Description of the Very High security setting in Office 2003

This article describes the new Very High macro security setting that you can use to stop all Com Add-ins, Smart Tag DLLs, and macros from running automatically in Microsoft Office 2003.

The Very High macro security setting can be used in one of the following two ways:


If the Very High macro security setting is turned on and the Trust all installed add-ins and templates check box is not selected, the macro will not run, even from a trusted location. Add-ins can be installed in any location, not just trusted locations. Under these circumstances, add-ins also will not run. If a macro tries to run under these circumstances, you receive the following message:

Trusted locations for Office 2003 programs

Microsoft Office Access 2003
• Any add-in that is installed by the Add-in Manager is trusted.

Microsoft Office Excel 2003
• \Documents and Settings\user name\Application Data\Microsoft\Excel\XLSTART
• \Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office11\XLSTART

Microsoft Office PowerPoint 2003
• Any add-in that is installed by the Add-in Manager is trusted.

Microsoft Office Project 2003
• The Global.mpt file.

Microsoft Office Publisher 2003
• Any add-in that is installed by the Add-in Manager is trusted.

Microsoft Office Word 2003
• User Templates, defined in Tools - Options - File Locations; the default location is:
  Documents and Settings\user name\Applications\Microsoft\Templates
• Workgroup Templates, defined in Tools - Options - File Locations; the default location is empty.
• Startup Directory, as defined in Tools - Options - File Locations; the default location is:
  Documents and Settings\user name\Application Data\Microsoft\Word\STARTUP

To stop all the Com Add-ins, Smart Tag DLLs and macros from running automatically, follow these steps:

1. On the Tools menu, point to Macros, and then click Security.
2. On the Security-Level tab, select Very High.
3. On the Trusted Publishers tab, click to clear the Trust all installed add-ins and templates check box.
4. Click OK.
5. Quit the Office 2003 program, and then restart the program.

In some instances, the macro security change will not take effect until you restart the program.

For more information about security levels, click Microsoft Office Help on the Help menu, type macro security level in the Search for box in the Assistance pane, and then click Start searching to view the topic.
The third-party products that this article discusses are manufactured by companies that are independent of Microsoft. Microsoft makes no warranty, implied or otherwise, regarding the performance or reliability of these products.