How to Change the Macro Security Setting in Excel

The Excel eForms contain macros which need to be enabled. Typically when opening a new eForm, a message box will ask you if you want to enable or disable the macros.

Excel 2000 and later versions of Excel have the default macro setting set to High, which automatically disables the macros. You need to change this setting to Medium. After you have made the change, Excel will prompt you to enable or disable macros each time you open a workbook. To change the settings, perform one of the actions listed below.

Excel 2000

To set the macro security level to Medium, which only needs to be done once, follow these steps.

  1. Start Excel.
  2. On the Tools menu, point to Macro and click Security.
  3. In the Security dialog box, click the Security Level tab.
  4. Click Medium and then click OK.
  5. Save your work and then close Excel. (The security-level changes will not take effect until Excel is restarted).
  6. (Re) Open the Option B form. When prompted to enable or disable macros, click Enable Macros.

Excel 2002/2003

To set the macro security level to Medium, which only needs to be done once, follow these steps.

  1. Start Excel.
  2. On Tools menu, click Options.
  3. Click on the Security tab (upper right hand corner).
  4. In the Security dialog box, click the Macro Security button.
  5. Click Medium and then click OK.
  6. Click OK.
  7. Save your work and then close Excel. (The security-level changes will not take effect until Excel is restarted).
  8. (Re) Open the Option B form. When prompted whether to enable or disable macros,click Enable Macros.

Excel 2007/2010

To enable macros for the Option B spreadsheets, which only needs to be done once, follow these steps.

  1. Start Excel.
  2. Click the “Office Button” (the Windows™ logo in the upper left corner).
  3. Select the Excel Options button.
  4. In the left pane of the Excel Options dialog, select Trust Center.
  5. Click the Trust Center Settings button in the right pane.
  6. In the left pane of the Trust Center dialog, select Macro Settings.
  7. In the right pane, select Disable all macros except digitally signed macros.
  8. Click OK to close the Trust Center; click OK to close Excel Options.
  9. (Re) Open the Option B form. The first time you open an Option B form, you should see a Security Warning bar between the Ribbon and the spreadsheet. Click the Options… button on the Security Warning bar.
  10. The Microsoft Office Security Options dialog appears showing information about the digital signature for this form. The digital signature should be valid, but may have expired.
  11. (If the digital signature has expired, you are probably using an old version of the Option B application. We recommend that you update to the current version.)
  12. Select “Trust all documents from this publisher” and click OK. (If you select “Enable this content” instead, you will need to enable macros every time you open an Option B spreadsheet.)