Microsoft locks VBA macros in Office

VBA macros make everyday work with Microsoft Office easier. The programming language VBA (Visual Basic for Applications) allows comprehensive actions to be started with just one click. VBA macros are currently still activated by default in Office applications such as Word, Excel and Access and can therefore be executed without further ado. This is to change in the future, as an article in Microsoft's tech community now reveals.

This is because criminals use macros to hijack other people's computers or to encrypt their victims' hard drives and demand money for decryption. They send e-mails with Office documents that the recipient is supposed to open and in which malicious scripts are then started that load malware onto your device.

Until now, a click on a familiar-looking yellow field in Microsoft Office was enough to allow macros. In future, a red warning "A potentially dangerous macro has been blocked" will appear with a link to a Microsoft website. There you will see information about how dangerous macros are and advertisements for overpriced subscriptions to Microsoft products. Also posted there is this guide to unblocking macros:

1. Save the file to a local hard drive, network share or cloud share such as OneDrive.

2. Open Windows File Explorer and browse to the folder where you saved the file.

3. Right-click on the file to open it. Right-click the file and select Properties from the context menu.

4. At the bottom of the General tab, you should see a section for Security. Select the Unblock check box and select OK.

The change will first appear in the latest Office versions with the next updates and will then gradually be applied to older versions down to Office 2013.

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