Top 5 AppSource validation errors for Office Add-ins submissions – December 2023

Elizabeth Samuel

December 19th, 20230 1

AppSource validation ensures your Office Add-in submission follows Microsoft’s quality standards. Don’t lose valuable time getting to market – learn how to avoid these common validation pitfalls! 

Between September and November 2023, the following were the top AppSource errors affecting Office Add-ins’ submissions. 

  1. Additional charges not disclosed in the add-in’s description 
  2. First-run experience using the add-in is unclear or confusing 
  3. Functionality of add-in isn’t as described 
  4. Missing links to sign in, sign out, or sign up for external service 
  5. Testing instructions missing or incomplete 

In this post, you’ll learn about what the affected AppSource policies are looking for so you can be confident your Office Add-in submission won’t hit these issues. 

Additional charges not disclosed in the add-in’s description 

Users must be notified in the add-in’s description on the AppSource listing about any charges, subscriptions, or licenses that are required to use advertised features or to activate additional features or content. For example, if your add-in requires the purchase of Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) offers or other services, be sure to disclose those requirements in the Description field (a.k.a. the long description) of the AppSource marketplace listing submission. Specifically, include information about the required offers and services like their names and links to how to acquire them. 

Resources 

First-run experience using the add-in is unclear or confusing 

Office Add-ins must have a clear value proposition and provide a seamless first-run experience (FRE). On your add-in’s start screen, you should describe its functionality and benefits in a few lines. If users must sign in or sign up to use the add-in, the value proposition of having that account or service must be clearly outlined to them before they do so. 

Enterprise add-ins (that is, add-ins that target larger organizations or enterprises) are exempt from this requirement. To claim this exemption, you must indicate this in the Notes of certification of your add-in’s marketplace listing submission. Also, in the add-in’s UI, you must include a link or an email contact for users to learn more about your services. For more information about handling this situation, see the Enterprise only section of the December 2022 post in this series. 

Resources 

Functionality of add-in isn’t as described 

Your add-in should deliver what it promises. It must provide the functionality, features, and deliverables noted in its marketplace description and related materials. The add-in should work properly without displaying any errors. If your add-in is an Excel add-in with custom functions, each custom function must be visible and verifiable. 

Resources

Office Add-ins that depend on external accounts or services must provide clear and simple sign-in, sign-out, and sign-up experiences. The links to access these experiences should be clearly visible and prominent in the add-in’s UI. 

Enterprise add-ins (that is, add-ins that target larger organizations or enterprises) don’t need to provide a sign-up experience. However, you must indicate this in the Notes of certifications of your add-in’s marketplace listing submission. For more information about handling this situation, see the Enterprise only section of the December 2022 post in this series. 

Resources

Testing instructions missing or incomplete 

To ensure that certification reviewers can successfully complete verification and testing of your add-in, you must provide clear instructions and details about needed resources. Be sure to provide instructions on how to test and fully exercise the add-in in the Notes for certification section of the marketplace listing submission. Also provide any product keys, testing credentials, and sample accounts (including for any services your add-in requires) needed to use all the functionality of your add-in. 

However, if your scenarios aren’t simple and you want to include screenshots to illustrate the steps, or you’d like to persist the testing instructions, you should create and upload a PDF file with that information to the Additional certification info section of the marketplace listing submission. The PDF fille will be persisted for subsequent submissions of the add-in. 

Failure to provide all the information needed when you submit your marketplace listing means that your submission may be rejected if the reviewer is missing the information needed to fully verify the add-in. 

Resources

See also

Elizabeth Samuel Senior Technical Writer

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