How to Remove a Macro in Excel

The complete guide to deleting macros from any Excel workbook

Written by Jack Lloyd

Last Updated: October 25, 2022 Tested

On Windows

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On Mac

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Q&A

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Tips

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Warnings

This wikiHow teaches you how to remove a macro from a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet. You can do this from within the spreadsheet's settings in Excel on both Windows and Mac computers.

Things You Should Know

You must first enable macros in your workbook before you can delete them.
On Windows, click "Macros" on the "View" tab to view and delete macros.
On a Mac, you'll find your macros in the "Tools" menu under "Macros.

Method 1

Method 1 of 2:

On Windows

1
Open the macro-enabled Excel sheet. Double-click the Excel file which contains the macro you want to delete. This will open the file in Excel.
2
Click Enable Content. It's in the yellow bar at the top of the Excel window. This will enable the macro(s) that are embedded in the file.
- If you don't enable the macro(s), you won't be able to delete your macro.
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3
Click the View tab. This tab is in the green ribbon at the top of the Excel window.
4
Click Macros. It's a drop-down icon
in the far-right side of the View tab. A drop-down menu will appear.
5
Click View Macros. This option is in the drop-down menu. Doing so opens the Macros pop-up window.
6
Click the "Macros in" drop-down box. You'll find this at the bottom of the window. Clicking it prompts a drop-down menu.
7
Click All Open Workbooks. It's in the drop-down menu.
8
Select a macro. Click the name of the macro you want to delete.
9
Click Delete. It's on the right side of the window.
10
Click Yes when prompted. Doing so will remove the macro from your workbook.
11
Save your changes. Press Ctrl+S to do so. This will ensure that the macro remains deleted after you close Excel.

Method 2

Method 2 of 2:

On Mac

1
Open the macro-enabled Excel sheet. Double-click the Excel file which contains the macro you want to delete. This will open the file in Excel.
2
Click Enable Content. It's in the yellow bar at the top of the Excel window. This will enable the macro(s) that are embedded in the file.
- If you don't enable the macro(s), you won't be able to delete your macro.
3
Click Tools. It's a menu item at the top of your Mac's screen. Clicking it prompts a drop-down menu.
4
Select Macro. This option is at the bottom of the Tools drop-down menu. Selecting it causes a pop-out menu to the right of the drop-down menu to appear.
5
Click Macros…. It's in the pop-out menu. Doing so opens the "Macros" window.^{[1]
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6
Click the "Macros in" drop-down box. This is near the bottom of the "Macros" window. A drop-down menu will appear.
7
Click All Open Workbooks. It's in the drop-down menu.
8
Select a macro. Click the name of the macro you want to delete.
9
Click —. It's below the list of macros.
10
Click Yes when prompted. This will remove the macro.
11
Save your changes. Press ⌘ Command+S to do so. This will ensure that the macro remains deleted after you close Excel.

Community Q&A

Question

What do I do if I get the error "cannot edit a macro on a hidden workbook"?

Community Answer

Click "View" tab. Click "Unhide". A "Personal workbook" option will appear; select this. Once inside the Personal workbook, follow the steps in the tutorial above and it should delete easily.
Question

What do I do if the Delete button is disabled?

JLloyd

Community Answer

The Delete button will be disabled if you didn't click "Enable Content" upon opening the macro. You can find this option in the yellow bar at the top of the Excel document. If the Delete button is still greyed out after enabling macros, you may not have permission to edit the document.

Warnings

Macros can harm your computer. Unless you know where a macro came from (e.g., a trusted colleague created it), do not run macros from files you didn't personally create.

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