QI Macros Technical Support
Most Common Support Questions for Excel 2013
NOTE: Some Office 2013 users who have upgraded to Windows 10 have reported glitches, e.g., unable to open exisiting Excel files.
QI Macros Menu does not Appear in Excel
This is because your Microsoft security settings has removed the Alternate Startup pathway in Excel, once closed:
Download, open, enable and select the "Click Here to Add QI-Macros" button in the following file: Add-QIMacros.xlsm
- Once you have done so, completely quit out of Excel and reopen.
- Do you now see the QI Macros menu in your Excel ribbon? If not, see manual instructions below.
Manual way to restore QI Macros Add-in:
- Open Excel and select File > Options > Advanced
- 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\
- Press "OK," close Excel and reopen - you should now see the QI Macros menu in your Excel ribbon.
Common Problems & Questions
I upgraded to Excel 2013. Why can't I see QI Macros on my menu?
If you have a version of QI Macros from 2011 to 2013, you might consider updating to the lastest version of QI Macros.
Otherwise, when you install a new version of Excel, the QI Macros aren't automatically moved to the new startup folder. You can reinstall from your backup CD or if you no longer have it, you will have to do this manually.
How to Move QI Macros
You may be able to move the old files to the new location using this tool: XLUpgrade.bat. Download and double click on it to move your files - then open Excel.
How to Move QI Macros Manually
1. Navigate to the c:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Office\Office14\xlstart (Windows 7 & 8)
- Excel 2010 files are in Office14
- Excel
2013 files are in c:\Program Files\Microsoft Office 15\root\Office15\xlstart
- Excel 2016 files are in c:\Program Files(x86)\Microsoft Office\root\Office16\xlstart
Note: If you had to reinstall using an older QI Macros installer, your files may be in c:\xlstart.
Or you can upgrade to the latest version of QI Macros.
2. Copy the files and folders shown below:
3. Navigate to the C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office 15\root\office15\xlstart (or C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\office15\xlstart). You may have to create an xlstart directory.
4. Paste the files and templates into Excel 2013's xlstart folder.
5. Restart Excel.
Warning: If your version of QI Macros is older than December 2012, you will need to upgrade QI Macros. Older versions will not work with Office 2013.
No QI Macros menu appears
You should see this menu:
- Excel disabled QI Macros or removed the Alternate Startup pathway
- Excel 2013 64Bit doesn't give the installer Excel's install directory.
- Excel 2013 Beta was installed using Click to Run and additional manual steps are required to complete the installation.
- Installer placed XLSTART folder directly onto C drive
- Installer placed the install file in the AppData pathway
- QI Macros installers prior to Nov 2012 install the files in Office 14, not 15
- QI Macros is an enabled add-in (which blocks loading of the menu)
- Excel disabled QI Macros
To re-enable either the qimacros.xlam file- In Excel, select File, Options and then Add-Ins in the left-hand column.
- 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:
- Then, click on the GO button next to your selection to see all disabled items:
- Select the QI Macros disabled file(s) and click Enable.
- Once you've enabled all of the QI Macros disabled items, close Excel and re-start Excel 2013. The qimacros.xlam file should open automatically.
If there are no disabled files:
- Check to see if Excel removed the "At startup, open all files in" pathway when Excel was closed. To do so, open Excel and select File > Options > Advanced.
- In the Advanced portion of Excel, scroll down to "General" and look to see if C:\Program Files\QIMacros\xlstart\ is inputted in the "At startup, open all files in" section:
- If this window is blank, input the startup pathway listed above, press OK, close Excel and reopen Excel - you should now see the QI Macros menu in your Excel ribbon.
- Excel 64-bit installed using Click to Run and additional manual steps are required to complete the installation.
The files were installed in c:\xlstart:
- Excel was installed using Click to Run and additional manual steps are required to complete the installation.
Excel 2013 versions installed using Click-to-Run use a virtual file system which appears as a virtual Q drive. Unfortunately, you cannot access this drive and neither can the QI Macros. Therefore, QI Macros needs to be installed using an Alternate Startup Folder.
There are three steps to this process:

Copy and paste these files into Excel 2013's XLStart folder:
Restart Excel 2013 to show the menu.
1. Click on My Computer, the C drive and the QI Macros folder (c:\program files\qimacros\xlstart):
If you have an XLSTART folder, open it. It should look like this:
If you installed Office 2013 32-bit on Windows 64-bit, look here:
c:\program files(x86)\microsoft office\office15\xlstartIf you do not have an XLSTART folder, contact us at support@qimacros.com and we can send the folder and its contents to you. Let us know if you purchased the software or are using the 30-day trial.
2. In Excel, click on File, Options and Advanced to open the window below. Scroll down to the General section and type the QI Macros location (c:\program files\qimacros\xlstart\)in the box labeled "At startup, open all files in:"
3. Close Excel and reopen it. QI Macros should appear on your Excel toolbar.
If your Excel is running slow, you might want to consider re-installing Excel using the traditional method.
