The suggested approach seems to work for Excel 2007 and 2010 but not for Excel 2013.

Let me clarify. We have systems that run all three versions of Excel and all the systems use the same files containing VBA and ActiveX controls from a common file server.

After applying the Windows updates and deleting the exd files, the systems running Excel 2007 and 2010 are able to run the ActiveX.

On systems with Excel 2013, the ActiveX controls do not work. The VBA can be run in debug mode but generates errors when trying to access data validation objects (just a specific example).

Could this be similar to your warning about recompiling? Some incompatibility between libraries or components between the now updated Workbook and the local version of Excel?

The systems running Excel 2013 do not have any of the updates that have been identified as problematic in various forums (KB2596927, KB2553154, KB2726958).

What a disaster! We have hundreds of affected users in more than 5 countries and most of them have no admin rights on their PC's. It is simply not possible to help all of them with the mentioned solution. I really hope that MS will find a short term solution for this.

Further to my earlier comment an additional piece of information:

I just tested an older version of one of the tools that had not been opened or saved in the last week (so last save was before any of the updates).

As is file opens and runs on both 2007 and 2013.

If I then save it in 2007 and try to open it on 2013, it now no longer works on 2013.

If my mechanic breaks a part of my car when he is working on it, does he expect me to fix it? No.
If Microsoft breaks my.......forget it. Its microsoft.

ARE YOU FLIPPIN' KIDDING ME???? Is MS working on a fix for this debacle???? We have a bunch of remote users with this issue with no local admin rights. WHAT'S THE LONG-TERM FIX?? Why should USERS, i.e., customers, have to fix what you people broke. Unconscionable!!!.

A good explanation would offer us the specific update KB??????? that caused the problem with Excel Buttons and activeX controls But this does not... A PC by PC solution is great for home users but enterprises? I need the KB to uninstall with WSUS so I can get my users back to work on over 600 PCs running Windows just at my one facility of a large healthcare company!

MS Word 2010: Please note, that since this update, when you add a CommandButton in a Word document, the default names do not start with 1 (e.g. "CommandButton1") but with 21, i.e. the 1st inserted button is "CommandButton21". This behavior does not disappear deleting the *.exd files. This bug prevents relative macros from working properly.

Sorry, I just realized that this is an Excel page, but actually this problem came up through an Excel macro which until 2 days ago created buttons porperly in Word documents.

This fix worked for me. Thanks!

une véritable catastrophe pour les entreprises, malgrès tous les développeurs chez MS, vous ne testez pas vos mise à jours ! who is guilty ?, fired this guy.

&AG:

See http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/security/ms14-082

In a nutshell: KB2596927 (XL 2007); KB2553154 (XL 2010); KB2726958 (XL 2013)

Classic MS. This fix worked the other day and now it will not fix the PCs I did not get to and now attempting to fix them this weekend. Any idea from anyone on whether these steps have affected another MS update that was send down?

I confirm LB post: that doesn't work on office 2013 unfortunately..

These solutions didn't work for me. Button control hasn't worked since installing most recent updates. Deleting the *.exd files didn't help. Still waiting for solution.

This has not worked for me and is affecting all users that are running the latest Click-to-Run version of Office 2013. Deleting *.exd files made no difference. The only success I have had is with Excel 2007 by un-installing the security update.

The scripting solution worked perfectly for me on Office 2013. Thanks.

Since Microsoft seems to be dragging its feet on this one, here's a further update that may hopefully help some Office 2013 users.

It looks like KB2726958 has been clawed back from Windows Update (at least for the systems I have access to).
However, in order for Office 2013 to behave properly with Office 2010 or 2007 to which the equivalent update has been applied, KB2726958 needs to be applied.

So, you need to force Office to get the update.
In an office application, select the username (top right) > Account Settings > Update Options > Update now.

Once Office has updated, follow the instructions regarding deleting "*.exd" from various subfolders of AppData.

This seems to fix the issue.

I recognize that this is not a solution for developers with applications distributed on a large number of systems but hopefully it'll help some...

This is a pretty awful problem to roll out to users as part of a software update. Thanks a lot for providing the fix.

Random glitches like this show MS's lack of interest in supporting VBA.

Deleting the file MSForms.exd, has solved my problem, thanks.

Fix worked... Delete all .exd files and all my buttons to connect to macro's vba forms and stuff are back working.
For Excel and Word.

The fix worked for me.

For those on few computers to maintain: Block Windows Updates, block Office Updates, Erase *.exd files, Program & Features, right click, REPAIR (it will reinstall...), have your account or key ready.
Everything working on my 3 computers, now.
Good luck to all.

will there be a global fix by MS soon? if we re-install the original Office 2013, and stop all updates, will we be able to run those controls? more importantly, is any one in MS will answer if they are working on this issue?

The fix worked for me on 2013, but when I use a newly saved 2013 WB in Excel 2007, excel VBA aborts which it didn't do before

Very Good! Quick problem and quick solution! Well done

It's a bit silly from microsoft to insert such a big glitch in a patch, lot's of users will not see quickly the workaround which gladly in my case was found. Anyway no big deal, and keep up the good work guyes!!

