Troubleshooting

Troubleshooting

Diagnostic steps to troubleshoot your QETools installation

The QETools menu does not show up in Excel

QETools is supposed to show up as a new menu item in the Ribbon area of Excel (Excel 2007 and later). In fact, there is a specific file, called ‘QEToolsMenu.xlam,’ which is responsible for displaying the menu. If the menu does not appear it’s likely that the menu file was accidentally deleted or it is being blocked by Excel.

Check That the ‘QEToolsMenu.xlam’ File Exists

The menu file (and the code which runs the QETools tools) are normally located in a directory called ‘XLStart.’ Files located in this directory launch automatically when Excel is launched. The default location for the ‘XLStart’ directory is:

C:/Program Files/Microsoft Office/OfficeXX/XLStart or
C:/Program Files (x86)/Microsoft Office/OfficeXX/XLStart

depending on whether you have 32- or 64-bit Excel. OfficeXX corresponds to your version of Excel:

Version Marketing Name
9 Excel 2000
10 Excel 2002
11 Excel 2003
12 Excel 2007
14 Excel 2010
15 Excel 2013

Verify that you have two files in the ‘XLStart’ directory for each version of Excel that you have on your system (you will only have 1 file, ‘QETools.xla,’ for Excel 2003 and earlier). Please note that the actual location of your Excel installation (and thus the location of the ‘XLStart’ directory) may be different that the default location for most users. If you are missing either of these files please contact QETools.
The QETools menu shows up in Excel but nothing happens when I click on a tool

There is one main reason why QETools appears in the Excel menu (or Ribbon area for Excel 2007 and later) but does not function when clicked — Excel’s macro security settings are not allowing QETools to run.

Check Excel’s Macro Security Settings

Launch Excel > Office Button (round button in upper left corner) or File (in Excel2010) > Excel Options.

Trust Center (left pane) > Trust Center Settings… (right pane).

Macro Settings (left pane) > Set the security level appropriately (something less strict than the strictest possible setting)

Note:  QETools programming code is ‘signed’ with QETools as the author.  You may be prompted with a security warning when Excel tries to open QETools.  You may elect to ‘trust’ QETools in which case you will not be presented with security warnings when QETools is launched in the future.

A second and less common reason for QETools to not work is that Excel automatically disables QETools if Excel crashes some time when QETools is open.

Check to See That QETools Has Not Been Disabled

Click in the menu bar on File > Options > Add-ins (in left pane).  In the lower drop-down menu select ‘disabled items.’  See if QETools is in the list of disabled add-ins.  If so, you can select QETools and re-enable.

A third reason is that QETools may have been added to the list of ‘untrusted sources.’  In this case any content published by ‘QETools’ will be blocked without warning.

Check To See That QETools Has Not Been Added to the ‘Untrusted Publishers’ List

This is also a rare occurrence and usually caused by mistakenly clicking to not trust QETools when a warning dialog appears.  * Note:  This procedure requires the use of Microsoft Internet Explorer (cannot use Firefox, Chrome, Safari, Opera or other web browser)
Open Internet Explorer
Click on the Tools menu > Internet Options > click on the Content Tab.  Click on the Publishers button, browse the list for QETools and remove ‘QETools’ from the list.

If you continue to have issues please contact QETools.