Unable to determine how to enable a macro

Jamie Sackley 0 Reputation points
2026-01-13T20:44:36.3533333+00:00

I have an excel document with an embedded macro. It worked for years. Now recently, it is being blocked by security protocols. I understand my company has security protocols, 100%. I am trying to see where the "trust this document/trust this macro" option is available in this document, especially given that it has been an internally used document for years and I do trust it.

Microsoft 365 and Office | Excel | For business | Windows
0 comments No comments
{count} votes

2 answers

Sort by: Most helpful
  1. Q&A Assist
    2026-01-13T20:45:15.1266667+00:00
    AI generated content. This question contains an answer created with AI from Q&A Assist. Learn more

    To enable a macro in an Excel document that has been blocked due to security protocols, you can follow these steps:

    1. Trust the Document: If the document is from a trusted location or you have previously opened it and selected Enable Content from the Trust Bar, the macros may already be enabled. If not, you will need to adjust the settings.
    2. Use the Trust Bar: When you open the document, if macros are disabled, you should see a message in the Trust Bar at the top of the document. Click on Enable Content to allow the macros to run. This will add the document as a Trusted Document.
    3. Check File Properties: If you want to manually unblock the file, right-click on the file in Windows Explorer, select Properties, and check the Unblock checkbox in the General tab if it is present.
    4. Trusted Locations: If the document is located on a network share or a trusted website, you can designate that location as a Trusted site or add it to the Local intranet zone to allow macros to run without being blocked.
    5. Group Policy Settings: If your organization uses Group Policy, the settings for macro handling can be found under User Configuration > Policies > Administrative Templates in the Group Policy Management Console. You might need to contact your IT department for assistance with this.

    By following these steps, you should be able to enable the macro in your Excel document.

    0 comments No comments

  2. Hendrix-C 10,195 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator
    2026-01-13T21:14:50.3633333+00:00

    Hi @Jamie Sackley,

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

    According to your concern, to trust the excel file containing macros, I suggest you can try following the steps in this guidance:

    1- Remove the Mark of the Web (MOTW)  

    • Open File Explorer, navigate to your Excel file that you need to enable macros 
    • Right click on it and choose Properties 
    • In General tab, check the Unblock box for the Security option. 

    User's image

    • If the Unblock options is not available, it's usually because that your file is currently saved in a OneDrive or SharePoint folder and it will be considered as from the internet.
    • You can try moving the file to your local folder (C:/ or desktop) and try the Unblock Security box again.

    2- Add the file location as a trusted location  

    • Open Excel and go to File > Options > Trust Center > Trust Center Settings
    • Select Trusted Locations in the left bane > Add new location > Browse and navigate to the folder where you keep the files need to enable macro 

    User's image

    • Press OK to close all the dialog boxes then try opening your macro-enabled excel file again 

    3- Adjust the trust center settings for macros  

    • Go to File > Options > Trust Center > Trust Center Settings 
    • Click Macro Settings and choose "Enable VBA macros" (only if you're 100% sure the file is safe) 
    • Then click OK to save the settings 

    For better visualization about this guideline, you can watch this video Microsoft has blocked macros from running because the source of this file is untrusted Excel - FIX

    (Note: We're providing this information as a convenience to you. The sites are not controlled by Microsoft and we can't make any representations regarding quality, safety or suitability of any software or information found there. Please make sure you completely understand the risk before retrieving any suggestions from the above link) 

    Please understand that our initial response does not always resolve the issue immediately. However, you can try these steps and let me know if it works for you.  

    If you have any questions or need further assistance, please feel free to share them in the comments on this post so I can continue to support you.    

    Thank you for your understanding and cooperation. I'm looking forward to your reply.


    If the answer is helpful, please click "Accept Answer" and kindly upvote it. If you have extra questions about this answer, please click "Comment".       

    Note: Please follow the steps in our documentation to enable e-mail notifications if you want to receive the related email notification for this thread.


Your answer

Answers can be marked as 'Accepted' by the question author and 'Recommended' by moderators, which helps users know the answer solved the author's problem.