- Installer placed the install file in the AppData pathway
- Installer placed the XLSTART folder directly onto the C drive
- Look directly on your C drive, for the XLSTART folder. c:\program files\qimacros\xlstart - In mid-September 2017, we began using this folder for all installations in all versions of Windows and Excel 2007-2016.
- If you locate said folder, open - do you see a QITemplates folder, along w/ a qimacros.xlam file? If so, close Excel and move the XLSTART folder to one of the following pathways:
- C: > Program Files > Microsoft Office 15 > root > Office15
- C: > Program Files (x86) > Microsoft Office > Office 15
- Open Excel - you will see the QI Macros menu in your Excel ribbon.
- QI Macros was installed in Office14, not 15
- Find QI Macros files in c:\program files\microsoft office\office14\xlstart
- Move them to
c:\program files\microsoft office 15\root\office 15\xlstart
If you installed Office 2013 32-bit on Windows 64-bit, look here:
Start Excel 2013 to find the QI Macros menu in your Excel ribbon.
c:\program files (x86)\microsoft office\office15\xlstart
- QI Macros set as Enabled add-in
QI Macros were added to enabled add-ins. Go to Options/add-ins/Enabled add-ins and uncheck QI Macros. Restart Excel
Note: If the necessary install file are not located in any of the pathways listed above, see if they are perhaps found in the following pathway: c:\ Users\ AppData\ Local\ VirtualStore\ Program Files (x86)\ Microsoft Office\ Office (11,12,14,15,16)\ XLSTART.
No QI Macros Menu Appears in Office Pro Plus/ProPlus
If you have run the install and the QI Macros menu does not appear in your Excel ribbon, and you have Office Pro Plus/ProPlus, select Ctrl+Shift+Q to load the Add-In menu in your Excel ribbon.
There, you will find the QI Macros drop-down menu.
My Computer Crashed and I Can't Find My CD or Install File
Excel "Start Up" window does NOT appear
If you open Excel 2013, and the "start up" window does not appear, this is an indicator that your version of Office needs to be Repaired:
To repair, go to your Control Panel and select Programs > Programs and Features > Microsoft Office 2013 > Change > Quick Repair.
Once the repair has completed, open Excel - you will see the QI Macros in your Excel ribbon.
Runtime Error '52': Bad file name or number
If you are receiving a Runtime Error 52, this is because the necessary QI Macros install files are located in two separate places on your device. With that, QI Macros does not know which location to open the files from.
To troubleshoot this matter, remove the qimacros.xlam file and QITemplates folder from C:\Program Files\QIMacros\xlstart or remove this pathway from the "At startup, open all files in" textbox in the General section, found in Excel - File > Options > Advanced.
Compile Error in Hidden Module
QI Macros were added to enabled add-ins. In Excel, go to Options/add-ins/Enabled add-ins and uncheck QI Macros. Restart Excel.
VBA is not Installed
A small percentage of Office 365 users are finding that when they install Microsoft Office, VBA is not included. Unlike Office 2010 or 2007, you are not able to go into the Control Panel and simply select what features you want to include or disable in your Office Suite – VBA is supposed to be automatically included.
If it is not included, Microsoft says the workaround is to perform a Quick Repair via the Control Panel (Control Panel > Programs > Programs and Features > Microsoft Office 2013 > Change).
If that does not work, run an Online Repair.
If that does not work, completely uninstall Microsoft Office, using their “Fix It” tool: https://support.office.com/en-us/article/Uninstall-Office-2013-Office-2016-or-Office-365-from-a-Windows-computer-9dd49b83-264a-477a-8fcc-2fdf5dbf61d8?ui=en-US&rs=en-US&ad=US
This will remove any traces of the previously installed version of Microsoft Office. Once completed, run a “clean install” from your Office 365 account.Compatibility with Office 365 Desktop vs Online versions
Office 365 is a monthly service versus a one-time purchase. Some Office 365 plans include Excel Online and some include “desktop versions of Excel” that are loaded on your PC or Mac.
In order to use QI Macros, you will need to purchase a plan with a desktop version of Excel. See an excerpt from Microsoft's website below. Plans with the Desktop versions show the icons at the bottom.
For more details see the Microsoft Office 365 Compare Plans webpage
If you do not have a Desktop version of Office 365, you can run the install, which will place the QI Macros files directly onto your root drive (C drive), in a folder labeled XLSTART.
From there, you will need to perform an Alternate-Startup in Excel. To do so, open Excel and go to: File > Options > Advanced > "At startup, open all files in," and enter the install location. For this example, it would be: C:\XLSTART\
Press "Ok," close Excel and reopen to find the QI Macros menu in your Excel ribbon.
Note: If you are not able to identify the location to place in the "At startup, open all files in" section, right click on the XLSTART folder, select Properties, and look at "Location."
