Availability of Excel Web Add-Ins
Excel Web Add-Ins are available in the following versions:
- Excel for Windows Desktop (>= Excel 2013 SP1)
- Excel Online
- Excel for Mac
- Excel for the iPad
Web Add-Ins are not available in Excel for mobile Devices. In Excel 2013 SP1 command buttons (in the ribbons) are not available and the featureset of the Javascript API is reduced. We recommend to use the latest update of the Excel 2016 version or Excel Online (which is always up-to-date).
Ressources: docs.microsoft.com/en-us/office/dev/add-ins/overview/office-add-in-availability
How to get Excel Web Add-Ins ("Installation")
There are 3 ways to make Excel Web Add-Ins available on a specific Excel client (incl. Excel Online):
- Adding from the Office Store ("My Add-Ins")
- Central deployment via Office 365 ("Admin Managed")
- Sideloading ("Shared Folder") -> only relevant for Developers
Please note that additionally to the central deployment a user can also add the data1.io Add-In from the Office Store. In this case the button Show Taskpane will be shown double:
Both buttons open / refresh the same Taskpane, i.e. the Taskpane will not be doubled. We recommend to remove the Add-In from the Store in order to have only one Button.
Binding to the user account and rollout to all devices
It is important to realize that Excel Web Add-Ins are added to the user account that is connected with the Excel client where the Web Add-In is added and is then rolled out ("installed") to all devices of this user.
Therefore an Excel Web Add-In has to be added only once and will automatically "appear" on a new device and in Excel Online of this user.
Unfortunately it seems that this adding is done language specific. That means that the Add-In is bound to the user account together the current language of the Excel client (when adding a new Web Add-In). Changing the language of Excel (resp. MS Office) on the client means that the added Web Add-Ins are not available under the new language (and have to be added again).
If the automatic rollout does not work on a device, then the user has to open the "My Add-Ins" section and "Add" the Add-In explicitly on a device (the Add-Ins are always shown in the "My Add-Ins" or "Admin Managed" section, but under certain circumstances they are not automatically activated on a device):
Context Menu and Reload
Every Web Add-In has a context menu which can be opened when hoovering tdhe right upper corner of the Taskpane:
The most important entry ist the Reload function which is usefull if the Add-In (which is technically a website / webservice) has to be restarted (you can also use the shortcut F5 or Ctrl+F5).
Client Update of an Excel Web Add-In
If a new version of the Excel Web Add-In is published into the Office Store, this forces Excel clients with an existing installation of the Web Add-In to execute a local update:
After clicking "Update Now" the new version of the Add-In is running (e.g. with changed buttons in the ribbon).
Please note that the program functionality is updated continously within the same version of the Web Add-In. Therefore, updates of the Add-In are quite rarely compared to the monthly release of the program functionality.
Removing an Excel Web Add-In
A Web Add-In can be removed ("uninstalled") for the client (more precisely: from a user account and all his/her devices) by simply clicking in the context menu of a button in the ribbon:
Of course a Web Add-In can also be removed in the "My Add-Ins" section of the "My Add-Ins" Dialog:
That`s all!