Publish your Office Add-in to Microsoft AppSource
Publish your Office Add-in to Microsoft AppSource to make it widely available to customers and businesses. Microsoft AppSource is an online store that contains thousands of business applications and services built by industry-leading software providers. When you publish your add-in to Microsoft AppSource, you also make it available in the in-product experience within Office.
The publishing process
Before you proceed:
- Have a Partner Center account.
- Ensure that your add-in adheres to the applicable AppSource validation policies.
- Confirm that you're ready to publish.
When you're ready to include your solution in Microsoft AppSource and within Office, submit it to Partner Center. Then, it goes through an approval and certification process. For complete details, see Make your solutions available in Microsoft AppSource and within Office.
When your add-in is available in AppSource, there are two further steps you can take to make it more widely installed.
- Provide an installation link
- Include the add-in in the installation of a Windows app or a COM or VSTO add-in
Provide an installation link
After you publish to Microsoft AppSource, you can create an installation link to help customers discover and install your add-in. The installation link provides a "click and run" experience. Put the link on your website, social media, or anywhere you think helps your customers discover your add-in.
The link opens a new Word, Excel, or PowerPoint document in the browser for the signed-in user. Your add-in is automatically loaded in the new document so you can guide users to try your add-in without the need to search for it in Microsoft AppSource and install it manually.
To create the link, use the following URL template as a reference.
https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?linkid={{linkId}}&templateid={{addInId}}&templatetitle={{addInName}}
Change the three parameters in the previous URL to support your add-in as follows.
linkId: Specifies which web endpoint to use when opening the new document.
- For Word on the web:
2261098 - For Excel on the web:
2261819 - For PowerPoint on the web:
2261820
Note: Outlook is not supported at this time.
- For Word on the web:
templateid: The ID of your add-in as listed in Microsoft AppSource.
templatetitle: The full title of your add-in. This must be HTML encoded.
For example, if you want to provide an installation link for Script Lab, use the following link.
The following parameter values are used for the Script Lab installation link.
- linkid: The value
2261819specifies the Excel endpoint. Script Lab supports Word, Excel, and PowerPoint, so this value can be changed to support different endpoints. - templateid: The value
WA104380862is the Microsoft AppSource ID for Script Lab. - templatetitle: The value
Script%20Lab,%20a%20Microsoft%20Garage%20projectwhich is the HTML encoded value of the title.
Include the add-in in the installation of a Windows app or COM/VSTO add-in
When you have a Windows app or a COM or VSTO add-in whose functions overlap with your Office Web Add-in, consider including the web add-in in the installation (or an upgrade) of the Windows app or COM/VSTO add-in. (This installation option is supported only for Excel, PowerPoint, and Word add-ins.) The process for doing this depends on whether you are a certified Microsoft 365 developer. For more information, see Microsoft 365 App Compliance Program and Microsoft 365 App Compliance Program overview.
The following are the basic steps:
Join the certification program (recommended)
We recommend that you join the developer certification program. Among other things, this will enable your installation program to run smoother. For more information, see the following articles:
- Get Started in Partner Center for Microsoft 365, Teams, SaaS, and SharePoint apps
- Microsoft 365 App Compliance Program
- Microsoft 365 App Compliance Program overview
- Microsoft 365 Certification sample evidence guide overview
Update your installation executable (required)
The following are the steps for updating your installation executable.
- Check that user's Office version supports the add-ins (recommended)
- Check for AppSource disablement (recommended)
- Create a registry key for the add-in (required)
- Include privacy terms in your terms & conditions (required for certified developers)
Check that user's Office version supports web add-ins (recommended)
We recommend that your installation check whether the user has the Office application (Excel, PowerPoint, or Word) installed and whether the Office application is a build that supports including a web add-in in a Windows application installation. If it is an old version that doesn't support web add-ins, the installation program should skip all the remaining steps. Consider displaying a message to the user that recommends that they install or update to the latest version of Microsoft 365 so they can take advantage of your web add-in. They would need to rerun the installation after installing or upgrading.
The exact code needed depends on the installation framework and the programming language that you are using. The following is an example of how to check using C#.
using Microsoft.Win32;
using System;
namespace SampleProject
{
internal class IsBuildSupportedSample
{
/// <summary>
/// This function checks if the build of the Office application supports web add-ins.
