Creating Executable for Office Outlook Plugin/Add-in

Question

I developed an Add-in for Outlook. When I publish and create .exe of it. It installs and appears on Outlook.

When I create MSI file (By adding a setup project and following steps that includes adding project output), it installs correctly but does not reflect on Outlook.

What is the right way for creating MSI file for Outlook Plugins.

Answer 1

You must create a specific set of registry entries when you deploy VSTO Add-ins that are created by using Visual Studio. These registry entries provide information that enables the Microsoft Office application to discover and load the VSTO Add-in. Looks like you didn't create the required windows registry keys for the add-in. Take a look at the following article for more information:

• Registry Entries for VSTO Add-ins

When you build your project, Visual Studio creates these registry entries on the development computer so that you can easily run and debug the VSTO Add-in. If you use ClickOnce to deploy your VSTO Add-in, the registry entries are automatically created on the end user computer. If you use Windows Installer to deploy your VSTO Add-in, you must configure the InstallShield Limited Edition project (or any MSI based) to create the registry entries on the end user computer.

Read more about that in the Deploying an Office Solution by Using Windows Installer article.