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Replacing Macro's tasks in Excel and Word documents

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Posted on by Chris1968

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Hi,

Just a general question to see if anyone else as had to do this and what is required.

My organisation as decided to stop the use of Macro's and is looking for a replacement.

It seems Power Automate, can potentially perform the task of a Macro or Macro's.

Any help or guidance would be appreciated

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Power Platform 1919 2,229 Super User 2026 Season 1 on at

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Short answer

Power Automate cannot fully replace Excel Macros. It can handle some automation, but many advanced Excel capabilities still require VBA. Best option is a hybrid approach based on what kind of automation you need.

Where each tool makes the most sense

Power Automate Desktop

1.Good for automating desktop actions like clicking UI buttons, opening files, launching apps and interacting with other desktop software

2.Useful when workflows involve multiple apps on Windows machines

3.Replaces basic macro tasks that imitate user actions at the desktop level

Office Scripts + Power Automate (cloud flows)

1.Works well with Excel files stored in SharePoint or OneDrive

2.Ideal for scheduled automation, integration with Outlook, Teams and SharePoint

3.Great for repetitive Excel transformations and cloud collaboration

VBA Macros

1.Best for deep Excel functionality: custom forms, workbook events, advanced formatting, calculations and complex logic

2.Works offline and doesn’t depend on cloud storage

3.Still the most powerful for pure Excel automation

4.Power Automate Desktop needs Windows and is fragile if UI changes

Limitations to note:

1.Office Scripts cannot handle Excel events like Workbook_Open or complex UI interactions

2.Macros do not run in Excel Online

Finally,

Power Automate can replace some macro-based processes (especially workflow automation and cloud integration) but cannot match the full power of VBA. A mixed approach gives the best results: use Power Automate where it fits and keep macros for advanced Excel-driven scenarios.

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Chris1968 1,176 on at

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Hi,

Thank you for your reply.

It looks like our organisation is intent on removing all Macro's as they say it's a security risk??

I'll do some more investigation as to what the Macro's being used actually do as the remit is create something which will replace Macro's 🤔

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wolenberg_ 1,476 Super User 2026 Season 1 on at

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Hi @Chris1968
A lot of teams are moving away from VBA macros, and Power Automate is usually the go‑to replacement. For Excel, you can pair Office Scripts with flows to handle the same kind of logic macros used to do. For Word, it’s more about automating document creation, approvals, or notifications rather than in‑document scripting.

In short: if your macros are about workflow, Power Automate can replace them directly; if they’re heavy on Excel logic, use Office Scripts + Power Automate together.

If this helped or could help others in the community, feel free to give it a like or a kudo — it helps surface useful answers for everyone!

1 people found this reply helpful.

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rzaneti 4,476 Super User 2026 Season 1 on at

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Hi @Chris1968,

Just to add to the responses above: for combining Office Scripts with Power Automate, your script must run in no more than 120 seconds, which can be tricky for complex logics. The workaround here is to improve your script as much as you can (avoid loops and unnecessary steps) or break the logic in different subscripts.

I've posted a few blogs about how to perform some operations in Office Scripts, and maybe this introductory one can be helpful for you to get started: https://digitalmill.net/2023/06/19/get-started-with-office-scripts/

Let me know if it works for you or if you need any additional help!

✅ If this solved your issue, please mark it as Accepted Answer.
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takolota1 4,980 Moderator on at

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I’m currently working with an org doing something similar. TLDR, some of their more complex Excel VBA forms are just being rebuilt using a Canvas Power Apps template I made them.

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