How To Fix The Disappearing Add-in Ribbon Menu Bar In Excel

Is your Add-in Ribbon Menu disappearing? A recent Microsoft Office security update has caused Add-in Ribbon Menu Bars to disappear when Excel is opened.

Microsoft released an Office Update in July 2016 that is causing this issue with installed add-in Ribbons disappearing. The security update is blocking files that have been downloaded from the internet.

Files downloaded from the internet now have a Security property that is automatically set to Block. When you open regular Excel files (.xlsx or .xlsm), you will get a security prompt asking you if the file is safe.

However, there is no security prompt for add-in files (.xla, .xlam). That means there is nothing to tell you why the add-in ribbon disappeared.

So if you have downloaded an Excel Campus add-in recently, or an add-in from another site, then you might not be seeing it load up when you open Excel. Argh!!!

00:00 Introduction
00:56 Addin Location
01:52 Add New Location
03:01 Conclusion

[tiffanywilson]

I honestly cannot thank you enough! I've been fighting this issue for six months and had pretty much given up. Your tutorial was THE answer!!

[SriniVas-ukjp]

Thanks, worked right away. I was trying bunch of fixes from MS and none of them worked. This one worked right away. You will have close all sheets and open.

[kathygoodson]

Thank you! I have never thanked anyone on youtube before but you just made my life a lot easier!

[lisalisatwo]

Thanks so much! Your videos set the standard for clearly presenting information that would otherwise be difficult for non-techies to understand. This is a great example as you explain how to fix the problem immediately (excellent if you are mid-project and just need an answer NOW!) and an even better option to avoid future issues. The fact that Macros just disappear, and Excel doesn't tell you why, is the type of situation that makes one want to give up altogether, or at least throw your PC out the window. That solution, however, gets expensive.

[Mankston]

This is the video I was needing. Thanks

[yaowinston]

Thanks so much. Had been looking for a solution for a couple of months. This one nipped it in the bud!

[dimitrilemieux]

THANK YOU! :D Just got my "PhStat" add-in to work!!!

[bikrambehera]

Thanks a lot for help. It really helped solving the issue.

[huwsheppard]

Thank you that solved a problem I've had across several computers probably since 2016!

[Berghiker]

How do I get the Design Mode to show up in Excel 2016?

[kushalchakraborty]

Thank you so much for this video. However, I am using Audit tool in my excel, and after a new update my Tickmark option, Flux analysis is gone. But I am able to add Flux analysis from Macro, but not the ticmarks. If you can help me out with this, it would be a great help. Thanks in advance

[Leonardo-r]

Thank you! That solved my problem nicely.

[kvinanaka]

Great tip, thanks for taking the time to making it and posting

[contatoautomeasy]

Hi John, I created an add-in but using Visual Studio, not the xla file like the one on the video. I am having the same trouble (ribbon menu disappearing) with some users, but not all... Do you have any clue what could it be?

Tks in advance!

[swapneeltalera]

Hi Jon, thank you for the great work. I am facing a problem when I send my excel to another user, the custom ribbon vanishes. Am I missing anything here?

[michaelandersen]

Thanks! Helped me with the disappering FRED menu from FED

[santoshpillai]

That really helped. I was facing this problem and it helped me fix it.

[generalposter]

Hello this is good. Question on whether this is an issue ONLY for Addins. In other words if i have an excel xlsm workbook with a custom ribbon tab, does that also disappear with that security update and does the trusted location fix that. Thanks for any feedback

[pranshuthakur]

Cannot run the macro The macro may not be available in this workbook or all macros may be disabled.
I am getting this and i have all the things u have said. Can u help me?