QI Macros Technical Support Questions

  1. Completely close out of Excel (Don’t just close a file; completely exit/quit out of Excel)
  2. Download and run the QI Macros Installation File:
    • Right-click on the QIMacros.zip file and select “Extract All”:

      pc-install-instructions-1
    • Once the items are extracted, open the PC folder and then double-click on the .exe file to launch the installer:

      install-instructions-2
    • Follow the prompts:

      install-instructions-3

      install-instructions-4

      install-instructions-5
  3. Start Excel and look for the QI Macros tab on Excel’s menu:

    excel-2016-pc-menu

Menu still not appearing? Click here for tier 2 support options.

The QI Macros pathway has been removed from Excel
Excel has disabled the QI Macros menu file
Excel hasn’t completely closed and needs to be re-booted

Your Microsoft security settings have removed the QI Macros pathway in Excel:

Download, open, and select the "Click Here to Add QI-Macros" button in the following file: Add-QIMacros.xlsm

NOTE: You may be asked to "Enable Editing" or the file may have been disabled by your security settings. Select "Enable Editing" and also enable the file in your Excel, if it has been disabled, by going to File > Info.

  1. Once you have done so, completely quit out of Excel and reopen.
  2. Do you now see the QI Macros menu in your Excel sub-ribbon?

If you are unable to run the "Add-QIMacros.xlsm" file due to your security settings, or you do not see the QI Macros menu in your Excel sub-ribbon, follow the Manual Instructions below.

Manual instructions to restore QI Macros Add-in:

  1. Open Excel and select File > Options > Advanced
  2. In the Advanced section, scroll down to the "General" portion, and in the "At startup, open all files in" textbox, input the following: C:\Program Files\QIMacros\xlstart\
  3. Press "OK," close Excel and reopen - you should now see the QI Macros menu in your Excel sub-ribbon.

Due to your Microsoft security settings, Excel might have disabled QI Macros:

  1. In Excel, select File, Options and then Add-Ins in the left-hand column.
  2. Next, click on Manage Excel Add ins at the bottom of the screen and click on the arrow next to the box and select Disabled Items:

    manage excel add-ins excel options
  3. Then, click on the GO button next to your selection to see all disabled items:

    disabled Excel add-in
  4. Select the QI Macros disabled file(s) and click Enable.
  5. Once you've enabled all of the QI Macros disabled items, completely quit out of Excel, reopen Excel and open a blank workbook – you should now see the QI Macros menu in your Excel sub-ribbon.

Excel hasn’t completely closed and needs to be re-booted:

  1. Close out of Excel and reopen Excel – does the green, rectangular Excel startup window appear?

    office-365-excel-open-boot
  2. If not, close Excel again, and select Ctrl+Alt+Delete > Task Manager
  3. Then, if Microsoft Excel appears in the list of Applications that are running, select Microsoft Excel, right-click and choose “End Task.”

    task-manager
  4. Once completed, open Excel – you should now see the green, rectangular Excel startup window.
  5. With Excel booted up, open a blank workbook – you should now see the QI Macros menu in your Excel sub-ribbon.

Menu still not appearing? Click here for tier 2 support options.

* TO TROUBLESHOOT THIS MATTER, YOU MUST FIRST ENLIST YOUR IT DEPARTMENT FOR HELP *

If you are receiving this message, follow the additional steps below:

  1. Completely quit out of Excel.
  2. Cut the qimacros.xlam file from C:\Program Files\QIMacros\xlstart
  3. Locate the XLSTART folder attributed to your specific version of Excel (e.g., Office 365/Excel 2021: C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\root\Office16\XLSTART)
  4. Paste the qimacros.xlam file into the XLSTART folde attributed to your specific version of Excelr.
  5. And once you have done so, open Excel - do you still receive the same message?

If so, this is because an organizational security setting and/or security policy is blocking the “qimacros.xlam” menu file from loading in Excel.

To double-check that the menu file is indeed being blocked, follow the steps below:

  1. Completely quit out of Excel.
  2. Copy the cChart.xlsx file from C:\Program Files\QIMacros\TestData
  3. Next, paste the cChart.xlsx file into the XLSTART folder attributed to your specific version of Excel (e.g., Office 365/Excel 2021: C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\root\Office16\XLSTART)
  4. Once you have done so, open Excel – does the cChart sample data file automatically open?
  5. If so, this means your organizational security setting and/or security policy is blocking the “qimacros.xlam” menu file.

