Can not run Excel macro via Python using xlwings

Question

I'm trying to run simple Excel macro via Python using xlwings but it doesn't work.

I tried to run Python in JupyterLab. Both code, VBA and Python, are so simple and when I run VBA code in Excel, it works correctly. Also, I tried some simple python code using xlwings like

import xlwings as xw

wb = xw.Book('test.xlsm')
sheet = wb.sheets[0]
sheet.range('A1').value = 'test'

works correctly.

However, the python code below doesn't work.

import xlwings as xw

wb = xw.Book('test.xlsm')
macro = wb.macro('test')
macro()

I put this VBA code below on "ThisWorkbook" in ExcelVBA editor.

Sub test()
    Range("A1").Value = "This is a test."
End Sub

Error message is like this.

com_error: "Cannot run the macro 'test.xlsm'!test'. The macro may not be available in this workbook or all macros may be disabled."

pira___ · Accepted Answer · 2019-07-31 04:58:09Z

2

I solved it by myself.

I edited the code like this and it works correctly.

macro = wb.macro('ThisWorkbook.test')

answered Jul 31, 2019 at 4:58

pira___

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Comments

Dr Nisha Arora · Accepted Answer · 2025-09-15 13:21:15Z

Your macro is defined in ThisWorkbook, but xlwings expects it to be in a standard module, not in the workbook object or a worksheet module. Macros in ThisWorkbook or Sheet1, etc., are not directly accessible via wb.macro('macro_name').
A Sub (procedure that does not return a value, you can access it via
wb.macro('ThisWorkbook.test')

However, Python cannot read the return value of a function if it is inside Sheet1 or ThisWorkbook. If you have your legacy code where functions are written in Sheet/workbook module, you have two options:

wb.macro("ThisWorkbook.SOME_FUNCTION") # Will NOT return value to Python (None)

Move them into a standard module, or
Create a wrapper function in a standard module that calls the legacy function, and then call the wrapper from Python.

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