Q. Why can't I copy and paste macro buttons into my spreadsheet? This spreadsheet has been working fine for many months, so why did it suddenly break?
Q. When I copy a row, why are the macro buttons in that row not copied with the rest of the row's contents?
Q. Why is "Insert Shape" (in the Insert > Shape menu) grayed out?
Q. In the Developer ribbon, why are all the Form Controls grayed out?
Q. Why are shapes disabled?
A. I found a solution, and it seems to be due to a feature interaction (BUG) in Microsoft Excel 2011 for MacOS.
Apparently I enabled Sharing on my spreadsheet (Review > Share Workbook > Editing > Allow changes by more than one user at the same time).
Why did I enable sharing, you ask? I'm the only user who edits this workbook, but Microsoft decreed that I can't enable the "Track Changes" feature unless I enable Sharing.
(For proof, see Review ribbon > Track Changes > Highlight Changes dialog, where the text says "Track changes while editing. This also shares your workbook.")
Clue: While investigating this bug, I opened the "Share Workbook" dialog (found under Review ribbon > Share Workbook).
And I found my own name, listed THREE TIMES in the list! As if I could have the file open three times! :^(
Hypothesis: I suspect that the list of users sharing a workbook is kept in a file.
I suspect that every time I open the workbook, Excel adds my name to the end of that list, and I suspect that every time I close that workbook, Excel removes my name from the list.
I suspect that if the computer crashes while I have the workbook/spreadsheet open, that cleanup-on-close step is not done.
Solution: Just turn off Sharing on the workbook. The form controls immediately un-gray, and copying and pasting of buttons begins working again!
Problem solved!
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In the secret city of Los Alamos, New Mexico USA.