Please note that we are unable to troubleshoot or identify what organizational security setting and/or security policy is blocking the menu file. Your IT Department, Infrastructure team, or Cybersecurity rep would need to be consulted, to identify and update this setting/policy.


* TO TROUBLESHOOT THIS MATTER, YOU MUST FIRST ENLIST YOUR IT DEPARTMENT FOR HELP *

If you are still receiving this message, your IT Department can add an Exception/Exclusion within your anti-virus software to allow your system to open the QI Macros menu file.

Below are instructions on how to do so in Windows Defender/Microsoft Security:

  1. Go to “Start” in the bottom left of your device and select Settings > Update & Security > Windows Security > Virus & threat protection.
  2. Under the “Virus & threat protection” settings, select “Manage settings” and then under “Exclusions,” select “Add or remove exclusions.”
  3. Next, select “Add an exclusion” and "File." Then, select qimacros.xlam from the pathway attributed to your specific version of Excel (e.g., Office 365/Excel 2021: C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\root\Office16\XLSTART) – this will exclude the qimacros.xlam file from being blocked by your anti-virus software.
  4. And once you have done so, select "Add an exclusion" and "Process." Then, select qimacros.xlam from the pathway listed in Step 3 - this will provide a secondary exclusion to the qimacros.xlam file.
  5. After completing both exclusions, open Excel – do you now see the QI Macros menu in your Excel ribbon?

If not, your IT Department can also whitelist the Cryptographic Hash Algorithm (Checksum) attributed to the qimacros.xlam file.

  1. If your IT is not sure how to do this, they can contact our support team for guidance.
  2. However, please note that we are unable to provide directions on how to whitelist an item within an organization's anti-virus software or tell what Secure Hash Algorithm (SHA) is required within an organization's system.

  3. After whitelisting qimacros.xlam's Hash, open Excel – do you now see the QI Macros menu in your Excel ribbon?

If not, Defender can sometimes keep the protection history, which needs to be manually removed - see additional steps below:

  1. Close Defender.
  2. Open your File Explorer and go to the following pathway:
  3. C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows Defender\Scans\History

  4. Once there, delete the contents of the "History" folder - and once deleted, check to see if "qimacros.xlam" has been removed from the History list in Defender.

NOTE: If "qimacros.xlam" is still listed in Defender, select the option to perform an Offline Scan with Defender - your PC will need to reboot to perform this scan. And once rebooted, "qimacros.xlam" should be removed from Defender.

If the QI Macros menu still does not appear, check that the Exclusions are being added to the Registry:

  • Local Machine\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows Defender\Exclusions\Path
  • Local Machine\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows Defender\Exclusions\Extensions

If they are not, manually enter them into the Registry.


* TO TROUBLESHOOT THIS MATTER, YOU MUST FIRST ENLIST YOUR IT DEPARTMENT FOR HELP *

If you are still receiving this message, see additional instructions below:

Explanation: Often IT will change security parameters for all users on an entire network.

And if you do not have permission to open a specific Excel file, it will display the error "Excel cannot open the file because the file format or file extension is not valid." If this is the case and you can no longer open macro-enabled files (files ending in .xlam, .xltm or .xlsm), then you will no longer be able to use QI Macros on your device.

To troubleshoot this matter, have your IT department adjust your permissions to allow you to open macro-enabled files. They can do so by adjusting your permissions and by also following these steps:

  1. Right-click the Excel file that cannot be opened and select Properties:
  2. file-not-valid-properties

  3. After the file’s "Properties" window opens, select the Security tab, and then click the Edit button:
  4. file-not-valid-security-tab

    file-not-valid-edit-button

  5. After the file’s "Permissions" window opens, click the Add button:
  6. file-not-valid-add-button

  7. When the "Select Users or Groups" window opens, click the Advanced button:
  8. file-not-valid-advanced

  9. And when the next window opens, click Find Now so all users and groups will show up in the search results list at the bottom of the window:
  10. file-not-valid-find-now

  11. Select the Everyone group from the list, and then click OK:
  12. file-not-valid-everyone

  13. And click OK again:
  14. file-not-valid-everyone-ok

  15. When you return to the "Permissions" window, you will see that the Everyone group has been added to the group or user list. Select the Everyone group, check all checkboxes under Allow, and then click Apply and OK:
  16. file-not-valid-click-checkboxes

* TO TROUBLESHOOT THIS MATTER, YOU MUST FIRST ENLIST YOUR IT DEPARTMENT FOR HELP *

If you are still receiving this message, check to make sure C:\Program Files\QIMacros\xlstart\ is listed as a Trusted Location in Excel. To do so, see instructions below:

  1. Open Excel and select File > Options > Trust Center > Trust Center Settings > Trusted Locations:
  2. trusted-locations-list

  3. If C:\Program Files\QIMacros\xlstart is NOT listed in your Trusted Locations list, select the "Add New Location" button to manually add the pathway as a Trusted Location:
  4. manually-add-trusted-location

  5. Once you have done so, completely quit out of Excel and reopen Excel - do you still receive the same message?

If you are still receiving this message, e-mail support@qimacros.com or call: 1.888.468.1537

When installing QI Macros, if you receive this prompt, select the "Abort" button:

error-creating-directory

Installation will then complete.

