7 Easy Solutions for Excel Personal Macro Workbook Not Opening Issue!

In MS Excel, personal macro (.xlsb) is a hidden workbook that opens every time with the opening of the Excel application. In this workbook, you can easily store macro codes or user-defined functions that are written in VBA. Sometimes, you may face an Excel personal macro workbook not opening issue when opening the software. This blog explores common factors and practical solutions to address this problem effortlessly.

Why Should I Have a Personal Macro Workbook?

Generally, when you create or record any macro in Excel, you can only access or use it from that specific Excel workbook. But if you need to use the same macro in other Excel files storing these macro VBA codes in Personal Macro Workbook is the best option. After this, your macros become easily accessible from any workbook.

It’s a time savior option, as you don’t need to create the same macro again and again for all your workbooks.

Where Can I Find the Personal Macro Workbook?

Personal Macro Workbook Personal.xlsb file is mainly stored in the following locations within the XLSTART folder:

In Windows Vista/ Windows 7/ Windows 10:

C:\Users\User Name\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Excel\XLSTART

In Windows XP:

C:\Documents and Settings\User Name\Application Data\Microsoft\Excel\XLSTART\

Point to remember

• By default, the AppData folder is kept hidden. So, for fetching this XLSTART folder in Windows Explorer.
• You need to go to the view tab and then make a check across the Hidden items.

• If this XLSTART folder doesn’t exist within your PC then it means your Personal Macro Workbook Personal.xlsb file is not created yet.

Also Read: 7 Ways for XLSM File Not Opening Issue!

Solutions to Solve Excel Personal Macro Workbook Not Opening Issue

In this section, we will talk about several aspects of personal macro workbook not opening issues and of course ways to fix it.

Solution 1- Modify Trusted Location

If your Personal.xls file is saved in an untrusted folder, then the personal macro workbook does not open. In such a case, you can check & modify the XLSTART folder path by using the Trust Center window.

Follow the below steps to do so:

• Open Excel >> click Options.

• Navigate to Trust Center then Trust Center Settings.

• Under the dialog box, you have to click Trusted Locations.
• Now, check the XLSTART folder path and click Modify >> OK.

Solution 2- Check the Personal.xlsb Path

MS Excel knows the exact location (XLStart folder) of this file on your PC so it automatically looks for this file on every launch. No action is required from your side. But sometimes, due to an incorrect path, it fails to launch. At that time, it is important to check the Personal.xlsb file path using Quick Access.

Here’s the complete steps to do this:

• Open an Excel workbook >> click Developer tab.
• After that, press the Alt + F11 keys together to open Visual Basic Editor.

• Navigate to View > Immediate Window.
• Under Immediate Window, you have to type “?thisworkbook.path” code to identify the file location
• Now, hit Enter You will get the workbook path.
• Finally, copy the path & paste it within Quick Access field under File Explorer.

Solution 3- Fix Personal Macro Workbook Fails To Load

Behind this Personal macro Workbook fails to load issue the reason can be your Excel application considering that the location of the Personal.xlsb file has changed now. Or possibly the file has now been corrupted

Try the following steps to fix this:

• Using Windows, try to locate and rename your Personal.xls file.
• Start your Excel application. Now execute your macro recorder by following this option: view> Macro > Record New Macro.

• Make sure that the macro you are recording now is kept in your Personal.xls workbook.
• For this, you have to choose the “Personal Macro Notebook” from the drop-down list of “Store Macro In”.

• Hit the OK button, to start your macro recorder.
• Choose a different cell in your Excel worksheet.
• Now stop the running macro recorder by tapping the view> Macro> Stop Recording

Doing this will create a new Personal.xlsb file, in whatever location Excel expects it to locate.

Now open the old Personal.xlsb workbook and then copy the entire macro code from it to the newly created Personal.xlsb workbook.

Once, it’s done, just save this new Personal.xlsb file and delete the old one.  So when the next time you try to open your Excel file, your new Personal.xls workbook will load smoothly.

Also Read: Resolve Excel File Closes Immediately After Opening Issue

Solution 4- Unhide Personal Macro Workbook

There are several causes behind Excel personal macro workbook not opening issue. One reason can be that your workbook has somehow been disabled. You can fix this issue by unhiding the personal macro workbook.

Follow the steps to unhide the personal macro workbook.

• Open the Excel file, navigate to View>> Unhide
• Under the Unhide dialog box. Simply click on the PERSONAL >> OK.

Solution 5- Turn OFF Macro Add-ins

Another yet option that you can try to overcome this situation is disabling the macro add-ins in Excel. To check & enable the stuff, follow the below instructions carefully:

• From your Excel ribbon tap to the file >options.
• On the opened Excel options window hit the Add-Ins tab.

• From the bottom of the dialog box, hit the Manage drop-down list and choose the Disabled Items.
• Tap to the Go Excel will display one dialog box in which all the add-ins that are disabled now seem listed here.
• If your macro workbook is listed as disabled here, just choose it and tap Enable.

• Close all the open dialog boxes.

Solution 6- Open Your Excel Document in ‘Safe Mode’ to Fix Excel Personal Macro Workbook Not Opening

Starting Excel in ‘Safe Mode’ avoids various issues as it opens Excel without using some startup programs.

• You can open Excel in ‘safe mode’ by pressing and holding the ‘CTRL’ key when starting this program.
• Or you can start the program from the command line by pressing the window+ R buttons from your keyboard.
• In the opened Run window type ‘excel.exe/safe’  and hit the OK button.

Also Read: [8 Fixes] Excel Stuck At Opening File 0% Issue

Solution 7- Repair Your Corrupted Workbook

If the above solutions fail to solve this problem, it is likely your macro workbook is itself corrupted. Using the built-in Excel’s Open and Repair utility can be handy to fix the corruption issue.

Here’s how to use this tool:

• Open the Excel >> click on Open.

• Then, browse to the location where a corrupted spreadsheet is saved.
• Under an Open dialog box, choose the corrupted document.
• Now, click on Open and Repair >> Repair.

If it fails, it’s highly recommended to use the Excel Repair Tool, This utility tool will help you to repair and recover corrupted and inaccessible data from the Excel workbook. It is capable to fix different errors and issues related to the Excel workbook and recover deleted Excel data.

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Related FAQs:

What Is the Name of the Personal Workbook in Excel?

In Excel 2007 – 2019, the personal Macro Workbook is also known as ‘Personal.xlsb’ and in the earlier version, it is popularly known as ‘Personal.xls’.

Why Are My Personal Macros Not Working?

It might be possible that your Personal macro workbook is saved in an untrusted location.

How to Copy Macros in The Personal Macro Workbook?

Once you have created and saved this Personal Macro Workbook (PERSONAL.XLSB) file, now you can copy the macros that you want to reuse further.

• Open your Excel>> click on Developer tab.
• Now, from the code group hit Visual Basic After this, you will see the VB editor opened on your screen.
• Click on Visual Basic. This will open the VB Editor (or use ALT + F11).
• In this opened VB Editor, tap on the Project Explorer, here you will all the PERSONAL.XLSB objects.
• Make a double-click on Module 1.
• In the opened Module code window, just copy and paste the macro code and save the file.

Time to Conclude:

As already said, the Personal Macro Workbook is a great option for managing all important macros in just one single place. That’s the reason why no one can afford issues in their Personal Macro Workbook or personal.xlsb not opening automatically.

After reading this post I don’t think you have to suffer any kind of issues in your Personal Macro Workbook. But if you get any problem then let us know via our FB and Twitter Pages.