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Add-ins for Outlook in Exchange Online

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Add-ins for Outlook are applications that extend the usefulness of Outlook clients by adding information or tools that your users can use without having to leave Outlook. Add-ins are built by third-party developers and can be installed either from a file or URL or from the Office Store. By default, all users can install add-ins. Exchange Online admins can control whether users can install add-ins for Office.

Tip

For information about add-ins for Outlook from an end-user perspective, check out Installed add-ins. The topic provides an overview of the add-ins and also shows you some of the add-ins for Outlook that might be installed by default.

Note

The UI support for managing add-ins for Outlook in EAC will be discontinued. However, you can still install them using the Powershell cmdlets mentioned here.

Office Store add-ins and custom add-ins

Outlook clients supports a variety of add-ins that are available through the Office Store. Outlook also supports custom add-ins that you can create and distribute to users in your organization.

Notes:

  • Access to the Office Store isn't supported for mailboxes or organizations in specific regions. For more information, contact your service provider.

  • URLs with redirections aren't supported in Exchange Server 2016, Exchange Server 2019, and Exchange Online. Use a direct URL to the manifest.

  • Some add-ins for Outlook are installed by default. Default add-ins for Outlook only activate on English language content. For example, German postal addresses in the message body won't activate the Bing Maps add-in.

Add-in access and installation using UI

By default, all users can install and remove add-ins. Exchange Online admins have a number of controls available for managing add-ins and users' access to them. Admins can disable users from installing add-ins that aren't downloaded from the Office Store (instead they are "side loaded" from a file or URL). Admins can also disable users from installing Office Store add-ins, and from installing add-ins on behalf of other users.

To install add-ins for some or all users in your organization, see Get started with Integrated apps.

Install add-ins for Outlook using cmdlets

You can manage Outlook add-ins using PowerShell cmdlets as a replacement for Add-ins page experience in classic Exchange Admin Center.

The following cmdlets are a part of ExchangePowerShell module and are available in on-premise Exchange and in the cloud-based service. Some parameters and settings might be exclusive to one environment or the other, and details for the same can be found in respective documentation for each section.

Deploying a new app

Use the New-App cmdlet to install apps for Outlook.

For more information, see New-App (ExchangePowerShell) | Microsoft Learn.

Removing a deployed app

Use the Remove-App cmdlet to uninstall an app. You can use Remove-App cmdlet to uninstall a specified app that has been installed using only New-App cmdlet. Apps installed by default can't be uninstalled, but can be disabled.

For more information, see Remove-App (ExchangePowerShell) | Microsoft Learn.

Getting list of deployed apps

Use the Get-App cmdlet to view installed apps. The Get-App cmdlet returns information about all installed apps or the details of a specific installed app.

For more information, see Get-App (ExchangePowerShell) | Microsoft Learn.

Updating an app

Use the Set-App cmdlet to modify the availability of organization apps. The Set-App cmdlet can only be used when configuring the availability of an organization app. This task requires that the specified app has either been installed using New-App cmdlet or is a default app for Outlook.

Default apps in Outlook on the web and apps that you've installed for use by users in your organization are known as organization apps. End users cannot remove organization apps, but can enable or disable them. If an app is an organization app (scope - default or organization), the delete control on the toolbar is disabled for end users. Administrators can remove organization apps. They can't remove default apps but can disable them for the entire organization.

For more information, see Set-App (ExchangePowerShell) | Microsoft Learn.

Enabling an app

Use the Enable-App cmdlet to enable (turn on) a specific app for a specific user. The Enable-App cmdlet requires that the specified app has already been installed (for example, that it has been installed with the New-App cmdlet, or that it's a default app for Microsoft Outlook).

For more information, see Enable-App (ExchangePowerShell) | Microsoft Learn.

Disabling an app

Use the Disable-App cmdlet to disable (turn off) a specific app for a specific user. The Disable-App cmdlet requires that the specified app is an app that has either been installed using New-app cmdlet or is a default app for Microsoft Outlook.

For more information, see Disable-App (ExchangePowerShell) | Microsoft Learn.