If you require further assistance, contact: support@qimacros.com
Control Chart Templates - Values Overwriting Title
While XL2000-2010 have no problem with theQI Macros Control Chart Templates, Excel 2013 overwrites the title with UCL/CL/LCL values:
These can be 1) deleted or 2) moved back into position.
We expect this problem to be corrected in one of Excel 2013's service packs.
Excel has stopped working
If Excel is closed and you try to open an Excel file link in Word:
You may get one or more messages like this one:
It will after 3 tries, Excel will give a message to open the file.
If you click okay, it will open the file. This seems to be a problem between Word and Excel when there are add-ins like the QI Macros installed. There doesn't seem to be a Microsoft fix for this.
Solution: Open Excel before you click on embedded links.
Excel Crashes on Startup
There may be a conflict with other add-ins. The solution is to find out which one.
- Start Excel in Safe Mode by holding down the CTRL key and starting Excel.
This will not load any add-ins. - Click on File > Options > Add-ins:
- First click on COM add-ins and uncheck any unused add-ins.
(The Acrobat Add-in seems to be especially problematic, due the preview feature. You can save a PDF directly from Excel.)
- Then Click on Excel Add-ins and uncheck any unused add-ins.
Uncheck Solver to speed up loading Excel unless you need it. Most users do not.
- Close Excel and start Excel again (without Safe Mode) and see if this clears the problem. If not, repeat until you find the conflicting add-in.
Installation Instructions and Troubleshooting
Installation Instructions
- Close Excel.
- Double click on the QI Macros setup.exe file to run the installation wizard.
- Answer the prompts.
- Open Excel, you should see "QI Macros" on your menu bar.
If the installation wizard ran correctly and you don't see QI Macros on your menu bar, Excel may have disabled the file. Its easy to re-enable the file.
- In Excel, click on File, Options and then on Add-Ins in the left-hand column.
- Then 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:
- Then Click on the GO button next to your selection to see all disabled items:
- Click on each of the qi macros disabled items and click Enable.
- Once you've enabled all of the QI Macros disabled items, exit Excel and start Excel 2013. The qimacros.xla file should open automatically.
If the necessary files are located in the proper location:
- Check to see if Excel removed the "At startup, open all files in" pathway when Excel was closed. To do so, open Excel and select File > Options > Advanced.
- In the Advanced portion of Excel, scroll down to "General" and look to see if C:\Program Files\QIMacros\xlstart\ is inputted in the "At startup, open all files in" section:
- If this window is blank, input the startup pathway listed above, press OK, close Excel and reopen Excel - you should now see the QI Macros menu in your Excel ribbon.
Test data for the charts is located at C:\Program Files\QIMacros\test data. You can use these spreadsheets or your own data to practice with the charts.
Basically you just select your data, go up to the menu bar and select the chart you want to run. Templates like the FMEA, Gage RR and DOE can be accessed by choosing the Lean Six Sigma Templates from the pull down menu.
Where do I find the QI Macros files on my PC?
QI Macros is loaded in the XLStart folder at c:\Program Files\Microsoft Office 15\root\Office15\xlstart. Your XLStart folder should contain the following files:
If you installed Office 2013 32-bit on Windows 64-bit, look here:
c:\program files (x86)\microsoft office\office15\xlstart
If you are having problems accessing the menu or templates and your XLStart folder contains some kind of temporary file, delete the temporary file and see if this solves the problem.
Running Windows 10 S?
Please note that QI Macros is not compatible with Windows 10 S. If you have this Operating System installed, and want to install QI Macros, you must upgrade to Windows 10 Pro: Windows 10 S to Windows 10 Pro
To Uninstall a QI Macros License or 30-Day Trial
QI Macros is an Excel add-in and not a separate application. Therefore it does not uninstall using Add/Remove programs. Instead follow the instructions below:
Run Uninstall File
Close Excel and click here to download and run the uninstall file
Uninstall QI Macros Manually
Remove the qimacros.xlam file in:
C:\Program Files\QIMacros\xlstart\ or C:\Program Files\microsoft office 15\root\\office15\xlstart
Uninstalling the 30-Day trial:
If you uninstall the 30-day trial, you will not be able to reinstall it again. If you need more time to evaluate the software, send an e-mail to support@qimacros.com and ask for an extension.
QI Macros still shows up under "Add /Remove Programs"
30-day Trial Note: Even 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, send an e-mail to support@qimacros.com and ask for a 15-day trial extension.
Other Issues or Error Messages
QI Macros is an Excel add-in. Therefore, many of the error messages you may receive are Excel error messages caused by your Excel configuration or security settings. Always make sure you have the latest service pak loaded.
We have included the most common errors here. If you can't find the error message and fix you are looking for:
- make sure you have the most recent Excel Service Pack loaded
- search Microsoft's Support page or
- contact us via e-mail at or phone at 1-888-468-1537
Tech Support Archives
Rare issues and issues with older versions of the QI Macros