And to double-check that QI Macros has installed, open Excel and then open a blank spreadsheet or workbook - the QI Macros menu should now appear within your Excel sub-ribbon.

If you require additional technical support, e-mail support@qimacros.com or call: 1.888.468.1537

When installing QI Macros, if you receive this prompt, press "OK":

windows-cannot-find-excel

Next, if Excel is open, completely quit out of Excel.

Once Excel has been closed, or if Excel was already closed, open Excel and then open a blank spreadsheet or workbook - you should now see the QI Macros menu in your Excel ribbon.

If you require additional technical support, e-mail support@qimacros.com or call: 1.888.468.1537

When installing QI Macros, if you receive this prompt:

Sign-in to Setup Office Prompt

This happens because the end user was not given full Administrative Rights to install the software onto their device. Troubleshoot this matter by contacting your IT or Admin Department and have them temporarily elevate your Administrative Rights to full Admin.

If you require additional technical support, e-mail support@qimacros.com or call: 1.888.468.1537

If you receive the following message when running the QI Macros install file:

"Please check that your disk is not full" prompt

This is because you do not have the necessary Administrative Rights to install QI Macros onto your device.

The first option is to right-click on the QI Macros install file and select, "Run as Administrator."

However, if you still receive the same prompt, you will need to contact your IT department:

  1. They can either provide you with temporary Administrative Rights to run the install.
  2. -or-

  3. They can run the install themselves, while logged in under your computer profile.

Still having difficulties installing QI Macros, click here for tier 2 support options.

If your QI Macros is more than two years old, we recommend upgrading to the latest version of QI Macros, with the latest functionality!

Click here if you have previously purchased a QI Macros license.

Note: If your QI Macros is more than a year old, it may not be compatible with the latest version of Excel.

If you can't find your Install file and your QI Macros version is less than 5 years old, you may be able to retrieve your license by using one of the following methods:

  • If you have your order ID (or invoice number) and password and purchased within the last (30) days, click here to enter and download your setup file.
  • You may also use your e-mail and zip code to find your setup file, click here to enter and download your file.
  • If we cannot find your setup file because your e-mail isn't in our database, we can look it up! E-mail support@qimacros.com or call 888.468.1537.

Still not able to reinstall QI Macros? Click here for tier 2 support options.

Uninstall QI Macros using the uninstall file:

  1. Completely quit out of Excel.
  2. Click here to download and run the uninstall file.
  3. Once the uninstall file has completed, open Excel - you should no longer see QI Macros in your Excel sub-ribbon.

If your Anti-Virus software blocks the uninstall file from running:

  1. Completely quit out of Excel.
  2. Go to the following location on your PC: C:\Program Files\QIMacros
  3. Double-click on the "uninstall.exe" file found in the "QIMacros" folder and follow the prompts.
  4. Once the uninstall file has completed, open Excel - you should no longer see QI Macros in your Excel sub-ribbon.

OR you can uninstall QI Macros manually:

  1. Completely quit out of Excel.
  2. Remove the qimacros.xlam file found in: C:\Program Files\QIMacros\xlstart\
  3. Once the file has been removed, open Excel - you should no longer see QI Macros in your Excel sub-ribbon.

30-Day Trial Note: If you uninstall the 30-day trial, you will not be able to re-install it. If you need more time to evaluate QI Macros,  e-mail  support@qimacros.com and ask for a 15-day trial extension.


QI Macros Still Appears in "Add/Remove Programs"

If you want to remove QI Macros from your "Add/Remove Programs" list, right-click on "QI Macros SPC Software for Excel" and select, "Uninstall."

NOTE: If the QI Macros menu no longer appears in your Excel, the software has been successfully uninstalled from your device.

Still not able to uninstall QI Macros? Click here for tier 2 support options.

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Call or chat M-F 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. (MT) 888.468.1537






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Can you run a chart with data in c:\program files\qimacros\testdata?



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