How to find the proper order of manifest elements
The XML elements in the manifest of an Office Add-in must be under the proper parent element and in a specific order, relative to each other, under the parent.
The required ordering is specified in the XSD files in the Schemas folder. The XSD files are categorized into subfolders for taskpane, content, and mail add-ins.
For example, in the <OfficeApp> element, the <Id>, <Version>, <ProviderName> must appear in that order. If an <AlternateId> element is added, it must be between the <Id> and <Version> element. Your manifest will not be valid and your add-in will not load, if any element is in the wrong order.
Note
The validator within office-addin-manifest uses the same error message when an element is out-of-order as it does when an element is under the wrong parent. The error says the child element is not a valid child of the parent element. If you get such an error but the reference documentation for the child element indicates that it is valid for the parent, then the problem is likely that the child has been placed in the wrong order.
The following sections show the manifest elements in the order in which they must appear. There are differences depending on whether the type attribute of the <OfficeApp> element is TaskPaneApp, ContentApp, or MailApp. To keep these sections from becoming too unwieldy, the highly complex <VersionOverrides> element is broken out into separate sections.
Note
Not all of the elements shown are mandatory. If the minOccurs value for a element is 0 in the schema, the element is optional.
Basic task pane add-in element ordering
<OfficeApp xsi:type="TaskPaneApp">
<Id>
<AlternateID>
<Version>
<ProviderName>
<DefaultLocale>
<DisplayName>
<Override>
<Description>
<Override>
<IconUrl>
<Override>
<HighResolutionIconUrl>
<Override>
<SupportUrl>
<AppDomains>
<AppDomain>
<Hosts>
<Host>
<Requirements>
<Sets>
<Set>
<Methods>
<Method>
<DefaultSettings>
<SourceLocation>
<Override>
<Permissions>
<Dictionary>
<TargetDialects>
<QueryUri>
<CitationText>
<DictionaryName>
<DictionaryHomePage>
<VersionOverrides>*
<ExtendedOverrides>
*See Task pane add-in element ordering within VersionOverrides for the ordering of children elements of VersionOverrides.
Basic mail add-in element ordering
<OfficeApp xsi:type="MailApp">
<Id>
<AlternateId>
<Version>
<ProviderName>
<DefaultLocale>
<DisplayName>
<Override>
<Description>
<Override>
<IconUrl>
<Override>
<HighResolutionIconUrl>
<Override>
<SupportUrl>
<AppDomains>
<AppDomain>
<Hosts>
<Host>
<Requirements>
<Sets>
<Set>
<FormSettings>
<Form>
<DesktopSettings>
<SourceLocation>
<RequestedHeight>
<TabletSettings>
<SourceLocation>
<RequestedHeight>
<PhoneSettings>
<SourceLocation>
<Permissions>
<Rule>
<DisableEntityHighlighting>
<VersionOverrides>*
*See Mail add-in element ordering within VersionOverrides Ver. 1.0 and Mail add-in element ordering within VersionOverrides Ver. 1.1 for the ordering of children elements of VersionOverrides.
Basic content add-in element ordering
<OfficeApp xsi:type="ContentApp">
<Id>
<AlternateId>
<Version>
<ProviderName>
<DefaultLocale>
<DisplayName>
<Override>
<Description>
<Override>
<IconUrl >
<Override>
<HighResolutionIconUrl>
<Override>
<SupportUrl>
<AppDomains>
<AppDomain>
<Hosts>
<Host>
<Requirements>
<Sets>
<Set>
<Methods>
<Method>
<DefaultSettings>
<SourceLocation>
<Override>
<RequestedWidth>
<RequestedHeight>
<Permissions>
<AllowSnapshot>
<VersionOverrides>*
*See Content add-in element ordering within VersionOverrides for the ordering of children elements of VersionOverrides.
