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The integrated apps portal is the recommended and most feature-rich way for most customers to centrally deploy Office Add-ins to users and groups within your organization. If that method isn't available for your organization, use the add-in portal as described in Deploy an Office Add-in using the admin center later in this article.
Office Add-ins help you personalize your documents and streamline the way you access information on the web. As an admin, you can deploy Office Add-ins for the users in your organization by using the centralized deployment feature in the Microsoft 365 admin center. For more information, see Start using your Office Add-in.
For more information on how to determine if your organization can support centralized deployment, see Determine if centralized deployment of Office Add-ins works for your organization.
To learn more about managing add-ins after deployment, see Manage add-ins in the Microsoft 365 admin center.
Note
There are other ways for deploying Office Add-ins in certain scenarios. For more information, see Deploy and publish Office Add-ins.
Recommended rollout strategy for Office Add-ins
To roll out add-ins by using a phased approach, follow these steps:
Roll out the add-in to a small set of business stakeholders and members of the IT department. If the deployment is successful, move to the next step.
Roll out the add-in to more individuals within the business. Again, evaluate the results and, if successful, continue with full deployment.
Perform a full rollout to all users.
Depending on the size of the target audience, you can add or remove roll-out steps.
Deploy an Office Add-in using the admin center
Before you begin, see Determine if centralized deployment of add-ins works for your organization.
To deploy an Office Add-in using the Microsoft 365 admin center, follow these steps:
Sign in to Microsoft 365 admin center.
From the left navigation bar, select … Show all, and then select Settings > Integrated apps.
Select the Add-ins link near the top of the Integrated apps page.
Select Deploy Add-in at the top of the page.
Select Next on the Deploy a new add-in wizard.
Select an option and follow the instructions. Office Store refers to Microsoft Marketplace.
If you select the option to add an add-in from Microsoft Marketplace, make your add-in selection.
You can view available add-ins by categories: Suggested for you, Rating, or Name. After you select an add-in, accept the terms and conditions to proceed.
Note
When you use the Microsoft Marketplace (Microsoft Store) option, updates and enhancements are automatically deployed to users.
If you choose to upload a custom add-in, carry out the following steps:
- In the Choose how to upload app section, do one of the following steps:
Select the option to upload the manifest, and then select the Choose File button. Navigate to the add-in's manifest and select it.
Important
Only add-ins that use the add-in only manifest can be deployed from the add-in portal at this time. To deploy an add-in that uses the Microsoft 365 unified manifest, you must use the integrated apps portal. See Office Add-ins manifest for information about the difference.
Select the option to provide a URL for the manifest, and then fill in the URL.
- Select Upload.
On the next page, select Everyone, Specific users/groups, or Just me to specify who the add-in is deployed to. Use the Search box to find specific users or groups.
Note
To learn about other states that apply to an add-in, see Add-in states.
Select Deploy.
A green checkmark appears when the add-in is deployed. To test the add-in, follow the on-page instructions.
Note
Users might need to relaunch the relevant Office application to view the add-in icon on the ribbon. Office Add-ins can take 24-72 hours to appear on the ribbon.
When finished, select Next. If you deployed the add-in to just yourself, select Change who has access to add-in to deploy to more users.
If you deploy the add-in to other members of your organization, follow the instructions to announce the deployment of the add-in.
It's good practice to inform users and groups that the deployed add-in is available. Consider sending an email that describes when and how to use the add-in. Include or link to Help content or FAQs that might help users if they have problems with the add-in.
Considerations when assigning an add-in to users and groups
Exchange admins can assign an add-in to everyone or to specific users and groups. Each option has implications:
Everyone: This option assigns the add-in to every user in the organization. Use this option sparingly and only for add-ins that are truly universal to your organization.
Users: If you assign an add-in to an individual user, and then deploy the add-in to a new user, you must first add the new user.
Groups: If you assign an add-in to a group, users who are added to the group are automatically assigned the add-in. When a user is removed from a group, the user loses access to the add-in. In either case, no additional action is required from the admin.
Just me: If you assign an add-in to just yourself, the add-in is assigned to only your account, which is ideal for testing the add-in.
The right option for your organization depends on your configuration. However, we recommend making assignments by using groups. As an admin, you might find it easier to manage add-ins by using groups and controlling the membership of those groups rather than assigning individual users each time. In some situations, you might want to restrict access to a small set of users by assigning specific users manually.
Security and permission considerations for admins
Office Add-ins combine a manifest file that contains some metadata about the add-in, but most importantly points to a web application that contains the code and logic. Office Add-ins can range in their capabilities. For example, add-ins can:
Display data.
Provide contextual services by reading a user's document.
Provide value to that user by reading and writing data to and from a user's document.
For more information about the types and capabilities of Office Add-ins, see Office Add-ins platform overview, especially the section "Anatomy of an Office Add-in."
To interact with the user's document, the add-in needs to declare what permission it needs in the manifest. A five-level JavaScript API access-permissions model provides the basis for privacy and security for users of task pane add-ins. Most add-ins in Microsoft Marketplace are level read/write document with most add-ins supporting at least the read document level. For more information about the permission levels, see Requesting permissions for API use in content and task pane add-ins.
When you update a manifest, typical changes are to an add-in's icon and text. Occasionally, add-in commands change. However, the permissions of the add-in don't change. The web application where the code and logic for the add-in runs can change at any time, which is the nature of web applications.
Updates for add-ins happen as follows:
Line-of-business (LOB) add-in: In this case, where an admin uploaded a manifest, the admin must upload the new manifest file to support metadata changes. The next time a user starts the relevant Microsoft 365 productivity application, the add-in updates.
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To deploy the update, select the LOB add-in and choose the Update Button in the bottom right corner.
Microsoft Marketplace add-in: When an admin selected an add-in from Microsoft Marketplace and then the developer updated the manifest in Microsoft Marketplace, the admin doesn't have to take any action. The next time a user starts the relevant Microsoft 365 productivity application, the add-in updates.