Find the screen or message you see, then follow the matching steps. Some blocks come from Microsoft, before Blast Audit has loaded. Others are Blast Audit screens about your licence or your subscription.
| What you see | Who can fix it |
|---|---|
| A Microsoft message such as "add-in not allowed", "error loading add-ins" or a sign-in error with a code | Your IT administrator |
| The Blast Audit buttons are greyed out | You |
| License already in use | You |
| An active subscription is required or Trial expired | An owner or admin of your organization |
| An organization owner or admin needs to activate Blast Audit | An owner or admin of your organization |
| We couldn't verify your subscription | You, then support |
Microsoft blocks the add-in
If Excel refuses to install or load Blast Audit, the block usually comes from your firm's Microsoft 365 settings. Blast Audit cannot change them.
Common signs:
- The install link from the Microsoft store email ends in an error.
- Excel says add-ins are not allowed, or shows an error while loading add-ins.
- A Microsoft sign-in page shows an error code. Code 53003 means a conditional access policy blocked the sign-in.
What to do:
- Take a screenshot of the error. If Microsoft shows them, note the error code, request ID, correlation ID and time.
- Send them to your IT administrator. Ask them to either allow Microsoft AppSource (the Office Store) add-ins for your account, or deploy Blast Audit to you from the Microsoft 365 admin center.
Deploy the add-in for your firm explains central deployment step by step for IT.
Blast Audit also needs a recent Excel. It runs on Microsoft 365 (Windows, Mac and web) and on Excel 2021 or later with a one-time licence. Excel 2016 and 2019 cannot load it. See Install the Excel add-in for the versions.
The Blast Audit buttons are greyed out
Excel can grey out add-in buttons for some kinds of files. Check the title bar at the top of the Excel window and fix what it shows.
- [Compatibility Mode]: the file is in the old
.xlsformat. Go to File > Save As, choose Excel Workbook (.xlsx), then open the new file. - [Shared]: the file uses the legacy shared workbook feature. Turn sharing off, or save a copy that is not shared.
- Protected View: click Enable Editing in the yellow bar.
License already in use
A Blast Audit licence can be active on two devices at the same time. This screen means the same account is already open in Excel on two other computers.
- Close Excel, or the Blast Audit pane, on one of the other devices.
- Wait. The screen tells you roughly how many minutes are left before the licence frees up (at most about 10 minutes).
- Click Retry.
If you no longer have access to those devices, wait 10 minutes and click Retry. The licence frees itself once a device stops using it.
An active subscription is required
Your organization has no active trial or subscription, or the trial has ended (Trial expired).
- If you are an owner or admin of the organization: click Open dashboard, start or renew the subscription, then come back to Excel and click I've subscribed.
- If you are a member: the screen says An organization owner or admin needs to activate Blast Audit. Ask an owner or admin to open billing in the dashboard and activate the trial or subscription. Then click Refresh access. The screen also checks by itself and unlocks once access is active.
To sign in with another account, click Back to sign-in.
We couldn't verify your subscription
Blast Audit could not reach its servers to check your access. This is usually a network problem and does not sign you out.
- Check your internet connection. If you use a VPN or a proxy, ask IT whether it blocks Blast Audit.
- Click Retry verification.
If it still fails
Contact support with the chat on blast-audit.com/help, or with Help on the Blast Audit tab if the add-in opens. Include:
- The exact message or a screenshot.
- Your Excel: Windows, Mac or web, and the version (File > Account > About Excel).
- The email address of your Blast Audit account.
- For a Microsoft error: the error code, request ID, correlation ID and time.
You do not need to send any workbook or document.