New Office Add-ins entry point available online

Skylar Pan

August 24th, 20230 5

Add and explore Office Add-ins with our new entry point

We’re excited to announce that a more easy-to-access Office Add-ins entry point is now available online. By accessing the new entry point in Word, Excel, and PowerPoint (WXP), you’ll have an upgraded experience without the need to worry about managing all your add-ins or choosing the right add-in among the thousands available in AppSource and the Office marketplace.  

Quickly find your Office Add-ins 

If you already use Word, Excel, and PowerPoint add-ins, the entry point has moved! Now you can find and activate your installed add-ins in two locations: on the Home tab and File tab. On both entry points, your installed add-ins are shown in the top section under My Add-ins for quick access. You can still find and use the add-ins you’ve previously pinned to the ribbon:

A Microsoft Word window displaying the options to add and access Office Add-ins in the Home ribbon

You can also find the Word, Excel, and PowerPoint Get Add-ins entry point in the File tab:

Office Add-ins entry point on File menu in a Microsoft Word, Excel, or PowerPoint window

If you‘ve never used any WXP add-ins before, no problem! The new recommendation feature provides targeted, expert help no matter which application you use. For each application, you’ll see several different scenarios that people usually face using Office applications. By clicking the Add button next to each add-in, you can quickly install and activate popular or recommended add-ins in less than a minute.

Window showing that one can add and install popular or recommended add-ins.

You may wonder how add-ins are chosen and ranked. We aim to provide customers with the best possible experience by making fair adjustments to the order of add-ins in the listings. This is achieved by considering the following criteria:

  • Add-in quality: We prioritize add-ins with high-quality user experience and content, as measured by add-in rating, add-in user reviews, first-run experience (FRE), free trial feature, and so on.  
  • User engagement: We give prominence to popular and well-received add-ins to facilitate easy discovery and access, based on your recent and historical data. We evaluate monthly usage, number of downloads, admin deployment numbers, retention rate, and so on. 
  • Security and performance: We encourage developers to prioritize regular updates for their add-ins to ensure app security, optimize performance, and enhance the overall user experience.  
  • Compliance: Add-ins must adhere to Microsoft Add-in Store policies and guidelines and ensure that safety, privacy, and content standards are met. 

Can’t find what you’re looking for?

If at first you don’t find the add-in to suit your needs, we encourage you to explore and search our vast marketplace. Simply select More Add-ins to browse thousands of add-ins in over 20+ categories.  

Marketplace showing the option to select More Add-ins

Want to build Word, Excel, or PowerPoint add-ins? 

If you’re interested in building a Word, Excel, or PowerPoint add-in and allowing users from all over the world to use it, simply fill out the Microsoft Office Add-ins registration form to consult with our team. 

Enjoy your Office apps more with add-ins that suit your needs!

More developer resources 

Skylar Pan

Read next

0 comments

Discussion is closed.

Feedback usabilla icon