/// </summary>
/// <returns> Returns true if the supported build is installed, and false if an old, unsupported build is installed or if the app is not installed at all.</returns>
private bool IsBuildSupported()
{
RegistryKey hklm = Registry.CurrentUser;
string basePath = @"Software\Microsoft\Office";
RegistryKey baseKey = Registry.CurrentUser.OpenSubKey(basePath);
string wxpName = "Word"; // Can be one of "Word", "Powerpoint", or "Excel".
const string buildNumberStr = "BuildNumber";
const int smallBuildNumber = 18227; // This is the minimum build that supports installation of a web add-in in the installation of a Windows app.
const int supportedBuildMajorNumber = 16; // 16 is the lowest major build of Office applications that supports web add-ins.
if (baseKey != null)
{
Version maxVersion = new Version(supportedBuildMajorNumber, 0); // Initial value for the max supported build version
foreach (string subKeyName in baseKey.GetSubKeyNames())
{
if (Version.TryParse(subKeyName, out Version version))
{
if (version > maxVersion)
{
maxVersion = version;
}
}
}
string maxVersionString = maxVersion.ToString();
// The Office application's build number is under this path.
RegistryKey buildNumberKey = hklm.OpenSubKey(String.Format(@"Software\Microsoft\\Office\{0}\\Common\Experiment\{1}", maxVersionString, wxpName));
if (maxVersion.Major >= supportedBuildMajorNumber && buildNumberKey != null)
{
object buildNumberValue = buildNumberKey.GetValue(buildNumberStr);
if (buildNumberValue != null && Version.TryParse(buildNumberValue.ToString(), out Version version))
{
if (version.Major > supportedBuildMajorNumber || (version.Major == supportedBuildMajorNumber && version.Build >= smallBuildNumber))
{
// Build is supported
return true;
}
else
{
// Office is installed, but the build is not supported.
return false;
}
}
else
{
// There is no build number, which is an abnormal case.
return false;
}
}
else
{
// An old version is installed.
return false;
}
}
else
{
// Office is not installed.
return false;
}
}
}
}
Check for AppSource disablement (recommended)
We recommend that your installation check whether the AppSource store is disabled in the user's Office application. Microsoft 365 Administrators sometimes disable the store. If the store is disabled, the installation program should skip all the remaining steps. Consider displaying a message to the user that recommends that they contact their administrator about your web add-in. They would need to rerun the installation after the store is enabled.
The following is an example of how to check for disablement of the store.
using Microsoft.Win32;
using System;
namespace SampleProject
{
internal class IsStoreEnabledSample
{
/// <summary>
/// This function checks if the store is enabled.
/// </summary>
/// <returns> Returns true if it store is enabled, false if store is disabled.</returns>
private bool IsStoreEnabled()
{
RegistryKey hklm = Registry.CurrentUser;
string basePath = @"Software\Microsoft\Office";
RegistryKey baseKey = Registry.CurrentUser.OpenSubKey(basePath);
const int supportedBuildMajorNumber = 16;
if (baseKey != null)
{
Version maxVersion = new Version(supportedBuildMajorNumber, 0); // Initial value for the maximum supported build version.
foreach (string subKeyName in baseKey.GetSubKeyNames())
{
if (Version.TryParse(subKeyName, out Version version))
{
if (version > maxVersion)
{
maxVersion = version;
}
}
}
string maxVersionString = maxVersion.ToString();
// The StoreDisabled value is under this registry path.
string antoInstallPath = String.Format(@"Software\Microsoft\Office\{0}\Wef\AutoInstallAddins", maxVersionString);
RegistryKey autoInstallPathKey = Registry.CurrentUser.OpenSubKey(autoInstallPath);
if (autoInstallPathKey != null)
{
object storedisableValue = autoInstallPathKey.GetValue("StoreDisabled");
if (storedisableValue != null)
{
int value = (int)storedisableValue;
if (value == 1)
{
// Store is disabled
return false;
}
else
{
// Store is enabled
return true;
}
}
else
{
// No such key exists since the build does not have the value, so the store is enabled.
return true;
}
}
else
{
// The registry path does not exist, so the store is enabled.
return true;
}
}
else
{
// Office is not installed at all.
return false;
}
}
}
}
Create a registry key for the add-in (required)
Include in the installation program a function to add an entry like the following example to the Windows Registry.
