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Publish task pane and content add-ins to a SharePoint app catalog

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An app catalog is a dedicated site collection in a SharePoint web application or SharePoint Online tenancy that hosts document libraries for Office Add-ins. To make Office Add-ins accessible to users within their organization, administrators can upload Office Add-ins manifest files to the app catalog for their organization. When an administrator registers an app catalog as a trusted catalog, users can insert the add-in from the insertion UI in an Office client application.

Important

  • Outlook add-ins are not supported by app catalogs.
  • App catalogs on SharePoint don't support add-in features that are implemented in the VersionOverrides node of the Office add-in XML manifest, such as add-in commands.
  • If you're targeting a cloud or hybrid environment, we recommend that you use Integrated Apps via the Microsoft 365 admin center to publish your add-ins.
  • App catalogs on SharePoint aren't supported in Office on Mac. To deploy Office Add-ins to Mac clients, you must submit them to AppSource.

Create an app catalog

Complete the steps in one of the following sections to create an app catalog with on-premises SharePoint Server or on Microsoft 365.

To create an app catalog for on-premises SharePoint Server

To create the SharePoint app catalog, follow the instructions at Configure the App Catalog site for a web application.

Once you've created the app catalog, follow the steps to publish an Office Add-in.

To create an app catalog on Microsoft 365

To create the SharePoint app catalog, follow the instructions at Create the App Catalog site collection. Once you've created the app catalog, follow the steps in the next section to publish an Office Add-in.

Publish an Office Add-in

Complete the steps in one of the following sections to publish an Office Add-in to an app catalog on Microsoft 365 or on-premises SharePoint Server.

To publish an Office Add-in to a SharePoint app catalog on Microsoft 365

  1. Go to the Active sites page of the new SharePoint admin center and sign in with an account that has admin permissions for your organization.

    Note

    If you have Microsoft 365 operated by 21Vianet (China), sign in to the Microsoft 365 admin center, then browse to the SharePoint admin center and open the More features page.

  2. Open the app catalog site by selecting its URL in the URL column.

    Note

    If you just created the app catalog site in the previous section, it can take a few minutes for the site to finish setting up.

  3. Choose Distribute apps for Office.

  4. In the Apps for Office page, choose New.

  5. In the Add a document dialog, select the Choose Files button.

  6. Locate and specify the manifest file to upload and choose Open.

  7. In the Add a document dialog, choose OK.

To publish an add-in to an app catalog with on-premises SharePoint Server

  1. Open the Central Administration page.
  2. In the left task pane, choose Apps.
  3. On the Apps page, under App Management, choose Manage App Catalog.
  4. On the Manage App Catalog page, make sure you have the right web application selected in the Web Application Selector.
  5. Choose the URL under the Site URL to open the app catalog site.
  6. Choose Distribute apps for Office.
  7. In the Apps for Office page, choose New.
  8. In the Add a document dialog, select the Choose Files button.
  9. Locate and specify the XML manifest file to upload and choose Open.
  10. In the Add a document dialog, choose OK.

Insert Office Add-ins from the app catalog

Find Office Add-ins from the app catalog using the following steps.

Office on the web

  1. Open the application.
  2. Create or open a document.
  3. Select Home > Add-ins, then select More Add-ins. Insert > Office Add-ins in OneNote.
  4. In the Office Add-ins dialog, choose the MY ORGANIZATION tab.
  5. Choose an Office Add-in and then choose Add.

Office on desktop

  1. Open the application.

  2. Choose File > Options > Trust Center > Trust Center Settings > Trusted Add-in Catalogs.

  3. Enter the URL of the SharePoint app catalog in the Catalog Url box and choose Add catalog. Use the shorter form of the URL. For example, if the URL of the SharePoint app catalog is:

    • https://<domain>/sites/<AddinCatalogSiteCollection>/MyCatalog

    Specify just the URL of the parent site collection:

    • https://<domain>/sites/<AddinCatalogSiteCollection>

  4. Close and reopen the Office application.

  5. Select Home > Add-ins, then select Get Add-ins.

  6. In the Office Add-ins dialog, choose the MY ORGANIZATION tab.

  7. Choose an Office Add-in and then choose Add.

Alternatively, an administrator can specify an app catalog on SharePoint by using Group Policy. The relevant policy settings are available in the Administrative Template files (ADMX/ADML) for Microsoft 365 Apps, Office LTSC 2021, Office 2019, and Office 2016 and be found under User Configuration\Policies\Administrative Templates\Microsoft Office 2016\Security Settings\Trust Center\Trusted Catalogs.