Disappearing Buttons

[Davidns]

I have created some buttons via Form Control and assigned macros to them. I just noticed that many of them literally disappeared. I closed Excel and then reopened the file, and now the buttons show up. I am glad they are working again, but any idea why they would disappear to begin with?

 

[baitmaster]

Are they Form controls or ActiveX controls? My guess would be ActiveX as these can be unstable - in my experience they're probably there but really (and I mean reeeeeallllyy) small. When I use these I usually have a code that runs regularly, which resets the .top, .left, .height and .width to the original settings

 

[Davidns]

Actually not 100% sure, but will check next time it happens. Strange to see something so basic be unstable on such a mature product. Thanks for the feedback!

 

[baitmaster]

Excel Ribbon > Developer Tab > Insert > [Form Controls] or [ActiveX Controls]

Form controls are like shapes / images, you can right-click on them at any time and e.g. assign macros. ActiveX controls look the same, but you can only right-click when in "Design Mode" (Developer Tab > Design Mode). When you do, you get code-based options like "view code" and "command button object >"

I like ActiveX controls but yes, I agree it's both surprising and annoying that they can be a pain. I think Microsoft don't like them and have no inclination to fix the problem - it's a fairly uncommon feature, the issues don't always arise and there are alternatives