Word 2010 Macros disappear when Word is closed

Anonymous
2011-01-17T14:38:14+00:00

Hi folks,

I've been using Word since the beginning of time and using simple macros in Word to increase efficiency.  I recently upgraded (or downgraded) to Word 2010 and now the macros disappear when I close Word.  I've checked everywhere to fix this annoyance and changed the Trust Centre settings to enable macros, made sure I'm saving them in the correct template, even checked the add-ins.  What was once a simple and elegant little function has morphed into a complicated labryinth of settings.  I thought software upgrades were to make the process more intuitive and simple but here I've spent over an hour trying to find a solution.  The 90 days of support for Office is a joke. After phoning in to 1-800-668-7975 I went through 10 questions with the 'electronic host. ' Finally you get a person who refers you to the Word Professional support person who then tells you to go to a website and search the forums. I've been a support of Microsoft products for years but I think this is the beginning of the end for Microsoft. Windows 7 is certainly a big improverement over the last two OSs but Office Word 2010 is a pain.

Microsoft 365 and Office | Word | For home | Windows

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Anonymous
2011-01-17T15:24:33+00:00

Word 2010 stores macros in the same manner as earlier versions - in templates, documents and by default the normal template.

If you have an old normal.dot file with your macros from an earlier Word version, rename the Word 2010 normal template (normal.dotm) to oldnormal.dotm with Word closed.

Put the old normal.dot file in the same folder as oldnormal.dotm and restart Word. Word will read the old template and create a new normal template. From Word Options > Advanced > Save - Check the option to prompt to save the normal template (and preferably the option to create backups). Close Word and you should get a prompt to save the normal template. Save it!

Remove the old normal.dot from the folder and restart Word. Your macros should be available. Whether they will work correctly in Word 2010 rather depends on what they do.

If you don't have an old normal.dot file - just complete the other steps. You will have to add macros to the resulting template.

By default the Word Startup and User Templates folders are trusted folders. If you have moved those locations from the default settings you will need to add the folders to the trusted folders list.

Graham Mayor - Word MVP

www.gmayor.com

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  1. Anonymous
    2013-08-06T14:26:04+00:00

    To everyone who helped me, many thanks 

    The problem is now solved. It stopped when i managed to disable PDF Converter Pro 7 Addins in Word options, and as it comes back when they are re-enabled I'm confident that they must be the cause.  There are two ways of disabling addins but only one works for me, but I can now customise everything how I want while they're disabled and then switch them back on (if ever I find out what they do, which I haven't yet, so they remain off).

    It's great to have the support of experts like this and much appreciated.

    Ken

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  2. Stefan Blom 352.5K Reputation points MVP Volunteer Moderator
    2013-08-05T11:39:49+00:00
    1. For the macros to be available to all documents, you will have to save the template to the Startup folder in your user profile.
    2. Open the Normal template means opening it as a document, so that you see "Normal.dotm" on the title bar—as opposed to "Document 1," "Document 2," etc. that you get when creating documents based on Normal. Locate the template file in the User Templates folder (as indicated by the File Locations dialog box), right-click it and choose Open.
    3. Troubleshoot for template and COM add-ins as discussed in the article at http://support.microsoft.com/kb/921541/en-us/. If you are using Word 2013, take a look at http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/support/why-cant-i-start-my-office-2013-application-HA104011864.aspx.

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  3. Anonymous
    2013-08-04T21:04:54+00:00

    Charles

    I have, and have done what I think I understand, viz:-

    (1) I've saved my macros to a different template but can't load it - get an error message about the project can't be loaded

    (2) I don't understand "open, dirty, and then save the Normal template"

    (3) I disabled all Add-Ins but it didn't change anything.  I'm reluctant to actually remove them as I don't really know what they do and I might want them!

    I'm taking my computer in to my technician tomorrow to see what he can do and will post any progress achieved.

    Ken

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  4. Charles Kenyon 170.9K Reputation points Volunteer Moderator
    2013-08-04T01:44:16+00:00

     

    However, I still can't write new macros, and despite checking the option to prompt to save the normal template, I never get this prompt and newly-written macros still disappear on closing Word.

     

    Many thanks however for your help - it's got me a lot further on and I have dozens and dozens of macros/autotext entries back I thought had gone for good!

     

    Ken

    See my last post.

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