Understanding whether Macabacus simply failed to load in Office applications, or failed to install in Windows at all, is important. The latter scenario is very uncommon, but can be confirmed by inspecting your list of installed programs in Windows' Control Panel. If Macabacus appears in that list, then installation was likely successful and Macabacus simply failed to load properly. Follow the troubleshooting steps applicable to your situation below.
There are two Macabacus add-ins for Excel. The VBA add-in named Macabacus.xlam can generally be ignored for troubleshooting purposes unless an error message specifically references this file. The VSTO add-in, which appears in Excel's COM Add-Ins dialog, implements most Macabacus functionality, including the Macabacus tab in the ribbon.
Do not attempt to open the Macabacus .vsto files located under the Program Files folder in an effort to force the Macabacus tab to appear in Office applications, unless directed below. This will not solve your problem, and may create other issues.
If the Macabacus tab is missing from the ribbon in one or more Office applications, then it is probable that the Macabacus VSTO add-in failed to load. Complete following steps to resolve this problem. If a step resolves this problem, completion of subsequent steps may be unnecessary. Substitute "PowerPoint" or "Word" for "Excel" as applicable.
This is the most common support inquiry we receive. The steps below will address this issue in all known scenarios when performed correctly. Please ask your IT staff to assist with completing these steps, if applicable, and do not submit a support request without all information requested in the final step.
Open the COM Add-Ins dialog and check the Macabacus COM Add-in
or Macabacus 20XX
box if unchecked. If Macabacus is not listed here, skip to step #4.
Open the Disabled Items dialog and re-enable Macabacus if disabled. Repeat step #1 if necessary.
Open Task Manager (Details tab in Windows 8 and newer) to confirm that only a single instance of the Excel is running. If multiple instances are running, quit them all and restart Excel.
Open Registry Editor and navigate to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\Excel\Addins\Macabacus20XX
. If the LoadBehavior value is 0, change it to 3. To open Registry Editor, type regedit
in Windows' Run prompt (Win+R
shortcut).
Confirm that the full edition of Office that supports VSTO add-ins is installed by checking for the presence of the InstallRoot
registry key pictured below. If this key is missing (i.e., you have the limited Windows Store edition), you must install the correct Office edition. See Macabacus' system requirements for more information.
In Windows Explorer, navigate to the folder C:\Program Files (x86)\Macabacus\Macabacus 20XX
, or its equivalent on your PC. Double click the file named Macabacus.Excel.vsto
.
If a resulting error message reads something like "Unable to install this application because an application with the same identity is already installed...", navigate to the folder C:\Users\%USER NAME%\AppData\Local\Apps\2.0
and delete all files and sub-folders related to Macabacus there. Then, uninstall and reinstall Macabacus.
If a resulting error message reads "The following Microsoft Office solution cannot be installed due to a general installer error..." with error code 0x8007007E, then confirm that you have installed the VSTO Runtime prerequisite per step #4 above.
After completing this step Macabacus v1.0.0.0 will appear in Windows' Programs and Features dialog. Uninstall it.
If you made it this far, there is likely a problem with your Office and/or .NET Framework installation, not with Macabacus, and we need to inspect the error that Macabacus encounters when it tries to load. Configure system environment variables as follows:
VSTO_SUPPRESSDISPLAYALERTS
to your system environment variables if it does not exist, and set its value to 0
(zero).VSTO_LOGALERTS
to your system environment variables if it does not exist, and set its value to 1
(one).To view and edit environment variables, navigate to Windows' Control Panel > System and Security > System > Advanced system settings and click the Environment Variables button.
Restart Excel and attempt to enable the Macabacus VSTO add-in per step #1. Note any run-time error message or log file generated. The log file is created in the %TEMP%
folder (typically C:\Users\%USER_NAME%\AppData\Local\Temp
) and named Macabacus.Excel.vsto.log
. If no run-time errors occurred, no log file will be generated and you will not see an error message. To stop logging errors, set the VSTO_LOGALERTS
variable to 0
(zero).
Macabacus COM Add-in
selected,InstallRoot
key,If the screenshots you send are not exactly as described above, we must ask you to resend them. Please do not send zipped files or Word documents containing your screenshots, as this will delay processing of your submission. Additionally, include the outcome of each step above not addressed through the aforementioned screenshots.
