Unblocking the Macros on a downloaded file

Modified on Tue, 23 May, 2023 at 11:33 AM

Sometimes files that you receive have Macros - these are like little computer programs within the file 


They are most commonly seen on Excel documents as they are extremely useful for performing complex tasks with a single click 


They can however also be found in Powerpoint and Word 


You can tell if a file is macro enables from its file extension 


xlsx - normal excel file 

xlsm - macro enabled excel file 


docx - normal word file 

docm - macro enabled word file

pptx - normal powerpoint file 

pptm - macro enabled powerpoint file 


By default if these Macro enabled files have come from a computer other than your own they will have the Macros blocked as there is an outside possibility that someone may have programmed the macro do do something unexpected like collecting data from your computer and sending it off to a 3rd party.


You can however unblock the Macros but only do this if you trust where the file has come from (e.g. a work colleage or a friend) 

To do this 

Find the file in question and right click on it  



From the context menu select Properties



From the Properties window put a tick in the unblock box and click OK 


You should now be able to run the macros within the file


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