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Executing excel macros with Power Automate. Error due to Plugins in Excel.

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Posted on by Community Power Pla... Microsoft Employee

Good afternoon Power Automate Support team,

We are working in a process to run workflows with macros automatically with a schedule. We understand the procedure to run macros with Power Automate. Our main issue is that we are working with special plugins in excel ("morning star"). One of our macros uses the plugin to create the procedure in excel. The excel instance that execute the macro contains the plugin already installed.

Our problem comes when we try to run our macro with power automate. Because the program launches a version of excel without our morning star plugin installed. Thus, it retrieves an error. It is not able to access the plugin. It is trying to execute the workflow with the version of excel, which does not contain the installed plugin.

How can we change the path where power automate is trying to find excel for the path that contains the plugin?

Kind regards,

Benazir de la Rosa

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Power Automate Desktop

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Gidi 601 on at

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Hi,
can you share the settings from the Launch Excel action?

Refer also to document page
https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/power-automate/desktop-flows/how-to/run-macros-excel

I think if the Excel actions are not sufficient then last chance is to use UI interaction with your Excel.
AS-06081019-0 1,738 Super User 2024 Season 1 on at

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@Anonymous Could you please try below:
"Run Application" to get Excel running and then "Attach to running Excel" to get a handle to that workbook.
OR
Goto the registry editor and enable the add in to start on load (since the add-in gets inactive, when new instance of excel is opened via PAD): HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Office\Excel\Addins\ [ YOUR ADD-IN ]\LoadBehavior and set that REG_DWORD to a 3.

Hope it helps.

Cheers,
Ankesh
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Community Power Pla... Microsoft Employee on at

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Hi,

Here are the parameters on the launch excel.
AS-06081019-0 1,738 Super User 2024 Season 1 on at

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@Anonymous Like this:
1. Use 'run application' to invoke excel app

2. Use Attach to running excel to get a handle to that workbook

Cheers,
Ankesh
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VJR 7,635 on at

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Hi @Anonymous

Looks like "Load add-ins and macros" are disabled in your screenshot and need to be enabled.
Community Power Pla... Microsoft Employee on at

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Hi Ankesh,

Thank you for the reply. So far run application works to run the correct instance from excel with the plugin. However when we run the step of attach to running excel and we go through the folders to select the document. It write down the path for us. But the step later on, displays the error "unable to find path". See the image.

Do you have any suggestions?

Kind regards,

Benazir de la Rosa
AS-06081019-0 1,738 Super User 2024 Season 1 on at

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@Anonymous its has to be .xlsx file, not .xlsm file.

Please refer this as well, it may be useful: https://powerusers.microsoft.com/t5/Power-Automate-Desktop/Running-an-excel-macro-in-PAD/m-p/957619#M4410

Cheers,
Ankesh
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VJR 7,635 on at

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@Anonymous ,

K: drive must be a network drive on your machine.

Use the actual format of \\server\share\....\....\Abcd.xlsm