How to fix
“Compile Error in Hidden Module” error message when opening word/excel files
on Windows

Hello. When I’m trying to launch Office 2016 for Mac Applications, I receive a message that reads: “Compile error in hidden module”. I don’t know why this has started happening because everything has worked fine a couple of days ago. Could you please comment? Thanks in advance!

From August 22, 2016, Microsoft has started upgrading Office 2016 for Mac Applications from 32-bit version to 64-bit version. At the time being, all 32-bit versions should be upgraded already. While the majority of Office 2016 for Mac[ref en-1] users did not notice any changes, a few of them have reported about an error message saying: “Compile error in hidden module: Link”, which occurred immediately after the upgrade.

This issue might happen only if there are some incompatible 32-bit add-ins on the Office. In other words, some add-ins on the Mac OS contain a code, which is incompatible with the current version of the Office 2016 for Mac. To check that, you should open any of the Office 2016 for Mac application and look for the buttons of add-ins colored in grey.

Besides, you may notice that the add-on buttons are completely missing from the ribbon. In case your Office 2016 for Mac has been successfully upgraded to the 64-bit version, but some of the 32-bit add-ons were left installed, there is the only way to fix "Compile error in hidden module: Link" error – to disable incompatible add-ins.

How to fix "Compile Error in Hidden Module" error message when opening word/excel files?

Fix 1. Turn of Add-ins that are incompatible with the 64-bit Mac version

• Open Office 2016 for Mac application and turn off the add-ins.
• Once done, got to Tools and open Templates and Add-ins.
• All available add-ins will be displayed in the Global Templates and Add-ins list.
• To turn off the ones that are incompatible with the upgraded 64-bit version of Office 2016 for Mac, press + or – option.
• Once done, click OK and restart the app.

Fix 2. Place the linkCreation.dotm file on your desktop and refresh Word

• Close your Microsoft Word app.

  

• Open this folder: ~/Library/Group Containers/UBF8T346G9.Office/User Content/Word.
• In the Word folder, you will see the dotm file. Drag this file to your desktop.
• Refresh the Microsoft Word app.

Windows OS

The same “Compile error in hidden module” error message may show up on Windows OS[ref en-3] as well. It may happen but if the Microsoft Office Startup folder or the Microsoft Excel Startup folder contains Pdfmaker.dot and Pdfmaker.xla files that belong to Adobe Acrobat PDFMaker add-in template. In addition, research revealed that “Compile error in hidden module" error is more common on the Windows systems running Norton AntiVirus software. Luckily, to fix “Compile error in hidden module” error on Windows OS, you just have to perform several simple steps:

Fix 1. Download the latest version of the add-in for Adobe Acrobat 5.0

To download the latest version of the add-in for Adobe Acrobat 5.0, go to the official Adobe’s website and perform the installation manually.

Fix 2. Change the location of Pdfmaker.dot and Pdfmaker.xla files

Go to the Office or Excel Startup folder and check if Pdfmaker.dot and Pdfmaker.xla files are listed there. In case one both of these files are located in this folder, our recommendation would be to transfer it/them to My Documents Folder.

Fix 3. Use cmd to reregister the OCX files

• Press Windows key + X together.
• Go to the Windows search section and type in "Command Prompt".
• Select to Run as Administrator.

  

• If you are running a 32-bit Windows platform, write these commands in the Command Prompt:

regsvr32 -u c:windowssystem32mscomctl.ocx
regsvr32 c:windowssystem32mscomctl.ocx

• For a 64-bit Windows platform:

regsvr32 -u c:windowssyswow64mscomctl.ocx
regsvr32 c:windowssyswow64mscomctl.ocx.

Last, but not least, once the “Compile error in hidden module” error fix is finished, both Mac and Windows OS users are strongly recommended to initiate a thorough system scan with an optimization and anti-malware[ref en-2] tool such as [d1].