PowerPoint add-in not loading correctly after recent Office update on Mac

Question

I’m developing a PowerPoint Office.js add-in, and after a recent Office update on macOS, the add-in intermittently fails to load. Sometimes PowerPoint shows the “Add-in couldn’t be loaded” error, and other times it loads but the task pane can’t initialize the JavaScript runtime (blank pane with no console errors). This only happens on Mac Windows works fine.

I’ve already tried clearing the Office cache, reinstalling Office, and validating the manifest (no issues). The add-in uses shared runtime and references OfficeRuntime plus PowerPoint API 1.3.

Answer 1

It sounds like you're experiencing issues with your PowerPoint add-in on macOS after an Office update. Here are some steps you can take to troubleshoot the problem:

1. Check for Updates: Ensure that you have the latest version of Office installed. Sometimes, subsequent updates can fix issues introduced in earlier versions.
2. Debugging with Safari Web Inspector: Since you're developing an Office.js add-in, you can use the Safari Web Inspector to debug the add-in. If the task pane is blank, try reducing the size of the dialog and using the Inspect Element option to see if any errors are being logged.
3. Runtime Logging: You can enable runtime logging for PowerPoint to gather more information about what might be going wrong. Use the Terminal command to set the logging preference and check the log file for any errors related to your add-in.
4. Clear Cache Again: Although you mentioned clearing the Office cache, ensure that you are clearing it completely and not just individual files. This can sometimes resolve loading issues.
5. Validate Manifest: Since you have already validated the manifest, double-check that all references and settings are correct, especially for shared runtime and the APIs you are using.

If the problem persists after trying these steps, consider reporting the issue to the Office extensibility team for further assistance.

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References:

• Debug Office Add-ins on a Mac
• Troubleshoot user errors with Office Add-ins
• Debug your add-in with runtime logging

Answer 2

Hi Marston Flora

Thank you for reaching out to Microsoft Q&A Forum and sharing the detailed information regarding your Shared Runtime add-in.

Since you have already validated the manifest, please try the following troubleshooting steps.

You mentioned clearing the cache, but on macOS, please follow the steps perform a manual deep clean:

• Close PowerPoint completely.
• Navigate to and delete the contents of the following folder: ~/Library/Containers/com.microsoft.Powerpoint/Data/Library/Caches/
• Please also try removing the Wef and PowerPoint cache folders: ~/Library/Containers/com.Microsoft.Powerpoint/Data/ and ~/Library/Containers/com.microsoft.Powerpoint/Data/Library/Application Support/Microsoft/Office/16.0/Wef/
• Open PowerPoint, re-sideload your add-in, and test again.

Because Office on Mac uses the underlying WebKit (Safari) engine, code that runs on Windows may fail silently on Mac if it uses unsupported syntax. Ensure your code does not use modern JavaScript features that might be unsupported by the specific version of Safari installed on your macOS.

If the task pane is blank, the error is likely happening before the UI renders. Debugging the Shared Runtime on Mac requires a different process than debugging the Task Pane. Please refer to Debug Office Add-ins on Mac to ensure you are attaching the inspector to the Shared Context specifically, rather than just the visible pane.

Please let me know how you get on, as your feedback is valuable to the community. 

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