Symptoms

You try to add a Form control or an ActiveX control to your worksheet, but the commands in the Controls group on the Developer tab or a specific control command button that should be available from the Insert command are disabled.

Cause and Resolution

There are several reasons for this:

• The following controls are unavailable in Excel workbooks, and therefore always appear dimmed. These controls are only used with Excel version 5.0 dialog sheets:

  Button	Name
  	Text Field
  	Combo List - Edit
  	Combo Drop - Down Edit
  	Run Dialog

• Excel might currently be in data entry mode for a cell, which makes the Insert command unavailable. You might have unintentionally entered data entry mode for a cell that is obscured by a control, or the gridlines are hidden and you cannot easily see that the cell is in data entry mode.

  To resolve this, press ESC to exit cell data entry mode.

• You might have set Disable all controls without notification in the ActiveX settings for all applications section of the Trust Center.

  To resolve this, use a less-restrictive setting.

• You might be trying to add an ActiveX control in a document that was signed by an untrusted publisher.
• The Properties command is never enabled for the Label , Button , and Group box form controls.
• The Properties and View Code commands are disabled if Excel is not in Design mode and you have activated the ActiveX control.