Personal Workbook
Excel VBA lives inside Excel workbooks. Macros can only be executed if its workbook is locally open. The personal workbook is always opened and available, and as such makes for an appropriate way to make macros or functions globally available.
Contents
Setup
The personal workbook is typically stored at C:\Users\USERNAME\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Excel\XLSTART\PERSONAL.XLSB.
To initialize it, record a macro saved to the personal workbook.
Troubleshooting
Can't execute code in break mode
When debugging a macro or program, Excel offers to open the line of code that produced an error. This enters break mode. Note that the window title will include "[break]" when break mode is active.
To execute break mode, select Run > Reset.
Personal Workbook Missing
Microsoft will periodically disable and delete your Personal Workbook. To re-enable:
In an Excel window, navigate to File > Options
In the popup, navigate to Add-ins
In a dropdown located near the bottom of the popup, select Disabled Items and Go
In the popup, select Personal Workbook and Enable
- Restart Excel