Searched for and deleted all .exd files on my machine (using search bar in my computers) and all works fine now.
What a pain. Wasted a day on Friday trying to solve this problem with no avail (thinking it was a problem caused by myself). My clients were also having the problem so not good for my rep either. Sort it out MS! That's a days wages wasted now, for no fault of my own.

My excel file gives users many active X and control links. Aftre installing the lates office 2007 security updates none of these links work. My product is totally unusuable

Wow..just came across this problem today and it affects a large project. The solution posted doesn't work in my office 2010 environment.

Thanks, LB. Your suggestion of updating Office 2013 and then deleting the *.exd files worked for me. I can't believe Microsoft has allowed this problem to go on for so long.

I've uninstall the update and it worked as before (deleting all .exd files and modifying VBA didn't fix the issue).
However while the faulty update was installed I had this behavior that I could repeatedly do: I open excel 2010, then go to "File" and I open my xls file from there. It works without issue. However doing the same step in 2013 doesn't. Double clicking the xls file from windows, either for 2010 or 2013 fails.

THANKS A BILLION! YOU SAVED MY LIFE!!!

A comment I posted 12 hours ago has not appeared. I'll try again. A working .xlsb WB saved in 2013 does not work in 2007. The same test WB when saved in 2007 does work in 2013. I have followed all MS guidelines. This is a MAJOR disruption! When is this going to be fixed MS? This no doubt affects many people, any chance of an update?

MS Excel 2013: the fix above does not influence what Thomas Heitmann mentioned:

Please note, that since this update, when you add a CommandButton in a Word document, the default names do not start with 1 (e.g. "CommandButton1") but with 21, i.e. the 1st inserted button is "CommandButton21". This behavior does not disappear deleting the *.exd files. This bug prevents relative macros from working properly.

The same refers to pictures. When you copy e.g. "Image1" to another empty workbook, it is pasted as "Image21" and so on. Before the fix and after that update pasting objects was impossible at all, but it does not eliminate the issue.

C'mon Microsoft, you broke it you fix it. We have Excel workbooks with ActiveX Controls in hundreds of PCs with different versions of Excel and the the majority of users won't understand these instructions (that's why we program in Excel).

Third attempt to post to this blog. I have tried the workarounds as described above. My 2013 installation works now, however a file saved in 2013 does not work in 2007 (VBA that is).

Seriously, thanks a lot.

This script Work for Word 2007 but not for 2010.

I have an unexcpected error (32809) and i can't use activeX button.
I can't remove all my ActiveX button from all of my templates to fix that.

I Need a solution.

A reminder: thanks to Microsoft's misguided default settings for Windows, file extensions will not be visible for many users. On at least some versions of Windows, if file extensions are not visible, searches for files by extension will come up empty, so searching for EXD files may not work for some users.

Is KB3025036 the final fix for this issue or will MS14-082 be revised to not cause the issue in the first place?

None of the proposed solutions appear to be perfect--either they don't work at all, or leave some problems (like the "commandbutton21" that I have encountered. Don't want to spend hours trying to fix this (on three computers) only to find I wasted my time or worse. Would this work? delete Microsoft Office completely from the hard drive, reinstall it from the original CD and turn off automatic updates, at least until MO announces a real fix. Then install all updates through December 8, 2014 manually.

Uninstalling KB 2726958 solved the problem in Excel 2007 without having to delete any files.

Thank you! Microsoft "support" wasted HOURS of my time (most of yesterday) fiddling around with virus, system, registry scans before saying they needed me to pay because it was too complex. They never solved the issue.

Thank you, this worked for me!

Removing the .exd files worked across all of our companies office 2007 computers.

Maybe I was lucky, but I just ran clean up, rebooted and it all worked again. Also found out that Win7 stores downloaded updates... so found 1GB hard drive space too!

@Thomas Heitmann it's not that it starts numbering the controls at 21, it still starts at 1. There's an extra 2 added. I learned that when I didn't verify that enough was working. Took me a second to realize what was happening when the 10th ComboBox that was added was named ComboBox210 when I got a report that my application still wasn't working correctly.

Problem came back !

I have looked for *.exd files, after showing hidden files and found nothing.
I have removed KB2553154 (for office 2010) and KB2596927 (for office 2007) from all our computers, and set windows automatic updates off.

That seemed to work well and for two days the problem disappeared.

Today on 3 of our computers the problem came back !
and guess what ? the files I've removed came back !

How can i get rid of this problem with out having to employ an extra person just to reset all of our companies computers every other day ?

Boaz

Holy camoly, i just got TONS of Messages around the world whit this problem whit sheets i made... Thanks Microsoft!

Good thing People made some good work arounds here...

Still i suspect this is in the line of trying to get People to stop useing old sheets and Upgrade as the end users usualy dont have experience or knowledge to fix sheets, and the error Message was kinda not on topic of what was actualy going on.

