FAQs

To download a free 30-day trial of the XLEV8 Add-in Suite, please view the product page and add to your shopping cart, or you can add it directly to your shopping cart. Once the free trial is in your shopping cart, proceed to check out as you would with a normal purchase (no payment information is required). This is necessary to set up your account and the free trial license key. Once you complete the checkout process, you can download a .zip file containing each of the add-in files. An email with further installation instructions and your license key will also be sent to you when you complete the checkout process.

Download the compressed folder (.zip file) from your purchase email / purchase screen and extract the contents.  Then follow the directions for each of the applications below.

Excel – Go to File | Options | Add-ins | Manage: Excel Add-ins | Go, then browse for the XLEV8.xlam file in the extracted folder and click Open.  The add-in should be loaded and automatically open when you start Excel.

PowerPoint – Go to File | Options | Add-ins | Manage: PowerPoint Add-ins | Go, then click Add New and browse for the XLEV8_PowerPoint.ppam file in the extracted folder and click Open.  The add-in should be loaded and automatically open when you start PowerPoint.

Word – Go to File | Options | Add-ins | Manage: Word Add-ins | Go, then from the Templates tab, click Add and browse for the XLEV8_Word.dotm file in the extracted folder and click Open.  Word works differently than Excel and PowerPoint – the add-in is actally a macro-enabled Word template file.  To load it each time you start Word, you need to save it in your Word startup folder.  Search for this folder, and then copy the XLEV8_Word.dotm file to the folder.  This folder is usually stored at a similar path to this one: C:\Users\[User name]\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Word\STARTUP\

If you’ve already downloaded and activated your free trial, you just need to purchase a full license from within your account at www.excelevate.co/wp/ and once you complete the checkout process, that’s it!  The same license key is automatically upgraded within your account.  If you haven’t yet downloaded a free trial, you can also just purchase a full license from the product page or go straight to the checkout page.

Once you’ve downloaded your free trial or purchased a full license, you will use the license key and your email address to activate your license.  After installing any of the application add-ins, simply go to the XLEV8 ribbon tab and in the Productivity/Other menu, click the Check License Status option.  It will display the form where you can enter the email address you registered with, and the license key.  The process works the same whether you are activating a trial or full license – the only difference is that the trial will expire after 30 days.

All macros within the add-ins are accessible from the XLEV8 ribbon tab, which loads automatically when you start the application (Excel, Word, or PowerPoint).  The add-ins are organized in categories/groups and within those, menus, which contain each of the macros.  Hover over them to see a brief description.  You can search for a macro by name using the Search Macros box, located in the Productivity/Other menu.  You can also run macros by setting keyboard shortcuts – either through the Search Macros box or the Assign Macro Shortcuts functions in Excel.  For maximum productivity, we recommend setting shortcuts for functions that you use the most frequently (and especially the Search Macros function!).  For help getting started, please see the XLEV8 Getting Started guide.

Note that PowerPoint does not natively support custom keyboard shortcuts without installing third-party utilities. The one we recommend is Shortcut Manager for PowerPoint, available at http://www.officeoneonline.com/ppsctmgr/ppsctmgr.html. This separate add-in will allow you to set and use shortcuts in PowerPoint just as you do in Excel and Word. If you do not want to install a separate add-in, you can still set keyboard shortcuts using the Assign Macro Shortcuts macro (in Excel), and call them with the Macro Shortcut Picker macro, which shows all the shortcuts you have set and allows you to enter the keyboard shortcut to call them. You can add the Macro Shortcut Picker to your Quick Access Toolbar (QAT) toward the top of the list, and call it with a shortcut such as Alt-1. You can also set any other frequently used macros to the QAT to be able to quickly use them if you prefer. We recommend setting the Macro Shorcut Picker and the Search Macros to left/top of the QAT. To do so, just right-click on any command from the XLEV8 ribbon and click the Add to Quick Access Toolbar option.

To uninstall the add-ins for one or more applications, follow the directions below.

Excel – Go to File | Options | Add-ins | Manage: Excel Add-ins | Go, then uncheck the XLEV8.xlam file.  Then delete the XLEV8.xlam file from your add-ins folder, which is usually stored at a similar path to this one: C:\Users\j[User name]\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\AddIns\

PowerPoint – Go to File | Options | Add-ins | Manage: PowerPoint Add-ins | Go, then uncheck the XLEV8_PowerPoint.ppam file.  Then delete the XLEV8_PowerPoint.ppam file from your add-ins folder, which is usually stored at a similar path to this one: C:\Users\j[User name]\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\AddIns\

Word – Go to File | Options | Add-ins | Manage: Word Add-ins | Go, then from the Templates tab, uncheck the XLEV8_Word.dotm file.  Then delete the XLEV8_Word.dotm file from your Word startup folder, which is usually stored at a similar path to this one: C:\Users\[User name]\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Word\STARTUP\

Log in to your account at www.excelevate.co/wp/ and under your licenses, click remove activation next to the computer you want to unlink.  If you aren’t sure which computer you want to unlink, you can unlink them all and then re-activate your license with the computer(s) you know you want to use the add-ins on.

The XLEV8 Add-in Suite works with Microsoft Excel, Word, and PowerPoint 2007 and later for Windows.  We recommend using Microsoft Office 2013 or newer for the best experience.