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Word add-ins can help you personalize your documents or speed up the way you write the documents for documentation purpose.
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Do you want to create a solution that extends the functionality of Word? For example, one that involves automated document assembly? Or a solution that binds to and accesses data in a Word document from other data sources? You can use the Office Add-ins platform, which includes the Word JavaScript API and the Office JavaScript API, to extend Word clients running on a Windows desktop, on a Mac, or in the cloud.

Word add-ins are one of the many development options that you have on the Office Add-ins platform. You can use add-in commands to extend the Word UI and launch task panes that run JavaScript that interacts with the content in a Word document. Any code that you can run in a browser can run in a Word add-in. Add-ins that interact with content in a Word document create requests to act on Word objects and synchronize object state.

Note

If you plan to publish your add-in to AppSource and make it available within the Office experience, make sure that you conform to the Commercial marketplace certification policies. For example, to pass validation, your add-in must work across all platforms that support the methods that you define (for more information, see section 1120.3 and the Office Add-in application and availability page).

The following figure shows an example of a Word add-in that runs in a task pane.

Figure 1. Add-in running in a task pane in Word

The Word add-in (1) can send requests to the Word document (2) and can use JavaScript to access the paragraph object and update, delete, or move the paragraph. For example, the following code shows how to append a new sentence to that paragraph.

You can use any web server technology to host your Word add-in, such as ASP.NET, NodeJS, or Python. Use your favorite client-side framework -- Ember, Backbone, Angular, React -- or stick with VanillaJS to develop your solution, and you can use services like Azure to authenticate and host your application.

The Word JavaScript APIs give your application access to the objects and metadata found in a Word document. You can use these APIs to create add-ins that target:

Word 2013 or later on Windows
Word on the web
Word 2016 or later on Mac
Word on iPad

Write your add-in once, and it will run in all versions of Word across multiple platforms. For details, see Office client application and platform availability for Office Add-ins.

JavaScript APIs for Word

You can use two sets of JavaScript APIs to interact with the objects and metadata in a Word document. The first is the Common API, which was introduced in Office 2013. Many of the objects in the Common API can be used in add-ins hosted by two or more Office clients. This API uses callbacks extensively.

The second is the Word JavaScript API. This is a application-specific API model that was introduced with Word 2016. It's a strongly-typed object model that you can use to create Word add-ins that target Word 2016 on Mac and Windows. This object model uses promises and provides access to Word-specific objects like body, content controls, inline pictures, and paragraphs. The Word JavaScript API includes TypeScript definitions and vsdoc files so that you can get code hints in your IDE.

Currently, all Word clients support the shared Office JavaScript API, and most clients support the Word JavaScript API. For details about supported clients, see Office client application and platform availability for Office Add-ins.

We recommend that you start with the Word JavaScript API because the object model is easier to use. Use the Word JavaScript API if you need to:

Access the objects in a Word document.

Use the shared Office JavaScript API when you need to:

Target Word 2013.
Perform initial actions for the application.
Check the supported requirement set.
Access metadata, settings, and environmental information for the document.
Bind to sections in a document and capture events.
Use custom XML parts.
Open a dialog box.

Next steps

Ready to create your first Word add-in? See Build your first Word add-in. Use the add-in manifest to describe where your add-in is hosted, how it is displayed, and define permissions and other information.

To learn more about how to design a world class Word add-in that creates a compelling experience for your users, see Design guidelines and Best practices.

After you develop your add-in, you can publish it to a network share, an app catalog, or AppSource.

Why are Microsoft Word add-ins so important?

Google Chrome has extensions. Microsoft Office has add-ins. Earlier, they were called Office Apps. These are little assistants which help you do a few things that Word cannot do on its own.

Want to send a document for an e-signature and track its status? Maybe you are a student who wants to add math equations quickly? Or, you just want to grab some beautiful stock photos for a document?

Add-ins can do all that and make Microsoft Word seem more powerful than it already is.

Today, we will look at how to install and manage these little tools and suggest a few of the best Microsoft Word add-ins you should install to improve your productivity.

Most of these add-ins will work with Microsoft Word 365, 2016, 2019, and Microsoft Word Online.

Get your free Word shortcuts cheatsheet!

Download the print-ready shortcut cheatsheet for Word.

Which add-ins should you install?

There are more than 2000 Microsoft Office add-ins. Microsoft Office organizes all add-ins in neat categories. You can also filter them by:

Rating
Name

Microsoft Office also automatically suggests a few add-ins to you. And there’s a category called Editor’s Picks, which displays a few highly-rated selections. Work through the choices and pick the ones that fit your workflow.

How to install and manage Microsoft Word add-ins

There are two simple routes to browse and download the add-ins you want.

1. Microsoft Word has a dedicated Office Store (AppSource) which lists all add-ins available for all Office applications.

2. You can also access the add-ins inside Word (and other Office apps), and Word for other platforms, like Word for iPad, Word for Mac, and Word Online.

How to download add-ins from the Office Store

The Office Store can be browsed like any other website. Filters on the left help you drill down to the add-ins you need.

Do read the reviews for each add-in and check the ratings. The better add-ins will be strong in both areas.

1. Click the blue Get It Now button.

2. Sign into AppSource with your Microsoft account.

3. Give Microsoft permission to install the add-in.

4. Continue the installation by selecting the application you want it for.

5. The add-in will appear on the extreme right of the Ribbon. Click the add-in button and a sidebar appears on the side of your document.

How to download add-ins from inside Microsoft Word

1. Go to the Ribbon > Add-Ins > Get Add-Ins.

2. Use the Store pane to browse for add-ins and install them. All installed add-ins will be listed under My Add-Ins.

3. Give your permission to Microsoft and allow the installation to proceed.

As in the download from the website, the add-in appears as a button on the Ribbon. When you are done with an add-in, you can close it by clicking the “X” button in the sidebar.

All free and purchased add-ins

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