Macro in Excel 2010 - can't open personal workbook with the VBA code to correct

Hi Helper,
I'm stuck having written a couple of macros in a new install of Excel 2010 while I'm waiting for the 2013 software. In the meantime I'm trying to Unhide the Personal Workbook so I can edit my macros and see the VBA code, in some cases delete the macro altogether. Nothing in the Help reference works. Somebody know how to get this done? Bless you for your help! -- The Sparkmeister.

Alan, thank you very much. For instance when I open Find Macro, then select the macro that I want to edit, upon clicking Edit, I get an error message "Cannot edit....use Unhide." No matter where I look for hide/unhide, the unhide workbook is greyed out and not available. The macros are stored in PERSONAL.XLSB and I can't get into it in Excel 2010. I'll try anything to figure it out. Thanks in advance!

The Sparkmeister

Is the personal workbook in it's proper file location: http://wheatblog.com/2011/08/where-i...kbook-located/?

in a new install of Excel 2010

I believe any existing personal macro workbook will be wiped out when you do a fresh install? Have you seen/used the personal workbook since doing the install? Whether it's hidden or not, you should see it in the VBA Project Explorer when in the VBA Editor.

Thank you for your reply, gyclone. I had to start all over after the install, all of my macros were in my previous 2013 Excel when it got wiped out with a virus. I knew that I was starting over and wrote about 4 macros, then wanted to edit them. To my chagrin, 2010 isn't like 2013 and I couldn't get at the locked/hidden file. Not sure where to look for it or how to get at it, that's my frustration. Thanks very much for any ideas, I really appreciate your thoughts.

The Sparkmeister

The location of the file is detailed in the link I included in my post. If it isn't there, I don't think you currently have one, especially if it doesn't show in the VBA Project Explorer. Check the location, as per my link. If no file, record a new macro and select "Personal Macro Workbook", under "Store In". Finish recording the macro and save your file. Then check the file location again; new personal workbook should be there. The only way to carry the personal workbook over from install to install is to copy it to a different location before new install and paste it to the appropriate location after new install.

Gyclone, thanks very much for your reply. Two items since then: 1)I've located all my work in the VBA location, made some test changes which worked find, so in the long run I'm OK where I am right now; however 2)Here is the address of where the hidden workbook is: C:\Users\b.flajole\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Excel\XLSTART\Personal.xlsb. I still don't know how to either get to it, since the trail goes cold just before AppData, so I can't do anything to it. Got any ideas? Thanks again!

So, are you saying you can't get to the location, even through Windows Explorer? Or, are you saying you found the file in that location, but still can't see it from Excel?

Note: AppData is a hidden folder. You won't see it in Windows Explorer unless you are set to Show Hidden Files, via Folder Options in Control Panel. Regardless of the Hidden Files setting, you can navigate to AppData by opening the "Run" dialog (Windows key + R) and typing "%AppData%", without the quotes.

Thank you, gyclone. I've gotten to the file through Explorer by using your suggestions. Very good! Now I've got a binary file that I can't open. Can't figure out why I got a binary file in the mail yesterday and I could open it just fine in Excel, but not this one. Where do we go next?

What binary file? Is this still related to the Personal Workbook? Did you get the Personal Workbook to display in Excel? I'm afraid you've confused me.

I'm sorry, the Personal.xlsb is the workbook that I'm still trying to open. I followed your thread on the file address and located it. Now I need to open it. Is there a reason why this is so difficult in Excel 2010 when I can jump right into it with Excel 2013?

I am using 2010. If the Personal.xlsb exists in the appropriate location, you should see it automatically in the VBA Project Explorer in the VBA Editor window, regardless of whether or not it is hidden. You should also be able to navigate to it through Windows Explorer and double-click on the Personal.xlsb to open it. There's no special trick, same way it's always been (at least as far back as I can remember). I don't know why that isn't working for you. You might try to move it to a different location and/or rename it, then try to open it. Also, maybe back up your current one to a different location and then create a new one (record a macro and save it to Personal Macro Workbook), then see if you can open the new one. Could be the one you have is somehow corrupted. If someone sent you the file and they are using a different version of Excel, there could be a compatibility issue. I only have 2010 on this machine, so I can't test that.