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outlook-addinoutlook-web-addins

Outlook Mac removed manual sideloading of add-ins. What now?


I want to manually side load to Outlook for Mac the manifest.xml for an add-in I am writing. Last week, selecting "Get Add-ins" from the ellipsis menu (...) opened the dialog as described in Sideload Manually. Today this selection opens Microsoft AppSource in my browser, and I see no place to upload my custom add-in or navigate to a local manifest.xml.

The problem seems to be with the latest Outlook Mac, 16.85.1 (24051916), which updated early on May 22nd, 2024. The previous version, 16.84.2, worked at described the docs. Not now. How can I sideload and run my local add-in?


Solution

  • A coworker using the Windows Outlook client stumbled on section about sideloading that says to open the URL https://aka.ms/olksideload. This URL opens Outlook in the browser and displays the add-ins dialog. This URL is not documented in the help for macOS Outlook, which still shows the old technique.

    The discovery of this URL was dumb luck--the help topics displayed in my coworker's Windows Outlook are different from the help topics displayed in my Windows Outlook, even when we use the same search terms.