In MS Excel, you can create a personal macro workbook (Personal.xlsb) to reuse macro in other worksheets. Generally, a personal macro workbook loads automatically when you open Excel. However, sometimes, you fail to open the personal macro workbook (Personal.xlsb). In this article, we will discuss the causes behind the personal macro workbook not opening issue in Excel and the solutions to fix it.
Causes of the Personal Macro Workbook not Opening Issue
This issue can occur due to the below reasons:
- Workbook is read-only
- Personal macro workbook is hidden
- The path of Personal.xlsb file is incorrect
- Personal macro workbook is saved at an untrusted location
- Disabled add-ins items
- Disabled macro settings
Possible Solutions to Fix the Personal Macro Workbook not Opening Issue
It might happen that the Personal.xlsb file is hidden. You can check and unhide the personal macro workbook. To do this, go to View and then click the Unhide option. If this is not the case, then follow the below troubleshooting solutions.
Method 1: Check the Path of Personal.xlsb
The “Personal macro workbook not opening” issue can occur if the workbook (Personal.xlsb) is stored in an incorrect folder. This file should be stored in XLStart folder within the Microsoft Excel startup folder. You can check the path of the file by following these steps:
- Open any Excel file.
- Press the Alt+F11 keys to display Visual Basic Editor.
- In Visual Basic Editor, click View and then select Immediate Window.
- In Immediate Window, enter the below code to find the location of the workbook:
?thisworkbook.path.
- Then, press Enter.
- It will display the path of the personal macro workbook. Copy the path.
- Next, press Windows + E to open File Explorer.
- In File Explorer, paste the copied path into the Quick Access field.
Method 2: Change the Trusted Location
The “Personal macro workbook not opening” issue can also occur if the personal.xlsb file is located at an untrusted location. You can check and change the path of the XLSTART folder. To do this, follow the steps we’ve listed below steps:
- In MS Excel, click on File and then click on Options.
- In Excel Options, select Trust Center and then click on Trust Center Settings.
- Under the Trust Center Settings window, select Trusted Locations.
- Check the XLSTART folder path. Then, click the Modify option.
- Correct the path in the Microsoft Office trusted location dialog box and click OK.
Method 3: Enable the Macro Add-ins
If macros are disabled, then you can also encounter the “personal macro workbook is not opening” issue. Ensure macros are enabled in your Excel to open and record macros in the personal macro workbook. To do so, follow the steps below:
- In MS Excel, click File > Options.
- In Excel Options, select Add-ins.
- Under the Add-ins section, click the dropdown arrow of the Manage option.
- Select Disabled Items and then click on the Go option.
- In the Disabled Items dialog box, check the listed items. If you find any macros, then click Enable.
- Now, click the Close button.
Note: If macros are disabled in Macro Security settings, then you can check and change the Macro Security settings.
Method 4: Repair the Excel File
If the Excel file is corrupted, damaged, or unreadable, you can also encounter the “personal macro workbook is not opening” issue. You can repair the corrupt Excel file using the Excel’s in-built Open and Repair utility. To use this utility, follow these steps:
- In your Excel application, click on File > Open.
- In the ‘Open’ dialog box, select the affected Excel file and then click on the arrow next to the Open option.
- From the new dropdown list, just click Open and Repair.
- You will see a prompt asking you to repair or extract data from the file. Click Repair to retrieve maximum data. If it fails, then click on the Extract Data option to recover the file data, excluding the formulas and values.
If Excel’s inbuilt utility fails to repair the corrupted Excel file, use an advanced Excel repair software, like Stellar Repair for Excel. It is a powerful Excel file repair software that can easily repair corrupted or damaged Excel files and recover all the data, including charts, personal macro workbooks, macros, pivot tables, etc., with 100% integrity. This software can also repair multiple Excel files in a batch with precision. It is compatible with all the Excel versions.
Conclusion
If you can’t open the personal macro workbook in Excel, follow the solutions given in this article. If corruption in the Excel file has caused this issue, use Excel’s built-in utility – Open and Repair. If it doesn’t resolve the issue, then use an Excel file repair software, like Stellar Repair for Excel. You can repair the damaged or corrupted Excel files of all the formats, like .xls, .xlsx, .xltm, etc. You can free download Stellar Repair for Excel to scan the corrupt file and preview the recoverable data.
