Please Note: This article is written for users of the following Microsoft Excel versions: 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, and 2021. If you are using an earlier version (Excel 2003 or earlier), this tip may not work for you. For a version of this tip written specifically for earlier versions of Excel, click here: Making Common Functions Available to Others.
Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated September 11, 2021)
This tip applies to Excel 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, and 2021
If you work in a networked environment, you may have a need to make a common set of custom functions available to all the users on your network. For instance, your company may have some specialized functions that perform some financial calculations in a particular way. You may be wondering how to best supply these functions to users on your network, without allowing them to modify the functions themselves.
Perhaps the best way to handle this situation is to put all your functions into a single worksheet, and then compile the worksheet into an Excel add-in. You can then place the add-in on a shared network directory from which everyone can access the add-in. If you need to change the functions in the future, simply update the add-in and copy it to the shared directory. The next time a user starts Excel, the newly updated add-in is loaded, and the updated functions are automatically available.
Information on how to create add-ins is available in other issues of ExcelTips or on the ExcelTips website. You can also find some information in the Excel help files.
Note:
ExcelTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Excel training. This tip (10546) applies to Microsoft Excel 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, and 2021. You can find a version of this tip for the older menu interface of Excel here: Making Common Functions Available to Others.
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!
Hold down the Shift key as you open a workbook, and Excel bypasses any "startup macros" that may be in the workbook. If ...
Discover MoreWant to use a worksheet function (such as SUM) from within a macro? Here's how easy it is to accomplish the task.
Discover MoreMacros are often used to process the data stored in a worksheet. Some of these processing needs can be pretty specific to ...
Discover MoreFREE SERVICE: Get tips like this every week in ExcelTips, a free productivity newsletter. Enter your address and click "Subscribe."
2021-09-11 13:28:50
Rob V.
I once ran into a similar problem. I was working with data drawn from an ERP system and there was one particular field that was actually a RANDOM number of numerical fields consolidated into ONE comma delimited field. Courtesy of Google Research, I was able to cobble together a custom function to break the individual fields out into multiple columns ... only to discover that the new function did not travel with the workbook in question, so it didn't work for other users. (I probably found ExcelTips in the process!)
Perhaps you have a tip that would have addressed this without the need to create and distribute a new function?
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.
FREE SERVICE: Get tips like this every week in ExcelTips, a free productivity newsletter. Enter your address and click "Subscribe."
Copyright © 2025 Sharon Parq Associates, Inc.
Please Note:
This article is written for users of the following Microsoft Excel versions: 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, and 2021. If you are using an earlier version (Excel 2003 or earlier), this tip may not work for you. For a version of this tip written specifically for earlier versions of Excel, click here:
Comments