Rules about naming files with macros.

[KimC]

Forgive me, but I'm new to macros and I'm trying to figure out the rules. I never realized there was .XLSX and .XLSM (I'm using Excel 2010). I have a few short questions that are probably obvious to everyone but me:

a) if I create a macro in a file, does it HAVE to be saved as an .XLSM file?
b) can an .XLSX file ever contain a macro?
....and the biggy....
c) my understanding so far is that if I want a macro to be available to all Excel files on my computer, I need to save it to the PERSONAL.XLSB file (think that's the file extension)....so if I do that will I be able to use that macro on a regular .XLSX file?

Thanks all!

[Mayda89]

Hi KimC,

a)No, You can also save it in .xlsb, and .xls formats.
b)No, a .xlsx file cannot contain a macro. (You can of course start writing the macro on an .xlsx file, but excel won't allow you to save it in that format.)
c)Yes. If you save a macro in the personal macro workbook, you can use that macro on a regular .xlsx file.

by the way: note that you can also run a macro that is stored in any excel file to do some work on .xlsx files.
So for example, you might have an .xlsm file that contains your macros, and you can make this macro do stuff on an .xlsx file.

And also note that you can also store your macros in an add-in, instead of saving them in the personal macroworkbook.
It will also enable you to call the macros anytime from any workbook, as long as that add-in is activated.

hope it helps.