I need your support to fix this code so that it doesn’t prompt for file access permissions in Excel for Mac.

The code works fine when the path directory is within my laptop’s local storage in the container folder in Excel, without prompting for file access permissions. However, when using iCloud storage or an external hard drive, it always prompts for access permissions for each photo.

Question: why do I save photos in iCloud or on an external hard drive instead of my laptop’s storage?

Answer: I have more photos than can fit on my laptop, which has only 512 GB of storage (MacBook Air M3). That’s why I transfer the photos to an external hard drive or iCloud to avoid overloading my laptop’s storage.

Here is the code:

Option Explicit

Sub UpdatePictures()
    Dim R As Range
    Dim S As Shape
    Dim Path As String
    Dim FName As String
    Dim PicWidth As Double
    Dim PicHeight As Double
    Dim CellWidth As Double
    Dim CellHeight As Double
    Dim LeftPosition As Double
    Dim TopPosition As Double
    Dim AspectRatio As Double

    ' Define the path where images are stored
    Path = "/Users/mac/Library/CloudStorage/OneDrive-Personal/Creative Cloud Files/ADD/"
    If Right(Path, 1) <> "/" Then Path = Path & "/"

    For Each R In Range("C2", Range("C" & Rows.Count).End(xlUp))
        Set S = GetShapeByName(R.Value)

        If S Is Nothing Then
            ' Check if the file exists
            FName = Path & R.Value & ".jpg"
            If Dir(FName) <> "" Then
                ' Insert picture
                Set S = InsertPicturePrim(FName, R.Value)
            End If
        End If

        If Not S Is Nothing Then
            ' Get picture dimensions
            PicWidth = S.Width
            PicHeight = S.Height
            
            ' Get cell dimensions
            CellWidth = R.Offset(0, -1).Width
            CellHeight = R.Offset(0, -1).Height
            
            ' Calculate aspect ratio
            AspectRatio = PicWidth / PicHeight
            
            ' Set picture height to match the cell height
            S.Height = CellHeight
            
            ' Calculate the new width based on the aspect ratio
            S.Width = AspectRatio * CellHeight
            
            ' Calculate left position for center alignment
            LeftPosition = R.Offset(0, -1).Left + (CellWidth - S.Width) / 2
            
            ' Calculate top position for center alignment
            TopPosition = R.Offset(0, -1).Top + (CellHeight - S.Height) / 2
            
            ' Set picture position
            S.Left = LeftPosition
            S.Top = TopPosition
            S.LockAspectRatio = msoTrue
        Else
            R.Offset(0, -1).Value = "NO PICTURE AVAILABLE"
        End If
    Next
End Sub

Private Function GetShapeByName(ByVal SName As String) As Shape
    On Error Resume Next
    Set GetShapeByName = ActiveSheet.Shapes(SName)
    On Error GoTo 0
End Function

Private Function InsertPicturePrim(ByVal FName As String, ByVal SName As String) As Shape
    Dim p As Shape
    Static x As Integer
    
    On Error Resume Next
    x = x + 1
    ' Use the full path in the AddPicture method
    Set p = ActiveSheet.Shapes.AddPicture(FName, msoFalse, msoCTrue, 1, 1, -1, -1)
    
    If Not p Is Nothing Then
        p.Name = SName & x
        Set InsertPicturePrim = p
    End If
    
    On Error GoTo 0
End Function

I’m trying to find a way to display photos in Excel without prompting the grant file access