In Microsoft Office’s attempt to make life easier and our work more efficient, they have a handy little tool call a macro.  In its simplest form, a macro allows you to record a series of routine tasks so they can be replicated in an instant using a short cut key. However macros can also be very complicated programs interacting with other applications, making them ideal malware delivery tools for cyber criminals.

For that reason, it has long been a recommendation that macros be turned off or disabled in both Word and Excel. This prevents them from running automatically when a Word or Excel document is opened. As a result, a nasty virus cannot be uploaded onto your machine.

How do you disable macros? In both Word and Excel:

1. Select File>options>Trust Center.
2. Click the Trust Center Settings button.
3. Select Macro Settings from the left menu.
4. Select Disable all macros with notification.
5. Click the OK button to exit the Trust Center Settings.
6. Click the OK button to exit the Trust Center.

Note: Disabling macros in Word does not disable them in Excel and vice versa. You must change the settings in each application.

Once macros have been disabled, whenever you open a document that contains a macro you will be notified and asked if you wish to enable it. Some nice hackers even include detailed instructions on how to do that on the document itself.

DO NOT enable macros unless you know the email sender and have directly confirmed with them that the macros are essential to the functionality of the document. Of course if you have documents that you currently use that contain macros, you can enable them in order to use the documents. Just be aware that with macros enabled, you will not know if a Word or Excel attachment contains a malicious macro until it is too late and your machine is infected.  To prevent unintentional downloading  of malware, it is recommended you call the email sender to verify an attached Word or Excel document is legitimate before you open it.

Note:  This article applies to macros in Word and Excel. If your department uses Access databases that contain macros, they may not function if the macros are disabled. Please talk to your supervisor before you disable macros in Access.