Highlights:
- The company had initially planned to require Office users to explicitly activate the macros by ticking an unblock option in a file’s properties.
- Microsoft had intended to disable this feature and direct Office users to a help website with instructions on enabling macros for each file individually.
Microsoft is on the course to disable Visual Basic for Applications (VBA) macros by default in Office applications. Last week, the software behemoth rescinded planned modifications, stunning IT administrators who had been expecting Microsoft to make it difficult for Office users to enable macros in Office files obtained from the internet. The update, intended to strengthen Office security, was set to go into effect in June until Microsoft abruptly removed the barrier on June 30.
“Following user feedback, we have rolled back this change temporarily while we make some additional changes to enhance usability,” explains Kellie Eickmeyer, principal product manager at Microsoft. “This is a temporary change, and we are fully committed to making the default change for all users.”
Microsoft hasn’t specified the adjustments it intends to make to enhance usability. However, the company had initially planned to require Office users to explicitly activate the macros by ticking an unblock option in a file’s properties. Users will need to be trained on these different processes, and it appears that Microsoft is responding to criticism to make it simpler to allow macros on trusted files.
Office users currently need to just click an enable button located in a banner at the top of files. Microsoft had intended to disable this feature and direct Office users to a support website with instructions on enabling macros for each file individually. Many users will be relieved to hear that Microsoft is still dedicated to banning macros by default because hackers have been attacking Office documents with malicious macros for years.