The preceeding steps have resolved this issue in nearly every known case. In those few cases where they did not, reinstalling Office ultimately did. Therefore, we may ask you to reinstall Office in our response to your support request.
Confirm that the full edition of Office that supports VSTO add-ins is installed locally by checking for the presence of the InstallRoot
registry key pictured below. If this key is missing (i.e., you have the limited Windows Store edition), you must install the correct Office edition. See Macabacus' system requirements for more information.
If Macabacus failed to install properly in Windows, perform the following troubleshooting steps:
File > Options > Add-Ins
. In this dialog, select COM Add-Ins from the dropdown menu and click Go. If Macabacus appears in the list of COM add-ins shown here (but is presumably unchecked), then your problem is more likely that Macabacus failed to load. In this case, perform the troubleshooting steps above for "The Macabacus tab disappeared or is not visible."cd %temp%
.MsiFFFFF.log
(or something similar) located in the Temp folder to [email protected]. Check the Date Added property of the log file to be sure you have the correct log file.If uninstalling Macabacus from within Windows' Control Panel and then reinstalling does not resolve this issue, see this link.
You might receive this error if you try loading the Macabacus add-in using the Add button in Excel's COM Add-Ins dialog, which is not how you register COM add-ins. Please follow the installation instructions instead, and see the guidance above if the Macabacus COM add-in does not load after installation.
In general, most problems involving the Macabacus.xlam add-in can be resolved by pointing Excel to the correct location of this file. Normally, you can do this using Excel's Add-Ins dialog. If this approach fails, you may need to manually set the correct path to Macabacus.xlam in the registry.
Perform the following steps to resolve this issue:
Macabacus.xlam
file exists at the path shown in the error message. If it does not, reinstall Macabacus.Alt>T>I
), uncheck Macabacus if already checked, and click OK to close the dialog. Then, open the dialog again and click the Browse button to find Macabacus.xlam
at the path shown in the error message. Be sure Macabacus is now checked, and click OK to close the dialog. Office can be finicky about changing the paths of add-ins, so you may need to try this, and restart Excel a few times for it to stick.Macabacus.xlam
using the Registry Editor. The registry key should be HKEY_USERS\Software\Microsoft\Office\15.0\Excel\Options
, or something similar, depending on your version of Office.This may occur if you have recently upgraded (or downgraded) Microsoft Office. Macabacus for Office 20XX looks for the XLAM add-in referenced above in C:\ProgramData\Macabacus\Macabacus 20XX
. For example, if you upgraded from Office 2013 to Office 2016, but still have Macabacus for Office 2013 installed, Macabacus looks in C:\ProgramData\Macabacus\Macabacus 2016
for the XLAM but cannot find it, producing this error. In addition, Excel stores the path to the XLAM in the registry. When you upgrade from Office 2013 to 2016, Excel might still look in C:\ProgramData\Macabacus\Macabacus 2013
for the XLAM add-in. Sometimes, the only way to tell Excel the correct place to look is by editing the registry manually.
Alt>T>I
) and select the Macabacus add-in. You may receive a prompt asking you to delete it. If so, click OK and then exit the dialog by clicking OK.Perform the following steps to resolve this issue:
Alt>T>I
), uncheck the Macabacus add-in, and click OK.Macabacus.xlam
file in the location shown in your error message. You may receive a Yes/No/Cancel prompt from Excel asking you to replace the Macabacus.xlam
file. If so, click Yes.Macabacus > Settings > Keyboard
and click the Override button. Your Macabacus shortcuts should now be working correctly.Trust Center > Add-ins
.If this error occurs upon starting Excel, or when trying to manually load Macabacus.xlam from Excel's Add-Ins dialog, then Excel may be installed incorrectly. Ensure that Excel is installed with Microsoft Office Tools. Try loading other add-ins to confirm this problem, if necessary.
When Macabacus is loaded upon starting Excel (or another Office application), Excel's splash screen may appear to freeze while loading this add-in. The most likely cause is that anti-virus software (e.g., Symantec Endpoint Protection) is either blocking the add-in from loading, or causes it to load slowly while it attempts to check the add-in. If this happens, either disable the anti-virus software causing the problem, or add the following exceptions to your anti-virus configuration:
This documentation refers to Macabacus version 9.4.5. Some features and descriptions of these features may not
apply to older versions of Macabacus. Update your Macabacus software to take advantage of the latest features.