Removed Part: /xl/vbaProject.bin part. (Visual Basic for Applications (VBA)) — macros vanished from a macro-enabled workbook

What's actually wrong

Every macro in an .xlsm lives in one binary blob, xl/vbaProject.bin; when Excel 'repairs' the file by removing that part, the opened copy has zero VBA. Crucially, this isn't always corruption: the same message appears when the VBA feature isn't installed in Office, or when regional/language settings choke on non-English characters (æ, å, ü) in module names — in those cases the original file is fine. When it is real corruption (crash mid-save, SharePoint/OneDrive sync conflicts are repeat offenders), cell data usually survives, but the VBA blob is the hardest part to get back, so protecting the un-repaired original is everything.

Free fixes — try these first

1. Do not save the repaired copy over the original. Close without saving. The vbaProject.bin may still be inside the original file even though the repaired copy lost it.
2. Rule out a missing VBA installation: Control Panel → Programs → Microsoft Office → Change → Add or Remove Features → Office Shared Features → Visual Basic for Applications → Run from My Computer, then reopen the original. If module names contain characters like æ/å/ü, also try Region settings → Administrative → change 'Language for non-Unicode programs' to match.
3. Open the original in LibreOffice with macro security set to allow, open Tools → Macros → Edit Macros, and copy every module's code out to text files. Then paste into a fresh .xlsm.
4. Dump the VBA with free oletools: install Python, run pip install oletools, then olevba yourfile.xlsm — it extracts macro source code even from files Excel refuses, because VBA stores compressed source alongside compiled code.
5. Restore from history: SharePoint/OneDrive version history or Windows 'Restore previous versions' frequently has a pre-corruption copy — this thread pattern is extremely common for SharePoint-hosted .xlsm files.

If the free fixes fail

When vbaProject.bin itself is truncated or damaged, Excel, LibreOffice, and olevba can all come up empty. Our analyzer scans the raw binary for surviving compressed module source and intact worksheet data, and tells you plainly which modules and sheets are recoverable — and when the VBA is genuinely unrecoverable, it says so instead of guessing.