Excel for Mac unexpectedly quit when opening a file with macros and conditional highlighting

Dear Tom Tacheny

Welcome and thank you for sharing your issue in the Q&A forum.

Based on the information you shared, here are several troubleshooting steps you can perform to resolve the unexpected Excel crash when opening a specific macro file on macOS:

I : Isolation and External Factor Check (Add-ins, Startup Files): macOS does not have an official /safe mode like Windows, but you can achieve similar isolation by:

1. Suppressing Auto-Run Macros and Startup Items: Close Excel completely. Press and hold the Shift key while opening the file to prevent auto-run macros (like Workbook_Open) from executing and to suppress the loading of custom Startup items.
2. Manually Disabling Add-ins and Cleaning Startup Files If the crash persists after step 1, or if step 1 works but you want to find the conflicting Add-in:

• Clean Startup Files:
• Open Finder and press Command + Shift + G to open the "Go to Folder" dialogue.
• Paste the path: ~/Library/Group Containers/UBF8T346G9.Office/User Content/Startup/Excel/
• Move any files (typically .xlam Add-ins) from this folder out to a safe location (e.g., your Desktop).
• Disable Add-ins:
• Open Excel normally.
• Go to the Tools menu > Excel Add-ins and uncheck all items.
• Go to the Tools menu > COM Add-ins (if available) and uncheck all items.
• Test: Try opening the macro file again.

II : Internal Code Check (Missing References, Code Corruption): If the crash is caused by the VBA code structure itself, you must check for missing external dependencies.

3. Check for Missing References (A Common Cause of Crashes)

• Disable Macros on Open:
• Go to Excel > Preferences > Security > Macro Security.
• Select the option Disable all macros without notification.
• Open the file. If it opens, proceed to the next step.

Open Visual Basic Editor (VBE): In the open file, press the key combination Option + F11 (or Fn + Option + F11).

Check References:

• In the VBE, go to the Tools menu > References...
• Scroll through the list and look for any items labeled MISSING at the beginning.
• If found, uncheck the corresponding box.
• Click OK, save the file, and try opening it normally.

III : File and Installation Integrity: If, after all the above steps, the error still persists:

4. Copy Content to a New File (File Corruption)

• Open the file using Excel Online (since it functions there).
• Create a brand-new Excel file (.xlsm) on your desktop.
• Copy all the content from the original worksheets and then copy each Module and UserForm from the VBE of the old file into the new file.
• Save the new file and attempt to open it.

5. If the issue persists, consider checking your Office version and rolling back to a previously stable build. This depends on how Office was installed:

-If installed from the Mac App Store: You cannot roll back to a previous version. Your only option is to uninstall the App Store version and reinstall Office by downloading it from the Microsoft website: Download, install, or reinstall Microsoft 365 or Office 2024 on a PC or Mac

-If installed from the Microsoft Website (Retail/Web Download): You can roll back by:

• Uninstalling your current version of Office.
• Visiting the Update history for Office for Mac page and downloading the installer package for a stable older version (e.g., 16.100 or 16.99).

After updating or rolling back, to prevent automatic updates:

• Go to Excel >> Help >> Check for Updates
• Uncheck Automatically download and install

We apologize for the inconvenience and appreciate your patience while this issue is resolved. We hope these steps are helpful. If you need further assistance or have any questions, please don’t hesitate to contact us. We’re here to support you.

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