Tip of the Day | Sunday 28 June 2026

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Reload Installed Excel Add-ins (Refresh Menus and Commands)

This tool reloads all installed Excel add-ins and refreshes their associated menu commands.

It performs the following steps:

  • Resets the legacy worksheet and chart menu bars. Some add-ins still use these to place commands in the Ribbon's Add-Ins tab
  • Reloads all active Excel add-ins

Behind the scenes, the tool turns each installed and active Excel add-in off and on. This triggers its startup routines again, such as Auto_Open or Workbook_Open, which helps restore missing menu items, reset the add-in's behavior, and reapply any shortcuts assigned by the add-in.

This is helpful when:

  • The add-in menu or commands are missing
  • Shortcuts assigned by add-ins are no longer working
  • You want to refresh add-ins without restarting Excel
  • Add-in behavior or menus didn't load correctly at startup

By default, you can launch this tool using the Control+Alt+B shortcut.

Note:
This tool only reloads Excel Add-ins (.xla, .xlam).
It does not affect COM Add-ins or Office Add-ins (also known as Web Add-ins or Office.js add-ins).

Starting this tool

Specify a Keyboard Shortcut: ASAP Utilities  › My Tools & Shortcuts › Manage My Tools & Shortcuts...

Tip:Alt+P for the previous tool.