macros disappearing - Word 2019 for Mac

Jim, it just occurred to me to take a screenshot of the debug message I get when a macro stops working, but I can’t figure out how to transfer it to you without an email address, so here’s a transcript of the part of the screen that “explains” the problem with opening the file:

“Documents.Open FileName:=“CALENDAR.docx”, ConfirmConversions:=False,_

      ReadOnly:False, AddToRecentFiles:=False, PasswordDocument:=””,,_

      PasswordTemplate:=””, Revert:= False, WritePasswordDocument=””,_

      WritePasswordTemplate=””, Format:=wdOpenFormatAuto, XML Transform:=””

 If you want to see the whole screen, give me an email address and I’ll send it as an attachment, or, if there’s a way of inserting it in a community message, let me know.

Richard Greene

Thanks for your persistence.  

I wonder about the sandbox hypothesis  since Macros work fine on the 2010 version Word, which is still on my MacBook which has always had the latest version of the OS, currently Mojave 10.14.6.  Since I rarely use my MacBook for word processing, I've kept the 2010 version even tho it's no longer supported.  So the problem would, I presume, have to be with my iMac hardware since it and MacBook, have the same operating system.  That seems improbable to me, but I'm not a computer expert.

One other possible clue, for whatever it's worth.  After I installed the Home and Office 2019 version of Office Suite on my iMac, it began shutting down randomly and with increasing frequency.  I spent a lot of time with Apple trying to solve that problem without success, then one day I mentioned that I had a problem with macros in Word in my recently installed version of Office Suite, which was the only app I had on my iMac that I didn't have on my MacBook, and wondered if Office Suite could be the source of the shut-down problem.  They walked me thru partitioning my hard drive and setting up the new compartment without Office Suite. The shutdowns stopped and I've never had a problem with them in the 10 or 11 months since, except when Microsoft asked me to install the Suite in the new hard drive compartment in connection with a follow-up call I made to them about the problems with Word.  In other words, when I installed Office Suite in the new hard drive compartment, the computer began to shut down randomly again, and I removed Office Suite  from the new compartment with Apple help, no small task as just sending the app to Trash didn't do the job.  There were Office Suite files all over the place, most in various Library folders which I didn't know how to access without Apple help.  

I don't know whether the shutdown problem still exists, since I haven't tried the Home and Student version since I took it off the new hard drive compartment, which is the only one I use, but I have not had the problem with the professional version of Word I bought several weeks ago.  That could be because the problem resides elsewhere in Office Suite than Word, but it, of course, could also be because the defect didn't exist or was corrected in the professional version.

The path: I start the Macro with Command O, then click on

Documents [a folder]

Lists [a sub-folder]

Calendar [the file]

Hi

I'd like to attempt to reproduce the problem, but need a few more details.

Where is your Calendar.docx file (the whole file path, please)?

My hunch is Apple's screwy sandboxing scheme is causing havoc, but I want to test my hypothesis.

I checked out the macros just now, and they've already stopped working.  I get that familiar message:

                 "Visual Basic for Applications

Run-time error '5174':

Sorry, we couldn't find your file.  Was it removed, renamed, or

deleted?

 (CALENDAR.docx)"  [CALENDAR is the file name.]  

Then below that buttons Help, Continue, End and Debug.  Help produces the message "Sorry, the page you're looking for can't be found."  Continue is greyed out, Debug produces a page for debugging that is utterly mysterious to me and End closes the message.

As I've said before.  I had no problem with macros with the 2010 version of Word.  The problem just began when I installed the 2019 version, first as part of the Home and Student version of Office Suite, then in what I was told is the professional version of Word.  I've spent many hours on this, most recently with you and Cliff Gu, listed as Microsoft Agent | Moderator.  Cliff's last word was to send a report of the problem using the feedback button which I did a day or two ago, but having spent many hours beginning almost a year ago and running through early this year communicating with Word experts and others in Microsoft, I'm not optimistic.  

I assume that the underlying problem is that the malfunction I'm experiencing requires reprogramming of Word for Mac, and that no one has gotten around to that.   The problem probably has also probably not been properly addressed because macros work at first, then stop working after a few hours to a few days, and I suspect that those who think the problem has been solved have not checked back after a few days to see if the macros they created are still working.  I know that happened in at least three cases during the time I've been working with Microsoft on this problem.    

As I keep saying, Microsoft, needs an Ombudsman for problems that don't get solved in the normal manner, someone with the power to cut through the bureaucracy and assure that a solution is achieved.

Thanks.  It self-installed this morning and I've created a few macros.  I'll let you know in a few days if they hold up.