This article is aimed at providing general troubleshooting steps for most Smart Workpapers issues that have been frequently encountered. If you feel that a common issue is missing from this list, please let us know for this to be updated.
- Add-in requires reinstallation
- Workpapers menu item is missing from the Excel ribbon
- Workpapers pane is collapsed or won't expand
- Workpapers add-in is not loading with Excel
Add-in requires reinstallation
Basic uninstall and reinstall
1. Close any open Excel sheets, and close Excel.
2. Open the Start Menu and search for and open Add or Remove Programs.
3. In the programs list, locate HowNow Smart Workpapers and click Uninstall.
4. Follow the steps to complete uninstallation.
5. Once uninstalled, navigate to the Installation Guide on the Workpapers site and download the Add-in installer.
7. Run the downloaded file and follow the steps to complete.
8. Once installed, open a Workpaper and test its functionality.
Issues persist after basic uninstall and reinstall
These steps will run you through a clean uninstall and reinstall of the Workpapers Add-in, this may be required if the issues are ongoing after trying other troubleshooting steps:
1. Close any open Excel sheets, and close Excel.
2. Open File Explorer and navigate to %localappdata%\Business Fitness\HowNow Smart Workpapers.
3. In the folder, run unins000.exe and follow the steps to complete uninstallation.
4. Once uninstalled, confirm that the HowNow Smart Workpapers folder is deleted, if not, delete this now.
5. Close File Explorer, then open Registry Editor.
Note: It is recommended to have IT perform any steps within the registry.
6. Navigate to \HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Office\Excel and check any sub-keys for references to the Smart Workpapers Add-in, delete these keys.
7. Navigate to \HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Office and expand the highest version folder, then expand the Excel folder.
8. Remove references to the Smart Workpapers Add-in in any sub-keys, most commonly in AddInLoadTimes.
9. Delete the key \HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\businessfitness\SmartWorkpapers.
10. Close Registry Editor and open Credential Manager.
11. In Credential Manager, click Windows Credentials, locate 'SmartWorkpapersCredential' and click Remove. DO NOT remove any other items from this area.
12. Once removed close Credential Manager and navigate to the Workpapers website.
13. Navigate to the Installation Guide on the Workpapers site and download the Add-in installer.
14. Run the downloaded file and follow the steps to complete installation.
15. Once installation is complete, open a Workpaper and complete login, then test functionality.
Workpapers menu item is missing from the Excel ribbon
We generally see this when the Workpapers COM add-in has become disabled, inactive, or unloaded in Excel.
To troubleshoot this issue, follow the steps below:
1. In Excel, click File > Options > Add-ins and select COM Add-ins from the Manage dropdown list then select Go.
2. In the next window, ensure that 'HowNow Smart Workpapers' is ticked and click OK. If it isn't present, you will need to do a basic uninstall and reinstall of the Add-in (see above).
3. Go back to the Workpaper and confirm that the Workpapers tab is now present in the Ribbon. If so, please test the functionality of your Workpaper. If not, you will need to do a basic uninstall and reinstall of the Add-in (see above).
Workpapers pane is collapsed or won't expand
This issue is more common on low resolution monitors, we recommend performing these steps on monitors with a resolution of 1920x1080 or higher.
If the pane is not visible/fully collapsed
1. In the Workpaper, go to the Index sheet and click an Insert button to prompt the pane to appear.
2. To the right of the scroll bar look for the five dots (shown below).
3. Click these dots, they should expand the pane.
4. If the pane doesn't expand, or only expands a little, hover your mouse over the edge of the pane until you receive a horizontal double-ended arrow, then click and drag to the left until you see a grey vertical line following the cursor, then release.
5. If you do not get the horizontal arrow, click the five dots again and try hovering over the edge of the pane once more.
6. Once the pane is visible, click the Close button in the top right of the pane, then click an Insert button in the Workpaper again to ensure that the pane reopens at the same width.
If the pane is partially expanded and will not expand further
1. In the Workpaper, go to the Index and click an Insert button to prompt the pane to appear.
2. Hover your mouse over the edge of the pane until it changes to a horizontal double-ended arrow, then click and drag to the left until a grey vertical line appears and follows the cursor.
3. Stop dragging to make the pane expand to that width, then click and drag the pane back to the right and release at the desired width.
4. Close the pane and click an Insert button again to check that the pane reopens at the desired width.
Workpapers add-in is not loading with Excel
This issue is generally caused by the 'LoadBehaviour' value in the Smart Workpapers registry key.
Note: We strongly recommend that IT performs these steps as the registry is a sensitive system location.
1. Open Registry Editor.
2. Navigate to \HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Office\Excel\Addins\
Workpapers.Next.AddinModule.
3. Check the 'LoadBehaviour' value is 3. If not, edit the value to 3.
4. Close Registry Editor and open a Workpaper.
5. Confirm if the Add-in is now loading by testing the Workpaper functionality and confirming that the Workpapers tab is now visible in the Excel ribbon.
6. If the Workpapers Add-in is still not loading, we recommend trying a clean uninstall/reinstall of the Add- in (see above) or an Office repair with a reinstall of the Add-in.