Using the installer

The installer for the SheetKraft addin can be downloaded from the release notes page. Search for Addin Installer. Download the link and unblock the file (Right-click > Properties > Unblock). Then run it and complete the installation.

Occasionally you might encounter a scenario where the installer says you need to close Excel but Excel does not seem to be open.

Open Task Manager (Ctrl + Shift + Esc) and go to the Details tab. If you cannot see a Details tab, click on More Details at the bottom. Look for Excel.exe in the Name column and End Task the process until there are no more Excel.exe processes.

Sometimes the installer may fail with an unhelpful error message. In such a case, it is likely that a restart after a Windows Update is pending. Restart your machine and retry. If the installer still fails, you will need to do a manual installation.

Installing manually

To do a manual installation, follow the steps below.

1. Open Windows explorer and go to %localappdata% (Paste this in the address bar). Create a folder called SheetKraft. Make sure that the case is correct. Download the latest version of the installation files from the release notes page using the Full link. Unblock the zip file and extract it to any location. Copy the contents of the <extracted_location>\publish\dist\Addin folder to the SheetKraft folder created inside %localappdata%

2. Determine if your Excel is 32 bit or 64 bit. In recent versions of Excel, this can be done by going to File > Account > About Excel. You will see 32 bit or 64 bit just under the title bar. Alternatively, open Task Manager, go to the Processes tab and locate the Excel process. Assuming you have a 64 bit operating system (32 bit OS is a relic now), the process name will show (32 bit) if Excel is 32 bit. If not, Excel is 64 bit.

3. Go to the Developer tab in the Excel ribbon. If you do not have this tab, enable it by going to File > Options > Customize Ribbon. On the right part of the screen, there is a listing of Main Tabs. Check Developer. In the Developer tab, click on Excel Add-ins (not Add-ins). Click on Browse and select the file at %localappdata%\SheetKraft\SheetKraft32.xll or %localappdata%\SheetKraft\SheetKraft64.xll depending on whether your Excel is 32 bit or 64 bit. Once you click OK, the SheetKraft ribbon should appear. To protect against Excel crashing and not retaining the manual installation, close all open windows of Excel and open again.

Repairing a broken installation

To fix a broken installation, follow the steps below.

1. Close all open Excel Windows and then kill any Excel.exe processes if they are still running via Task Manager. Go to %localappdata% and rename the SheetKraft folder to SheetKraft1.

2. Open Excel. Excel will give a warning saying that it couldn't locate the addin.

3. Go to Developer > Excel Add-ins on the ribbon and click SheetKraft (without unchecking it, don't click the checkbox). Excel will ask if you want it to remove the addin. Say yes.

4. Close all open Excel Windows and then kill any Excel.exe processes if they are still running via Task Manager. Go to %localappdata% and rename the SheetKraft1 folder back to SheetKraft.

5. Start at step 2 of the manual installation above and complete the installation.

Enabling a disabled addin

If Excel crashes and decides that the SheetKraft addin is the culprit, it might decide to disable the addin. To prevent this from happening after a crash, open Excel from your taskbar or the Start menu. Don't open Excel by double clicking an Excel file. Excel will ask you if you want to disable the addin. Just say no.

If the addin gets disabled anyway, go to File > Options > Add-ins > Manage > Disabled Items > Go. Click on SheetKraft and Enable.

Further Troubleshooting

If the SheetKraft ribbon does not show up despite doing all of the above, try restarting Windows. This has worked a few times.

If you still can't get the SheetKraft ribbon to show up, go to File > Options > Trust Center > Trust Center Settings.

Under Add-ins, make sure that all checkboxes are unchecked. Under Macro Settings, make sure that the selected option is not Disable all macros without notification. Anything else should be fine. Restart Excel and retry.

If you still can't get the SheetKraft ribbon, it is likely that Excel has been installed without the Visual Basic for Applications feature. You will have to re-install Excel and make sure that Visual Basic for Applications is not disabled.