Add-In Causes PowerPoint, Excel or Word to freeze

Symptom

In some specifically configured environments, it is possible that one of our following VBA add-ins may not load when the corresponding Microsoft Office application is run and could cause the Microsoft Office application to freeze and/or disable the add-in:

• ActivePrez
• vMaps
• vicons
• Circlify
• G-Tools
• Any of our free add-ins

Subsequent attempts to restart the Microsoft Office application may result in an error message being displayed: (shown for PowerPoint but similar for Excel and Word)

Cause

When Microsoft Office 2013 is used in a corporate environment, it is possible for the IT administrator to set a Group Policy that disables access to VBA add-ins on a per-application basis. IT administrators may refer to this Microsoft Technet article : Plan security settings for VBA macros for Office 2013.

Resolution

To confirm if VBA is enabled on your PC, follow the steps in either of these two methods:

Method 1

1. Open the Microsoft Office 2013 application that is hosting the add-in.
2. Make sure you have a blank document open (presentation, spreadsheet, document).
3. Press Alt+F11 on your keyboard. If the the VBE (Visual Basic Editor) window opens, VBA is enabled.

Method 2

1. Open the Microsoft Office 2013 application that is hosting the add-in.
2. Make sure you have a blank document open (presentation, spreadsheet, document).
3. Click the File tab in the Microsoft Office application.
4. Click Options.
5. In the options window that opens, click Customize Ribbon on the left hand side.
6. In the right hand column, check the Developer tab.
7. Click OK.
8. Click the DEVELOPER tab in the Microsoft Office 2013 application ribbon.
9. Confirm that the Visual Basic button is enabled. If it is not greyed out, VBA is enabled.

PowerPoint 2013

Excel 2013

Word 2013

If you have confirmed that VBA is not enabled for the Microsoft Office Application, request your IT administrator to enable the Group Policy to activate VBA for your PC.