While in Visual Basic Editor (VBE), you click on a VBA project and receive the 'Project is unviewable' error, instead of a password input prompt. You can neither view, nor edit macros.
This article presents the 2 main reasons behind this message. We will also show you how you may be able to gain access to the VBA code inside the locked project.
This article presents the 2 main reasons behind this message. We will also show you how you may be able to gain access to the VBA code inside the locked project.
Project Locked With Unviewable+ VBA
If you have received the file from another person, the most likely scenario is that the workbook or add-in author locked macros to prevent users from viewing or editing his or hers VBA code.
Software tools, such as our popular Unviewable+ VBA application, can protect macros, by making a VBA project unviewable in VBE. In addition, VBA debug mode is disabled, so macros cannot be traced when an error occurs.
If the author locked the project using the Unviewable+ VbaDiff level (lowest security), you can use the VbaDiff Windows application to review the code, even if macros are not accessible in Excel.
If the project has been locked with a higher level of protection, it means that the author would like to protect his or hers intellectual property from all 3rd parties. Any attempt to view or extract VBA code from Unviewable+ protected projects may be a violation of your software license agreement. Depending on your jurisdiction, you may be liable for civil compensation or subject to criminal charges.
Software tools, such as our popular Unviewable+ VBA application, can protect macros, by making a VBA project unviewable in VBE. In addition, VBA debug mode is disabled, so macros cannot be traced when an error occurs.
If the author locked the project using the Unviewable+ VbaDiff level (lowest security), you can use the VbaDiff Windows application to review the code, even if macros are not accessible in Excel.
If the project has been locked with a higher level of protection, it means that the author would like to protect his or hers intellectual property from all 3rd parties. Any attempt to view or extract VBA code from Unviewable+ protected projects may be a violation of your software license agreement. Depending on your jurisdiction, you may be liable for civil compensation or subject to criminal charges.
Workbook Is In Shared Mode
Several Excel features are unavailable in Shared workbooks. Developers cannot write, record, change, view or assign macros, as VBA is unviewable. Users can only run existing macros that don't access unavailable features.
Here is what to do in order to view macros:
Here is what to do in order to view macros:
- Use our Macro Mover add-in to unlock VBA in a Shared workbook
- Unshare the workbook from: Review Tab > Unshare Workbook
