macros disappearing - Word 2019 for Mac

Anonymous
2019-08-21T18:34:26+00:00

When I create macros in the 2019 version of Word for Mac as a way of opening frequently used files, the macros work immediately after I create them, but then anywhere from a few minutes to a day later I get the following error message: "Sorry, we can't find your file.  Was it moved renamed or deleted."  I didn't have this problem with the previous version of Word for Mac or any of the earlier versions of Word I used from back to about the late 1980s, tho those were for Windows-based PCs.

Does anyone have any idea what's causing this problem and how to fix it?

FYI, I'm creating the macros the way I always did, clicking on Tools, then Macros, then Record Macro, then entering in the Keyboard Shortcut box the keys I want to use, then opening the file I want to create access to, then going back to Tools and clicking Macros and End Recording.

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  1. Anonymous
    2019-09-03T08:03:44+00:00

    Dear Richard_1931,

    Thanks for your updates.

    The way I provided works in our environment based on my test. It is also a macro operation as what you do for recording a macro. For recording a macro, you may need to record the operation of opening the files and get the file paths of the files. You can create macro for each file you want to open via Tools>Visual Basic Editor>clicking on Normal (this will let the macros be applied to a newly created file)> Insert>Module to create the macros for opening each file. Yes, you may need to change the file path in the code for each file. I know this may be cumbersome in your environment but it may be at least a viable way in Word 2016 for Mac. If it is an inconvenient way in your environment, I suggest you use the feedback tool in the upper-right corner of your app to our related team directly so that they will be aware of the issue and address your requirement in your environment for further investigation.

    Thanks for your understanding.

    Cliff

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  2. Anonymous
    2019-09-02T17:51:41+00:00

    I tried to reply to your previous message and kept getting this error notice: Oops! Something went wrong. Please try again.

    Here's the reply I was trying to post.

    Sorry about the delay in responding to this.  I appreciate your efforts on my behalf.  Meanwhile, I got an email  from someone named Randy at the "Microsoft Answer Desk" saying they'd tried to reproduce the macros problem on ten computers and hadn't been able to and I wrote him back about what they might be doing wrong and he wrote asking for a link to the Community thread, which I just supplied him.

    I've tried to change the file paths as you recommended and quickly ran into a problem.  When I open Tools>Visual Basic Editor, I can't find any button there for insert.  What I get is a page headed with the name of the document I'm working with and two options in a bar along the top, (General) and (Declarations).  Clicking on the general down arrow I get two options, General and Document.  Do I just click on one of those and enter the code you sent me on the page?

    There's a dropdown menu on the left of the page with Normal at the top followed by Project (name of document) under which appears Microsoft Word Objects and References with This Document as a subheading under Word Objects.  Below that when This Document is highlighted is a list headed Properties-This Document.  I clicked on everything clickable but nowhere do I find the word Issue.

    One more question about this.  Does the code you've provided me fix the problem for all my Word documents if I use the 

    General option, or do I have to do the file path change for each one individually?  The latter would be cumbersome, as I have 30 or more documents I use macros to open.

    Thanks again for your continuing efforts.

    **** Greene

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  3. Anonymous
    2019-08-28T16:11:16+00:00

    Dear Richard_1931,

    Have you tried the macros above? Welcome to share any updates when you have time if you need further help on this issue.

    Best Regards,

    Cliff

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  4. Anonymous
    2019-08-27T19:04:37+00:00

    Dear Richard_1931,

    After checking with more resources at our side, I’d like you to insert the following example code to create macros via Tools>Visual Basic Editor>Insert>Module to open the existing files.  You may need to change the file paths based on your environment.

    Sub OpenDoc()

     Documents.Open FileName:=" /Users/xx/Desktop/test2.docx", ReadOnly:=False

    End Sub

    For your reference: Documents.Open method (Word)

    Best Regards,

    Cliff

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  5. Jim G 134.1K Reputation points MVP
    2019-08-27T14:46:58+00:00

    As I mentioned earlier, you can get version 16.29 for testing by joining the Insider Fast program. At the moment, users have posted to the forum that the problem is fixed for Word, but not yet for Excel. Here's instructions for joining Office Insider (requires an Office 365 subscription). Insider Fast builds are updated approximately weekly.

    Office Insiders - insider.office.com

    Version 16.28 is the latest general release build, and it is known to have the problem. 16.29 will be released generally about the 2nd week of next month. Whether or not it will have the fix depends on the results of testers using Insider Fast builds. If you want to provide feedback, join Insider Fast.

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