how to unblock macro

Question

trying to unblock macro, have add folder to trusted places

Answer 1

Dear @Riley, Pat P {PEP},

Thank you for posting your question in the Microsoft Q&A forum.

Before giving you the best solution, could you please confirm these questions below to help me diagnose the issue more effectively: 

• To help me assist you, please provide your Excel version by going to File > Account > About Excel and sending me the information displayed there (e.g., Microsoft 365, Excel 2021, Excel 2019)?
• Are you using a personal Microsoft account (@outlook.com/hotmail.com) or a work account (@company.com)? If you are using business account, are you the admin in your company?
• Is the spreadsheet stored on your local drive, a network share, or a synced folder like OneDrive/SharePoint?
• Are you on a managed device (university or corporate)? If yes, do you know if there are group policies restricting macros?

If macros are still blocked even after adding the folder to Trusted Locations, here are some steps I recommend you try:

Step 1: Verify Trusted Location Settings

• Go to File > Options > Trust Center > Trust Center Settings > Trusted Locations and confirm the folder path is correct.
• Check “Subfolders of this location are also trusted.” For network or cloud folders, enable “Allow Trusted Locations on my network.

Step 2: Remove Internet Security Block (Mark of the Web)

Choose the downloaded file in the File Explorer > Right-click the file > Properties > check for an Unblock option and select it. This removes the security tag that prevents macros from running.

Step 3: Adjust Macro Settings

In Trust Center > Macro Settings, choose Disable all macros with notification so you can enable them when needed.

• Recommended: Disable all macros with notification (so you can enable them manually).
• For testing only: Enable all macros (not recommended for long-term use).
• Also check Trust access to the VBA project object model if your macros require it
• For more information, please follow: Enable or disable macros in Microsoft 365 files

Macros are now enabled on this document. To revoke a trusted document, you need to clear all trusted documents. For more info, see Trusted documents.

Moreover, you can try re-creating a trusted location to store trusted documents. Microsoft 365 will then not check them with the Trust Center. For more info, see Add, remove, or change a trusted location in Microsoft Office.

Step 4: Disable Protected View

In Trust Center Settings, check the Protected View section and try disabling any options that might be interfering.

Step 5: Check organizational IT policies (If applicable to your organization)

In the meantime, if the issue still persists, if you are using a business account, I highly recommend that you contact your IT admin directly. They may know of ongoing outages or account-specific issues. For reference: How do I find my Microsoft 365 admin?

• Please make sure the policy "Block macros from running in Office files from the Internet" is not enabled in the Group Policy Management Console under: .User Configuration\Policies\Administrative Templates\Microsoft Excel 2016 (Or your Excel version)\Excel Options\Security\Trust Center. 
• Also, no policy about bock macros in Intune Admin Center > Apps > Policies for Microsoft 365. Look for macro-related settings like: Enable VBA macros and Block macros from running in Office files from the Internet.
• Ensure your organization IT did not enable "Block macros from running in Office files from the internet" for Excel in https://config.office.comMicrosoft 365 Apps Admin Center > Customization > Policy Management.

Note: Please understand that as forum moderators, our primary goal is to provide helpful guidance and support through general troubleshooting steps. While we don’t have access to internal systems or administrative tools required to resolve account-specific or backend issues, we truly appreciate your understanding of these limitations. We genuinely hope the information we share helps guide you in the right direction, and we're always here to assist as much as we can within our scope. 

I hope this information is helpful. Please follow these steps and let me know if it works for you. If not, we can work together to resolve this.

Thank you for your patience and your understanding. If you have any questions, please feel free to reach out.

I'm looking forward for your reply.

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Answer 2

To unblock macros in Excel, you can follow these steps:

1. Add the Folder to Trusted Locations: Since you've already added the folder to Trusted Places, ensure that it is correctly configured. You can do this by going to File > Options > Trust Center > Trust Center Settings > Trusted Locations. Here, you can add or verify the folder path.
2. Remove Mark of the Web: If the file has been downloaded from the internet, it may have the Mark of the Web. To remove it, right-click on the file, select Properties, and check the Unblock checkbox on the General tab if it is available.
3. Open in Desktop App: If you are accessing files from OneDrive or SharePoint, use the Open in Desktop App option to avoid the Mark of the Web issue altogether.
4. Use PowerShell: You can also use the Unblock-File cmdlet in PowerShell to remove the ZoneId value from the file, which allows macros to run by default.

By following these steps, you should be able to unblock macros in your Excel files.