes, as I indicated previously, I did use the non-Active X buttons and it now works!

Answer 4

Neha may be correct that the command button is an Active-X control (not supported), but then again, it could simply be a corrupt workbook.

Since the code itself runs fine, why not simply delete the defective command button(s) and replace with new ones? They're on the Developer tab of the Ribbon, which you can turn on by going to Excel > Preferences > Ribbon and Toolbar.