Whenever you download my latest version of the Microsoft Excel Checkbook Register spreadsheet, Microsoft Windows will display a security risk notice since the file was downloaded from the Internet. If you are using a Mac computer (Mac OS), this won’t happen but you will be prompted to “enable macros” and also to “enable content”.
SAFETY NOTE: Your safety and peace of mind is important to me. You are encouraged to scan any downloaded file for malware. A terrific website that can scan a file is called VirusTotal (https://www.virustotal.com/). Their website will allow you to upload a file and have it scanned using over 60 different virus scanners. My checkbook template will be reported as clean (benign / not malicious).
Microsoft Windows – Security Warning
“Microsoft has blocked macros from running because the source of this file is untrusted”.
Since my newer versions of the checkbook spreadsheet are macro-enabled, you’ll likely see a warning like this when you open it:
The link in the warning will take you to this Microsoft article which also has the steps on how to unblock it. In summary, you’ll want to:
- Close the file if you still have it opened.
- Open Windows File Explorer and go to the folder where you saved the file.
- Right-click the file and choose Properties from the context menu.
- At the bottom of the General tab, select the Unblock checkbox and select OK.
After performing the steps above, the Excel file should open without the security risk warning. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me.
NOTE: If you arrive at the properties screen above but there’s no checkbox for Unblock, then the file has already been marked as safe.
What is the External Data Connection warning in Excel?
Q: Why does Excel warn me about an external data connection when I open it?? Is this spreadsheet sending data to you or someone else?
A: No, your data is not being shared. The spreadsheet uses Excel’s Power Query to create a large table of all of the registers so that the Dashboard and Report screen can consolidate that data while also offering filter buttons (slicers) to hone in on just certain areas that you want to see at any moment. It’s unfortunate that Excel considers its own feature (Power Query) as an external data connection, but it does! (See this Google search). The spreadsheet does not send any data to me nor to any outside service. One of the reasons I like using a spreadsheet like Excel for my finances is that I don’t want my data with any 3rd party! I’m sure you feel the same. 🙂 When you’re in Excel, there’s a menu choice called Data. And under that menu choice, there are buttons to see the Queries & Connections. It will show queries for the registers along with an “All_Registers” which is the combination of all of the registers for the benefit of the dashboard and report. But there are no connections to the outside world nor to any Internet service.