How to: Install Office Primary Interop Assemblies

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You must install the Microsoft Office primary interop assemblies (PIAs) in the global assembly cache of your development computer before you can perform certain development tasks. Typically, the PIAs are installed automatically when you install Office on the development computer. However, in some cases you might need to install the PIAs separately. For more information, see Configuring a Computer to Develop Office Solutions and Office Primary Interop Assemblies.

You can install the complete set of PIAs in the global assembly cache in two ways:

  • Install them when you install Office.

  • Install them from the redistributable PIA package.

Note

You must be an administrator on the development computer to install the .NET Framework and the Office PIAs.

To install the PIAs when you install Office

  1. Ensure that the .NET Framework 1.1 or a later version is installed if you are installing the 2007 Microsoft Office system, or the .NET Framework 2.0 or a later version is installed if you are installing Microsoft Office 2010. 

  2. Install Microsoft Office and make sure that the .NET Programmability Support feature is selected for the applications you want to extend (this feature is included in the default installation).

To install the PIAs by using the redistributable package

  1. Ensure that the .NET Framework 1.1 or a later version is installed if you are installing the PIAs for the 2007 Microsoft Office system, or the .NET Framework 2.0 or a later version is installed if you are installing the PIAs for Microsoft Office 2010.

  2. Download one of the following redistributable packages:

  3. Follow the instructions in the download page to install the primary interop assemblies.

See Also

Tasks

How to: Target Office Applications Through Primary Interop Assemblies

How to: Configure a Computer to Develop Office Solutions

How to: Install the Visual Studio Tools for Office Runtime Redistributable

Reference

Office Primary Interop Assemblies

Concepts

Office Solutions Development Overview

Other Resources

Getting Started (Office Development in Visual Studio)