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\16.0\Wef\AutoInstallAddins\{{OfficeApplication}}\{{add-inName}}]
"AssetIds"="{{assetId}}"
Replace the placeholders as follows:
{{OfficeApplication}}with the name of the Office application that the add-in should be installed in. OnlyWord,Excel, andPowerPointare supported.Note
If the add-in's manifest is configured to support more than one Office application, replace
{{OfficeApplication}}with any one of the supported applications. Don't create separate registry entries for each supported application. The add-in will be installed for all the Office applications that it supports.{{add-inName}}with the name of the add-in; for exampleContosoAdd-in.{{assetId}}with the AppSource asset ID of your add-in, such asWA999999999.
The following is an example.
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\16.0\Wef\AutoInstallAddins\Word\ContosoAdd-in]
"AssetIds"="WA999999999"
The exact code will depend on your installation framework and programming language. The following is an example in C#.
using Microsoft.Win32;
using System;
namespace SampleProject
{
internal class WriteRegisterKeysSample
{
/// <summary>
/// This function writes information to the registry that will tell Office applications to install the web add-in.
/// </summary>
private void WriteRegisterKeys()
{
RegistryKey hklm = Registry.CurrentUser;
string basePath = @"Software\Microsoft\Office";
RegistryKey baseKey = Registry.CurrentUser.OpenSubKey(basePath);
string wxpName = "Word"; // Can be one of "Word", "Powerpoint", or "Excel".
string assetID = "WA999999999"; // Use the AppSource asset ID of your web add-in.
string appName = "ContosoAddin"; // Pass your own web add-in name.
const int supportedBuildMajorNumber = 16; // Major Office build numbers before 16 do not support web add-ins.
const string assetIdStr = "AssetIDs"; // A registry key to indicate that there is a web add-in to install along with the main app.
if (baseKey != null)
{
Version maxVersion = new Version(supportedBuildMajorNumber, 0); // Initial value for the max supported build version.
foreach (string subKeyName in baseKey.GetSubKeyNames())
{
if (Version.TryParse(subKeyName, out Version version))
{
if (version > maxVersion)
{
maxVersion = version;
}
}
}
string maxVersionString = maxVersion.ToString();
// Create the path under AutoInstalledAddins to write the AssetIDs value.
RegistryKey AddInNameKey = hklm.CreateSubKey(String.Format(@"Software\Microsoft\Office\{0}\Wef\AutoInstallAddins\{1}\{2}", maxVersionString, wxpName, appName));
if (AddInNameKey != null)
{
AddInNameKey.SetValue(assetIdStr, assetID);
}
}
}
}
}
Include privacy terms in your terms & conditions (required for certified developers)
Skip this section if you are not a member of the certification program, but it is required if you are.
Include in the installation program code to add an entry like the following example to the Windows Registry.
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\16.0\Wef\AutoInstallAddins\{{OfficeApplication}}\{{add-inName}}]
"HasPrivacyLink"="1"
Replace the {{OfficeApplication}} and {{add-inName}} placeholders exactly as in the preceding section. The following is an example.
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\16.0\Wef\AutoInstallAddins\Word\ContosoAdd-in]
"HasPrivacyLink"="1"
To implement this, just make two small changes in the code sample in the previous section.
To the list of
consts at the top of theWriteRegistryKeysmethod, add the following line:const string hasPrivacyLinkStr = "HasPrivacyLink"; // Indicates that your installer has a privacy link.Just below the line
AddInNameKey.SetValue(assetIdStr, assetID);, add the following lines:// Set this value if the Privacy Consent has been shown on the main app installation program, this is required for a silent installation of the web add-in. AddInNameKey.SetValue(hasPrivacyLinkStr, 1);
The user's installation experience
When an end user runs your installation executable, their experience with the web add-in installation will depend on two factors.
- Whether you're a certified Microsoft 365 developer.
- The security settings made by the user's Microsoft 365 administrator.
If you're certified and the administrator has enabled automatic approval for all apps from certified developers, then the web add-in is installed without the need for any special action by the user after the installation executable is started. If you're not certified or the administrator hasn't granted automatic approval for all apps from certified developers, then the user will be prompted to approve inclusion of the web add-in as part of the overall installation. After installation, the web add-in is available to the user in Office on the web as well as Office on Windows.
If you're combining the installation of a web add-in with a COM/VSTO add-in, you need to think about the relationship between the two. For more information, see Make your Office Add-in compatible with an existing COM add-in.
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