Generally these solutions work. However, I have encountered customers that cannot use certain Excel files because they get a "Can't exit design mode because [this activex control] can't be created". It is a problem that's computer specific. The files are completely unusable. Do you have a fix for this, too, Microsoft?

After days of struggling with this I am so happy I found this article. I deleted everything in my temp folder and now the macro is working great! Thanks!

Thanks,
I have lost 2 hours to find this post but finally the problem is solved only by cleaning temporary files

As per my previous comments, files saved in 2013 after the workaround no longer work in a healthy installation of 2007 (they did previously). This tells me that using the workaround may create broken files not usable in healthy installations of Excel. This means I cannot currently trust any workaround created files. Just because your Excel is "fixed" doesn't mean you should use it.

MS Please update users progress!

Removing the updates worked for two days tor Excel 2007 and 2010 then they re-installed automatically (group policy). Was hoping for a fixed update, not a re-install of the problem updates.

Just made the recommended script and testing it on a few machines. So far it works.

Please note the you need to have Excel, Word, PowerPoint closed prior to trying to removed the *.exd files. Otherwise the ones in use will not be removed and the issue will remain. Easiest method to remove the *.exd files is to have it done in a logon script.

Hopefully this is permanent. Users starting to think that we we don't know what we are doing - thanks Microsoft.
You broke it and we are stuck cleaning up mess.

These instructions in this post worked fine for me - and I have Excel 2013 and do not have Admin right to my machine.
1) With Excel closed, did a search of the C drive for "*.exd"
2) Deleted the following file ...\Local\Temp\Excel8.0\MSForms.exd (Make sure it gets deleted from the Recycle
Bin as well).
3) Opened Excel (All forms & ActiveX controls working correctly)

Tested this on two different machines, both with the same result

I have two users who had the update installed that I deleted their .exd files for and all appeared well. That's until the file was sent to another user who did not have the patch installed. The files is incompatible; it doesn't recognize the library/definitions. Since I deleted the .exd files in an attempt to fix the issue, if I now remove the update, will there be any reprecussions?

I had this same problem with my users - had them run a script to kill the .exd files, and it went away, only to resurface, at least in spirit, with one user/some workbooks, as soon as a named range (cell, actually) that has data validation is referenced in the Workbook.open event. Code cannot be compiled - "Object library invalid..." error immediately pops up. LB's mention of data validation rang a loud bell for me - don't know if others have seen this or not - ?

For some users, Form Controls (FM20.dll) are no longer working as expected after installing MS14-082

Office 2013 here on W7. Had to remove KB2726958, which is odd, since this claims to be a 32 bit edition patch and I have 64 bit Office installed. Still, Excel spreadsheets are loading again, so joy! I also deleted the *.erd files mentioned above as well, but it wasn't until I removed the patch that the problem went away.

Thanks guys. I applied the steps outlined in the guide and all is OK now. My Activex Controls are restored and work normally. I have to say that when I reached this page I was stunned to learn that controls will STOP working in December 2014. There was me thinking that they knew what they doing.

Hotfix by MS : http://support.microsoft.com/kb/3025036/en-us

Some of my Excel 2007 VBA code with ActiveX controls work, some don't after following this. I can't resolve this. Why?

In Excel 2013 Excel files created on computers where the security update installed and the the .exd files deleted then won't work on computers where the security update is not installed. Our software has lots of button controls. We are how in the position of deciding if we should run the security upgrade and then try to fix it across thousands of computers.

Can Amber or someone from Microsoft confirm they are working on a solution that will allow new files from updated machines to open on un-updated machines? There will never be a time when all machines are updated, this will haunt Microsoft and Office for many years to come unless its solved.

We use a Master Workbook for band competitions which has several Control buttons. After the December Microsoft Security update these workbooks on our 20 laptops do not work any longer. These workbooks are created to provide an easy interface for users with basic Excel knowledge. I was expecting a MS fix immediately, but no permanent fix is provided so far. The solution to delete the *exd files works on individual laptops but not when installing our Master copy from one laptop to another. We use Office 2010 on some laptops and 2013 on others.
My solution was to uninstall KB2553154 (for Office 2010) and KB2776958 (for Office 2013) completely on each laptop. Then I ran Windows Update and "hid" the offending KB. Hiding will prevent installation of that particular security update until you "unhide" it.. So far this works for me. I'll live with the security issue for now!

Uninstalling the offending updates worked but they reinstall!
With office365/2013 the "Online Repair" worked but only after the *.EXD files were all deleted.
Online repair from Control panel -> programs and features ->office365 -> Change...
Good luck!

Hi There. Thanks for the info. Any idea when a fix will be available for the "Image21" default naming issue? I use a program that requires control names to start at 1, and am dead in the water till that is resolved. I could manually change, of course, but I'm working with potentially hundreds of images per created Excel template. Thanks so much!

Great to know there is a fix. Not great when it impacts everyone in the company during year end close.