Creating Word Application using Excel VBA: Run-time error '429': ActiveX component can't create object

Question

I am trying to save Word docs using Excel VBA, but I get the error

"ActiveX component can't create object."

When I debug, the error comes from the line: Set wrdApps = CreateObject("Word.Application") .

It was working, then it started giving me this error.

Sub saveDoc()

Dim i As Integer
For i = 1 To 2661:
    Dim fname As String
    Dim fpath As String

    With Application
        .DisplayAlerts = False
        .ScreenUpdating = False
        .EnableEvents = False
    End With

    fname = ThisWorkbook.Worksheets(3).Range("H" & i).Value
    fpath = ThisWorkbook.Worksheets(3).Range("G" & i).Value

    Dim wrdApps As Object
    Dim wrdDoc As Object

    Set wrdApps = CreateObject("Word.Application")

    'the next line copies the active document- the ActiveDocument.FullName 
    ' is important otherwise it will just create a blank document
    wrdApps.documents.Add wrdDoc.FullName

    Set wrdDoc = wrdApps.documents.Open(ThisWorkbook.Worksheets(3).Range("f" & i).Value)
    ' do not need the Activate, it will be Activate
    wrdApps.Visible = False  

    ' the next line saves the copy to your location and name
    wrdDoc.SaveAs "I:\Yun\RTEMP DOC & PDF\" & fname

    'next line closes the copy leaving you with the original document
    wrdDoc.Close

    On Error GoTo NextSheet:
NextSheet:
    Resume NextSheet2
NextSheet2:
Next i

With Application
   .DisplayAlerts = True
   .ScreenUpdating = True
   .EnableEvents = True
End With

End Sub

Answer 1

I had an issue when upgrading from Windows 7 to 10 when bringing my hoard of VBA scripts with me. Still not sure what the root cause of the error is, but in the mean time this piece of code worked for me. This is a workaround that limits the need to have Word (or Outlook/Excel) already in open (manually) state, but should allow your script to run if you have your references set. Just change "CreateObject(" to "GetObject(, " . This will tell the system to use an already open window.

The complete code to use would be:

Dim wrdApps As Object
Dim wrdDoc As Object
Set wrdApps = GetObject(, "Word.Application")

Answer 2

Is wrdDoc initialised? Are you trying to use wrdDoc before the object has been Set?

wrdApps.documents.Add wrdDoc.FullName
Set wrdDoc = wrdApps.documents.Open(ThisWorkbook.Worksheets(3).Range("f" & i).Value)

Should the first line be ActiveDocument.FullName as in the comments? So:

wrdApps.documents.Add ActiveDocument.FullName

Answer 3

Check that you have the Microsoft Excel Object Library and the Microsoft Office Object Library ticked in Tools > References and that they have been registered.

If they are ticked, you may need to run Detect and Repair from the Excel Help menu to make sure that the Office installation hasn't corrupted in any way.

Answer 4

I recently had this happen to some code I had written. Out of nowhere (after running successfully for a few months), I would get the same Runtime Error '429'. This happened on two separate computers, the one I wrote and tested the code on months prior and the computer of the person who actually used the tool. It happened even though I used the original file on my machine and the user had been using his copy successfully for a few months, so I'm not convinced two separate files on two separate machines both got corrupted in the same manner. With that being said, I don't have a good explanation of why this occurred. Mine would happen on a similar line of code:

Dim objFSO as Object
Set objFSO = CreateObj("Scripting.FileSystemObject")

I had the reference to the scripting library included and had done this successfully in the past.

I was able to fix the problem by changing from late to early binding on that object:

Dim objFSO as New Scripting.FileSystemObject

I have been switching everything over to early binding for some time now but this was some legacy code. A nice short little explanation on the difference between the two can be found here: https://excelmacromastery.com/vba-dictionary/#Early_versus_Late_Binding

I'm not entirely certain why that fixed the problem, but hopefully it will help others in the future with similar issues.

Answer 5

It's seems to be linked to the presence of a second "ThisWorkbook" object, in my case.

Excel VBA Project has generated multiple Workbook objects

No other solution found that the one in this link. I didn't try it myself, though.

Answer 6

In my case, the workbook appeared to be corrupted. Simply assigning a worksheet to a variable was throwing the error.

Dim ws as Worksheet
Set ws = ThisWorkbook.Worksheets("Data")

The workbook came directly from the client, so I'm not sure what they did with it, or how old it was but all the references appeared to be selected. Every other workbook with the same code was working correctly.

So to resolve the issue I copied the worksheets and modules to a new workbook and it worked without any issues.

Might not always be the best solution, but if you haven't got any worksheets and modules, then it's pretty easy.

Answer 7

Try this one.. i've encountered this a lot of time...

so I just run my excel by searching it (located on taskbar), then right click then "run as administrator" or if you already created the excel file, open it from file>open>browse. avoid just double clicking the excel file to open directly.