Claude by Anthropic add-in in Microsoft Excel on my Mac M2

Question

Hi, I'm having an issue installing the Claude by Anthropic add-in in Microsoft Excel on my Mac M2.

When I try to add it, I get the error: "Error loading add-ins" at the bottom of Excel, and sometimes "You don't have permission to use this add-in. Contact your system administrator to request access."

Here is what I have already tried:

• Uninstalled and reinstalled Excel (both from App Store and from microsoft365.com)
• Cleared all Microsoft Office cache folders via Terminal
• Disabled Firewall
• Changed DNS to 8.8.8.8 and 8.8.4.4
• Created a new user account on Mac (same issue)
• The same Microsoft 365 Family account works fine on another Mac on the same WiFi network

My setup:

• Device: MacBook Pro M2
• macOS: latest version
• Microsoft 365 Family subscription (active)
• Excel version: installed from microsoft365.com
• The Claude add-in works on Excel Online on a different device with the same account

Could you please help me resolve this issue? Thank you.

Answer 1

Hello,

I believe this may be a widespread issue. I am seeing reports from users in different locales experiencing the same problem. It seems to affect add-ins in general when using the desktop version of the app.

I am experiencing the same issue on my end as well. I have not found any official Microsoft announcement about this yet, but at this point, it does not appear to be something you can fix locally. We may need to wait for Microsoft to address it on their end.

A temporary workaround is to sign out of the account. You might be able to install it that way.

Answer 2

The error message and behavior match a known Office add-ins issue rather than a problem specific to the Claude add-in or the Mac itself.

There is a documented problem where, after certain Office updates, add-ins fail to load and show the message:

"You don't have permission to use this add-in. Contact your system administrator."

This affects any add-in (including Claude by Anthropic for Excel) and is not tied to a specific publisher or account.

Use these steps on the affected Mac Excel installation:

1. In Excel, go to the Home tab.
2. Select Add-ins in the ribbon.
3. Choose More add-ins.
4. Open the Admin Managed tab.
5. Select the Refresh button in the top-right corner.
6. After the list refreshes, locate the Claude add-in and open it again.

If the add-in is centrally deployed by an admin and the above does not resolve the issue, an IT admin can apply the documented workaround by forcing an add-in refresh via registry on Windows clients. However, since the problem is occurring on a Mac and the same account works on another device, the most relevant action on the Mac side is to refresh the add-ins list as above and ensure Excel is fully updated from the Microsoft 365 installer (not the App Store), which is already the case in this setup.

If the issue persists even after refreshing the Admin Managed add-ins and confirming Excel is up to date, it is likely tied to the ongoing rollout of the fix for this known issue. In that case, monitor Office updates and retry after the next Excel update, or temporarily use Claude by Anthropic in Excel on the web where it is already working.

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References:

• Office Add-ins known issues
• Claude by Anthropic for Excel (general)
• Add or remove add-ins in Excel