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. Stefan Blom 352.5K Reputation points MVP Volunteer Moderator
    2013-08-02T11:03:41+00:00

    Where are you saving these new macros? Make sure the target file is a macro-enabled document (*.docm) or, which is better, a macro-enabled template (*.dotm).

    You can create macros in *.docx and *.dotx files, but the macros will be discarded when you save and close the files.

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  2. Anonymous
    2013-08-02T10:48:28+00:00

    No, it's my home machine.

    Following the steps I've now got 3 folders in C;\Docs&settings\Ken\AppData\Microsoft\Templates - oldnormal.dotm + normal.dotm + normal.dot and all my old macros now work and I can assign them buttons, put them where I want etc.  But I can't write new macros that outlive the Word document I open to write them!

    Ken

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  3. Doug Robbins - MVP - Office Apps and Services 323.6K Reputation points MVP Volunteer Moderator
    2013-08-02T10:16:13+00:00

    If you are on a corporate network, some unthinking administrator might have decided that it woud be  good idea to dump the normal.dotm template every time you log on.

    Check the date of that template.

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  4. Anonymous
    2013-08-02T09:05:51+00:00

    Ken again - I mistyped Word 2010 as Word 2012 - I'm using Word 2010, and that's where I'm experiencing these problems.

    Ken

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