How to: Re-enable an Add-in That Has Been Disabled

Applies to
The information in this topic applies only to the specified Visual Studio Tools for Office projects and versions of Microsoft Office. Project type Application-level projects Microsoft Office version 2007 Microsoft Office system Microsoft Office 2003 For more information, see Features Available by Application and Project Type.

Microsoft Office applications can disable add-ins that behave unexpectedly while they are being loaded. If an application does not load your add-in when you try to debug it, the application might have hard disabled or soft disabled your add-in.

There are different processes for re-enabling add-ins, depending on the application.

Hard-Disabled Add-Ins

Hard disabling occurs when user code that runs while the add-in is loaded causes the application to close unexpectedly, and when you stop the debugger while the constructor or the Startup event handler is executing.

The procedure is the same for all Microsoft Office 2003 applications.

To re-enable an add-in that has been hard disabled by a Microsoft Office 2003 application

1. On the Help menu, click About Microsoft Office ApplicationName.

2. Click Disabled Items.

   Add-ins created with Visual Studio Tools for Office appear in the list of disabled items as "Addin:add-in name (addinloader.dll)". AddinLoader.dll is the loader component for Microsoft Office 2003 add-ins created by using Visual Studio Tools for Office. For more information, see Architecture of Application-Level Add-Ins.

3. Select the add-in and click Enable.

There are two different procedures for applications in the 2007 Microsoft Office system. The one you use depends on the application.

To re-enable an add-in that has been hard disabled by Excel 2007, PowerPoint 2007, or Word 2007

1. In the application, click the Microsoft Office Button.

2. Click the ApplicationName Options button.

3. In the categories pane, click Add-ins.

4. In the details pane, locate the add-in in the Disabled Application Add-ins list.

   The Name column specifies the name of the assembly, and the Location column specifies the full path of the application manifest.

5. In the Manage box, click Disabled Items, and then click Go.

6. Select the add-in and click Enable.

7. Click Close.

To re-enable an add-in that has been hard disabled by InfoPath 2007, Outlook 2007, or Visio 2007

1. On the Tools menu, click Trust Center.

2. In the categories pane, click Add-ins.

3. In the details pane, locate the add-in in the Disabled Application Add-ins list.

   The Name column specifies the name of the assembly, and the Location column specifies the full path of the application manifest.

4. In the Manage box, click Disabled Items, and then click Go.

5. Select the add-in and click Enable.

6. Click Close.

Soft-Disabled Add-Ins

Soft disabling occurs when an add-in throws an unhandled exception in the constructor or the Startup event handler, but the application does not unexpectedly close.

Note

When you re-enable a soft-disabled add-in, the application immediately attempts to load the add-in. If the problem that initially caused the application to soft disable the add-in has not been fixed, the application will soft disable the add-in again.

There are two different procedures for applications in Microsoft Office 2003. The one you use depends on the application.

To re-enable an add-in that has been soft disabled by Outlook 2003

1. On the Tools menu, click Options.

2. On the Other tab, click Advanced Options.

3. Click COM Add-Ins.

4. Select the check box next to the disabled add-in and click OK.

To re-enable an add-in that has been soft disabled by Excel 2003, PowerPoint 2003, Visio 2003, or Word 2003

1. On the View menu, point to Toolbars, and then click Customize.

2. Click the Commands tab.

3. In the Categories box, click Tools.

4. In the Commands box, select COM Add-Ins and drag it to a toolbar.

5. Click Close.

6. On the toolbar, click COM Add-Ins.

7. Select the check box next to the disabled add-in and click OK.

The 2007 Microsoft Office System

There are two different procedures for applications in the 2007 Microsoft Office system. The one you use depends on the application.

To re-enable an add-in that has been soft disabled by Excel 2007, PowerPoint 2007, or Word 2007

1. In the application, click the Microsoft Office Button.

2. Click the ApplicationName Options button.

3. In the categories pane, click Add-ins.

4. In the details pane, locate the add-in in the Inactive Application Add-ins list.

   The Name column specifies the name of the assembly, and the Location column specifies the full path of the application manifest.

5. In the Manage box, click COM Add-ins, and then click Go.

6. In the COM Add-Ins dialog box, select the check box next to the disabled add-in.

7. Click OK.

To re-enable an add-in that has been soft disabled by InfoPath 2007, Outlook 2007, or Visio 2007

1. On the Tools menu, click Trust Center.

2. In the categories pane, click Add-ins.

3. In the details pane, locate the add-in in the Inactive Application Add-ins list.

   The Name column specifies the name of the assembly, and the Location column specifies the full path of the application manifest.

4. In the Manage box, click COM Add-ins, and then click Go.

5. In the COM Add-Ins dialog box, select the check box next to the disabled add-in.

6. Click OK.

See Also

Tasks

How to: Handle Errors in Office Projects

Concepts

Debugging in Application-Level Projects

Programming Application-Level Add-Ins

Other Resources

Building and Debugging Office Solutions