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. Charles Kenyon 170.9K Reputation points Volunteer Moderator
    2013-08-07T13:39:33+00:00

    To further explain what you saw:

    Add-Ins are modifications to Word written by third parties. These can be very helpful. Graham has written many, I've written a few. When they are well-written they do not cause problems.

    Sometimes, Add-Ins use code to modify the normal template. They will often tell Word that no changes have been made to that template so that their changes are not made permanent. A better step would be to undo the changes when closing the program, but that is harder to do. When they tell Word that no changes have been made, it will not automatically save changes made to the normal template no matter what you do.

    That is where opening the normal template directly comes in. Normal Template in Microsoft Word - How to Open With that template open directly you can make and save changes without the interference of the Add-In.

    You can also go through any Add-Ins and disable those that cause problems. That is a more elegant solution because it fixes the problem at its source. I would also recommend a letter or email to the author of the program telling them how many hours of frustration this cause you. It may not do any good, but it just might and will probably feel good to do.

    The PDF Converter Pro 7 Add-In comes from that program to help it integrate with Word. It probably adds one or more commands to your Ribbon or toolbars so that you can activate the program from within Word.

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  2. Anonymous
    2013-08-08T03:06:23+00:00

    Ken,

    Unchecking the Add-ons did the trick.  I owe you a G+T!  Thanks.

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  3. Anonymous
    2013-10-13T09:06:50+00:00

    Ms

    I only have microsoft add ins (except one Adope office one). I do not believe you are correct that third party add-ins are the main cause of thise MS word 2010 malfunction, not saving the macros.

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  4. Stefan Blom 352.5K Reputation points MVP Volunteer Moderator
    2013-10-13T10:40:22+00:00

    Note that software may install Office add-ins without asking you first. Have you actually read the sections that discuss COM and startup add-ins in the Knowledge Base article at http://support.microsoft.com/kb/921541/en-us (How to troubleshoot problems that occur when you start or use Word)?

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