SUNY-Geneseo/Physics & Astronomy

How to Get/Use Excel

Workbooks with Macros

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Windows 10 & 11 have a lot of weird security phobias. One of them is that some kinds of files aren’t allowed to be downloaded anymore, by default. And even if you download them, they won’t run properly. Active Excel documents (i.e., workbooks that contain macros) are included on that list, so if you try to use this tool, your computer might not let you at first. Note that Excel Macros can be dangerous to your computer, so be sure that you trust the developer before following these steps. Here’s how to allow your PC to open a trusted Excel file that contains macros.

  1. Right-click this Excel icon to "get" the Excel demo. Do not (yet) make any other clicks:

  2. Choose “save link as...”. Then, choose a place for it to go to on your own computer. You are a scientist,

      so do NOT use the default "downloads" folder. Choose an actual, reasonable location.

  3. On your computer, go to that place, and find the new file “AnimationBasics.xlsm”. Note that you probably

      instructed your computer to lie to you about this and every other filename, so that your computer will incorrectly

      tell you that it’s just called “AnimationBasics” (i.e., without the ".xlsm") when seen in its folder.

  4. Right click it, and choose “Properties”.

           

  5. At the bottom, check the “unblock” box. Then click “Apply”, then “OK”.

  6. Open this file in Excel. Also, here are the accompanying instructions that go with this Excel file.