Can't Access the Registry

Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated February 26, 2022)
This tip applies to Excel 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, Excel in Microsoft 365, and 2021

When Jacques opens the Visual Basic Editor and clicks Tools | References, he gets the following message: "Can't access the system registry." Jacques isn't sure why this occurs and he's wondering how to fix it.

The Registry is, of course, the place where all the configuration information for your installation of Windows is stored. In addition, many applications (such as Excel and VBA) store configuration information in the Registry. If something is out of kilter in the Registry, then you may have problems accessing whatever application is expecting to find information there. This is apparently what is happening in Jacques' case.

In this particular case, it seems that the problem may be related to account permissions to access certain Registry information. The solution to this is not a trivial one; it can require a number of rather detailed steps to fix. Rather that recreate those steps here, it is best to visit the following page:

https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/msoffice/forum/all/a-step-by-step-procedure-for-fixing-error/3c81197e-a237-4fb7-8c8a-d28145f7428e

I know that URL is very long, so you'll want to make sure that you get it all included when you go to visit the page.

ExcelTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Excel training. This tip (10151) applies to Microsoft Excel 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, Excel in Microsoft 365, and 2021.

Author Bio

Allen Wyatt

With more than 50 non-fiction books and numerous magazine articles to his credit, Allen Wyatt is an internationally recognized author. He is president of Sharon Parq Associates, a computer and publishing services company. ...

MORE FROM ALLEN

Adding Ampersands to Custom Dictionaries

It appears that Word doesn't allow you to define custom dictionary entries that include ampersands. There are ways you ...

Discover More

Moving Section Breaks

Section breaks are used to divide a document into two or more sections that can be independently formatting. If you want ...

Discover More

Deleting Blank Columns

Import data from another program, and you could end up with a lot of blank columns in your data. Here's the quickest way ...

Discover More

Professional Development Guidance! Four world-class developers offer start-to-finish guidance for building powerful, robust, and secure applications with Excel. The authors show how to consistently make the right design decisions and make the most of Excel's powerful features. Check out Professional Excel Development today!

More ExcelTips (ribbon)

Losing Data in a Shared Workbook

When you create a shared workbook, you run the risk of losing some of the data in that workbook. Here's a discussion ...

Discover More

Changing Your Name

One of the many pieces of information that Excel keeps track of is your name. If you want to change your name for Excel's ...

Discover More

Ensuring Usability for Differing Excel Versions

If you develop workbooks that will be used by others, you need to be aware of which versions of Excel are being used. ...

Discover More
Subscribe

FREE SERVICE: Get tips like this every week in ExcelTips, a free productivity newsletter. Enter your address and click "Subscribe."

View most recent newsletter.

(Your e-mail address is not shared with anyone, ever.)

Comments

If you would like to add an image to your comment (not an avatar, but an image to help in making the point of your comment), include the characters [{fig}] (all 7 characters, in the sequence shown) in your comment text. You’ll be prompted to upload your image when you submit the comment. Maximum image size is 6Mpixels. Images larger than 600px wide or 1000px tall will be reduced. Up to three images may be included in a comment. All images are subject to review. Commenting privileges may be curtailed if inappropriate images are posted.

What is five less than 5?

There are currently no comments for this tip. (Be the first to leave your comment—just use the simple form above!)

This Site

Got a version of Excel that uses the ribbon interface (Excel 2007 or later)? This site is for you! If you use an earlier version of Excel, visit our ExcelTips site focusing on the menu interface.

Newest Tips
Subscribe

FREE SERVICE: Get tips like this every week in ExcelTips, a free productivity newsletter. Enter your address and click "Subscribe."

(Your e-mail address is not shared with anyone, ever.)

View the most recent newsletter.

Links and Sharing
OUR COMPANY
OUR PRODUCTS
OUR SITES
 

Copyright © 2024 Sharon Parq Associates, Inc.