Excel UserForms can display native controls — labels, text boxes, list boxes. LiteView2 adds a Chromium browser inside the UserForm, so you can embed TinyMCE, Chart.js, AG Grid, PDF.js, or any other web component alongside your existing VBA code.
Who this is for: Excel VBA developers adding dashboards, grids, editors, or rich UI to existing workbooks.
Also works in Access, Word, Outlook, PowerPoint, VB6, VB.NET, C#, Delphi, Python — and any COM host.
LiteView2 embeds a full Chromium WebView2 browser inside an Excel UserForm. It renders modern HTML5, runs JavaScript, and bridges directly to VBA — no automation framework, no CDP, no external process. Drop the control on a UserForm and you have a Chromium browser in your spreadsheet in under 5 minutes.
30-day commercial trial · No telemetry · 32-bit and 64-bit · No admin required (reg-free mode)
Registered Mode: Run LiteView2 Setup (liteview2-setup.zip) once (admin required); it installs and registers both the 32-bit and the 64-bit control. Reg-Free Mode: Copy both OCX files next to your .xlsm — no admin rights needed.
Registered Mode: Open a UserForm. Right-click Toolbox → Additional Controls → tick LiteView2 Control → drag onto form. Reg-Free Mode: Add a plain Frame control to the UserForm instead.
' Registered Mode — in your UserForm module
Private WithEvents m_lv As LiteView2Lib.LiteView2Ctrl
Private Sub UserForm_Initialize()
Set m_lv = Me.LiteView2Ctrl1.Object
End Sub
Private Sub m_lv_WebViewReady()
m_lv.SetLocalContentRoot ThisWorkbook.Path & "\html"
m_lv.Navigate "https://lv2.example/dashboard.html"
End Sub
Private Sub m_lv_NavigationCompleted(ByVal url As String, ByVal success As Boolean)
' Push Excel data to the browser
Dim json As String
json = "{""total"": " & Range("B1").Value & "}"
m_lv.ExecuteScript "updateDashboard(" & json & ")"
End Sub
Private Sub m_lv_WebMessageReceived(ByVal message As String, ByVal source As String)
' Receive data back from JavaScript
If InStr(message, "export") > 0 Then ExportData
End SubPress F5 or call UserForm1.Show from a macro. The browser loads inside the UserForm and renders your HTML5 page.
Since Excel 2013, the legacy Web Browser control can't be inserted directly on a worksheet ("Cannot insert object"); Microsoft suggests using it on a VBA UserForm instead. It renders with the Internet Explorer 11 engine, so many modern pages and scripts do not work in it. LiteView2 uses the current Chromium engine — the same one in Google Chrome.
Browser automation frameworks run a browser as a separate process that you control over a network protocol. They are excellent for automating external websites. LiteView2 puts the browser inside your UserForm — same window, same process, same VBA event loop. JavaScript in the page can call VBA methods directly via AddHostObjectToScript.
Yes. LiteView2 is an ActiveX OCX designed specifically for this. Drop it on a UserForm (Registered Mode) or embed at runtime via IBrowserPool into a Frame control (Reg-Free Mode).
Yes. LiteView2 ships both LiteView2_x86.ocx (32-bit) and LiteView2_x64.ocx (64-bit). The correct file is loaded automatically based on your Office bitness.
Yes. Use ExecuteScript to call a JavaScript function with JSON data, or push a DAO/ADO recordset directly using PushRecordset. JavaScript in the page receives the data and renders it — no page reload needed.
HTML5, JavaScript, Chart.js, Bootstrap — inside your UserForm. Free 30-day trial.
Download free 30-day trialWebView2 in Access VBA · HTML5 Dashboards in VBA · Replace the WebBrowser Control · Full API reference
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