5 Reasons/Causes for Excel Insert button greyed out on the Developer tab

Table of Contents

Excel Insert Button Greyed Out? 5 Solutions (with Images)

What is Insert Button in Excel:

Insert button under Developer tab helps you insert Form Controls and ActiveX Controls like Combo Box, List Box, Spin Button etc. on your User Form or Excel worksheet. But there are few situations when this insert option disabled in Excel or the Excel Insert Button greyed out and will not allowing you click.

In this post we are discussing the various reasons for Excel Insert Button greyed out and how to enable the same.

Why is Insert Button Disabled:

There are mainly 5 different reasons for Excel Insert button greyed out on the Developer Tab.
5 Reasons/Causes For Excel Insert Button Greyed Out On The Developer Tab 1Pin

Reason 1: Excel Insert button greyed out due to Excel Sheet or Workbook is Protected.

Click the Here to know how to Unprotect and Enable the Greyed out Insert button

Excel Insert Button Greyed Out-Unprotect

Reason 2: Excel Insert button greyed out due to Excel Sheet or Workbook is Shared.

Click the Here to know how to Unshared and Enable the Greyed out Insert button.

Excel Insert Button Greyed Out_Askeygeek

 

Reason 3: Excel Insert button greyed out due to Multiple Sheets Selected in the Workbook.

Click the Here to know how to Unselect and Enable the Greyed out Insert button.

Excel Insert Button Greyed Out_Askeygeek

 

Reason 4: Excel Insert button greyed out due to Display Options for the Workbook is Disabled.

Click the Here to know how to Enable Display Options and Enable the Greyed out Insert button.

Excel Insert Button Greyed Out_AskeygeekPin

 

Reason 5: Excel Insert button greyed out due to Track Changes Enabled for the Workbook.

Click the Here to know how to Disable Track Changes and Enable the Greyed out Insert button

Excel Insert Button Greyed Out_Trackchanges_AskeygeekPin

 

Other Option: Rename the .xlb file in the AppData profile to Enable the greyed out Excel Insert button

Follow the below steps to enable excel Insert button in the Workbook.

				
					Step1: Close all excel files

Step2: Go to following file location in your computer (replace ‘Username’ with your profile name)

C:UsersUsernameAppDataRoamingMicrosoftExcelExcel15.xlb

Step3:  Rename

Excel15.xlb

To

Excel15.xlb_old

Step4: Open the  excel file again and it should work!
				
			

These are the common reasons for Excel Insert button greyed out on the Developer Tab and the solutions to the same. Please let us know if you find some other reason for insert option disabled excel.

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Anson Antony
Anson Antony
Anson is a contributing author and founder at www.askeygeek.com. Learning anything new has always been his passion, askeygeek.com is an outcome of his passion for technology and business. He has got a decade of versatile experience in Business Process Outsourcing, Finance & Accounting, Information Technology, Operational Excellence & Business Intelligence. During the tenure, he had worked for organizations like Genpact, Hewlett Packard, M*Modal and Capgemini in various roles and responsibilities. Outside business and technology, he is a movie buff who spends hours together watching and learning Cinema and a Film Maker too!

33 Responses

  1. Thank you . Renaming of .xlb works for me.

    PATH
    c:\users\[username]AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Excel
    Renamed Excel15.xlb to Excel15old.xlb

  2. Another reason I found for it to be grayed out. My table size accidentally included all 1,048,576 rows (nearly all of which were blank), so it was impossible to expand it.

  3. Thank you! NO help found anywhere for why my buttons were unclickable and macros couldn’t modify them. After noticing the “Insert” button in the “Developer” tab was greyed a search turned up your page.

    Option 4 was my issue. I have no idea how it became set to “Nothing” and it is the only workbook that was failing.

    So, 14 years 3.5 months later you are still helping us!

    Bless you

  4. For reason #4 you may have pressed ctrl+6 which toggles display options on/off pressing ctrl+6 again toggles it back on.

  5. I spent hours in looking for a solution. In my case it was the solution 4. Thank you for your tips

  6. in folder
    C:\Users\Username\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Excel
    just delete the excel folder

    it works for me at least

  7. Go to following file location in your login profile
    C:\Users\Username\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Excel\Excel14.xlb

    Just Close all excel files and rename
    Excel14.xlb
    To
    Excel14.xlb_old
    and start excel file and enjoy………………………………

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