Task pane add-in element ordering within VersionOverrides
<VersionOverrides>
<Description>
<Requirements>
<Sets>
<Set>
<Hosts>
<Host>
<Runtimes>
<Runtime>
<AllFormFactors>
<ExtensionPoint>
<Script>
<SourceLocation>
<Page>
<SourceLocation>
<Metadata>
<SourceLocation>
<Namespace>
<DesktopFormFactor>
<GetStarted>
<Title>
<Description>
<LearnMoreUrl>
<FunctionFile>
<ExtensionPoint>
<OfficeTab>
<Group>
<Label>
<Icon>
<Image>
<Control>
<Label>
<Supertip>
<Title>
<Description>
<Icon>
<Image>
<Action>
<TaskpaneId>
<SourceLocation>
<Title>
<FunctionName>
<Enabled>
<Items>
<Item>
<Label>
<Supertip>
<Title>
<Description>
<Action>
<TaskpaneId>
<SourceLocation>
<Title>
<FunctionName>
<CustomTab>
<Group> (can be below <OfficeGroup>)
<OverriddenByRibbonApi>
<Label>
<Icon>
<Image>
<Control>
<OverriddenByRibbonApi>
<Label>
<Supertip>
<Title>
<Description>
<Icon>
<Image>
<Action>
<TaskpaneId>
<SourceLocation>
<Title>
<FunctionName>
<Enabled>
<Items>
<Item>
<OverriddenByRibbonApi>
<Label>
<Supertip>
<Title>
<Description>
<Action>
<TaskpaneId>
<SourceLocation>
<Title>
<FunctionName>
<OfficeGroup> (can be above <Group>)
<Label>
<InsertAfter> (or <InsertBefore>)
<OfficeMenu>
<Control>
<Label>
<Supertip>
<Title>
<Description>
<Icon>
<Image>
<Action>
<TaskpaneId>
<SourceLocation>
<Title>
<FunctionName>
<Enabled>
<Items>
<Item>
<Label>
<Supertip>
<Title>
<Description>
<Action>
<TaskpaneId>
<SourceLocation>
<Title>
<FunctionName>
<Resources>
<Images>
<Image>
<Override>
<Urls>
<Url>
<Override>
<ShortStrings>
<String>
<Override>
<LongStrings>
<String>
<Override>
<WebApplicationInfo>
<Id>
<Resource>
<Scopes>
<Scope>
<EquivalentAddins>
<EquivalentAddin>
<ProgId>
<DisplayName>
<FileName>
<Type>
Mail add-in element ordering within VersionOverrides Ver. 1.0
<VersionOverrides>
<Description>
<Requirements>
<Sets>
<Set>
<Hosts>
<Host>
<DesktopFormFactor>
<ExtensionPoint>
<OfficeTab>
<Group>
<Label>
<Control>
<Label>
<Supertip>
<Title>
<Description>
<Icon>
<Image>
<Action>
<SourceLocation>
<FunctionName>
<CustomTab>
<Group>
<Label>
<Icon>
<Image>
<Control>
<Label>
<Supertip>
<Title>
<Description>
<Icon>
<Image>
<Action>
<TaskpaneId>
<SourceLocation>
<Title>
<FunctionName>
<Items>
<Item>
<Label>
<Supertip>
<Title>
<Description>
<Action>
<TaskpaneId>
<SourceLocation>
<Title>
<FunctionName>
<Label>
<OfficeMenu>
<Control>
<Label>
<Supertip>
<Title>
<Description>
<Icon>
<Image>
<Action>
<TaskpaneId>
<SourceLocation>
<Title>
<FunctionName>
<Items>
<Item>
<Label>
<Supertip>
<Title>
<Description>
<Action>
<TaskpaneId>
<SourceLocation>
<Title>
<FunctionName>
<Resources>
<Images>
<Image>
<Override>
<Urls>
<Url>
<Override>
<ShortStrings>
<String>
<Override>
<LongStrings>
<String>
<Override>
<VersionOverrides>*
* A VersionOverrides with type value VersionOverridesV1_1, instead of VersionOverridesV1_0, can be nested at the end of the outer VersionOverrides. See Mail add-in element ordering within VersionOverrides Ver. 1.1 for the ordering of elements in VersionOverridesV1_1.
Mail add-in element ordering within VersionOverrides Ver. 1.1
<VersionOverrides>
<Description>
<Requirements>
<Sets>
<Set>
<Hosts>
<Host>
<DesktopFormFactor>
<ExtensionPoint>
<OfficeTab>
<Group>
<Label>
<Tooltip>
<Control>
<Label>
<Supertip>
<Title>
<Description>
<Icon>
<Image>
<Action>
<SourceLocation>
<FunctionName>
<CustomTab>
<Group>
<Label>
<Icon>
<Image>
<Control>
<Label>
<Supertip>
<Title>
<Description>
<Icon>
<Image>
<Action>
<TaskpaneId>
<SourceLocation>
<Title>
<FunctionName>
<Items>
<Item>
<Label>
<Supertip>
<Title>
<Description>
<Action>
<TaskpaneId>
<SourceLocation>
<Title>
<FunctionName>
<Label>
<OfficeMenu>
<Control>
<Label>
<Supertip>
<Title>
<Description>
<Icon>
<Image>
<Action>
<TaskpaneId>
<SourceLocation>
<Title>
<FunctionName>
<Items>
<Item>
<Label>
<Supertip>
<Title>
<Description>
<Action>
<TaskpaneId>
<SourceLocation>
<Title>
<FunctionName>
<SourceLocation>
<Label>
<CommandSurface>
<MobileFormFactor>
<ExtensionPoint>
<Group>
<Label>
<Control>
<Label>
<Icon>
<Image>
<Action>
<SourceLocation>
<FunctionName>
<Control>
<Label>
<Icon>
<Image>
<Action>
<SourceLocation>
<FunctionName>
<Resources>
<Images>
<Image>
<Override>
<Urls>
<Url>
<Override>
<ShortStrings>
<String>
<Override>
<LongStrings>
<String>
<Override>
<WebApplicationInfo>
<Id>
<Resource>
<Scopes>
<Scope>
Content add-in element ordering within VersionOverrides
<VersionOverrides>
<WebApplicationInfo>
<Id>
<Resource>
<Scopes>
<Scope>
See also
Office Add-ins