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Features Available by Office Application and Project Type

Visual Studio has several types of project templates that support different business scenarios for Microsoft Office applications, including the following types:

  • Document-level customizations.

  • Application-level add-ins.

Not all applications can use every project type. For example, document-level projects are available only for Microsoft Office Word and Microsoft Office Excel. Similarly, some features are available only for certain types of projects or applications. For example, the actions pane is available only in document-level projects, and Ribbon extensions are available only for some applications. For more information about the different project types, see Office Solutions Development Overview.

Note

Office project templates are available only in some editions of Visual Studio. For more information, see Configuring a Computer to Develop Office Solutions.

Project Types Available for Different Microsoft Office Applications

The following table shows the applications that you can use with each project type.

Project types

Microsoft Office application

Document-level customizations

Excel 2013

Word 2013

Excel 2010

Word 2010

Application-level add-ins

Excel 2013

InfoPath 2013

Outlook 2013

PowerPoint 2013

Project 2013

Visio 2013

Word 2013

Excel 2010

InfoPath 2010

Outlook 2010

PowerPoint 2010

Project 2010

Visio 2010

Word 2010

Features Available in Different Project Types

The following table shows which project types provide each feature.

Feature

Project types that provide the feature

Further reading

Actions pane.

Document-level projects.

Actions Pane Overview

ClickOnce deployment.

Application-level and document-level projects.

Deploying an Office Solution

Custom task panes.

Application-level projects for the following applications:

  • Excel

  • InfoPath

  • Outlook

  • PowerPoint

  • Word

Custom Task Panes

Custom XML parts.

Document-level projects.

Application level projects for the following applications:

  • Excel

  • PowerPoint

  • Word

Custom XML Parts Overview

Data cache.

Document-level projects.

Cached Data in Document-Level Customizations

Expose an object in an application-level add-in to other Microsoft Office solutions.

Application-level projects.

Calling Code in Application-Level Add-ins from Other Office Solutions

The following host controls:

  • Chart

  • ListObject

  • NamedRange

  • Content controls

  • Bookmark

Document-level projects.

Application-level projects for Word and Excel.

Host Items and Host Controls Overview

The following host controls:

  • XMLMappedRange

  • XMLNode

  • XMLNodes

Document-level projects.

Host Items and Host Controls Overview

Multi-project deployment.

Document-level projects.

Application-level projects.

Deploying Multiple Projects in a Single Installer

Outlook form regions.

Application-level projects for Outlook.

Creating Outlook Form Regions

Post-deployment actions.

Document-level projects.

Application-level projects.

Creating Post-Deployment Actions

Ribbon customizations.

Document-level projects.

Application-level projects for the following applications:

  • Excel 2013

  • InfoPath 2013

  • Outlook 2013

  • PowerPoint 2013

  • Project 2013

  • Visio 2013

  • Word 2013

  • Excel 2010

  • InfoPath 2010

  • Outlook 2010

  • PowerPoint 2010

  • Project 2010

  • Visio 2010

  • Word 2010

Ribbon Overview

Visual document designer.

Document-level projects.

Office Projects in the Visual Studio Environment

See Also

Concepts

Office Solutions Development Overview

Host Items and Host Controls Overview

Cached Data in Document-Level Customizations

Other Resources

Getting Started (Office Development in Visual Studio)

Actions Pane Overview

Ribbon Overview

Creating Outlook Form Regions

Deploying an Office Solution