Forum Discussion

mani0920's avatar
mani0920
Occasional Reader
Dec 18, 2025

CSPP Integration: Can a Timer Be Implemented as a Word/Excel Add‑in?

Hi everyone,

I’m currently integrating Microsoft Word and Excel into our platform and making sure we follow all the recommended UI guidelines. In our solution, we use an internal timer component that runs while users are working inside our product(I mean the timer shows total time left for their tasks something like this).

I’m trying to understand whether this timer can be built or installed as an Office Add‑in for Word and Excel. Would implementing it as an add‑in still align with Microsoft’s UI guidelines?

Any guidance or clarification would be really helpful.
Thanks!

accessibility

1 Reply

  • Surya_Narayana's avatar
    Surya_Narayana
    MCT
    Dec 22, 2025

    hi mani0920​ great question — this is a scenario a lot of integrations run into.

    Yes, technically you can build a timer as an Office Add-in for Word and Excel, but there are a few important considerations around UX and guidelines.

    Office Add-ins are designed to be task-based and user-initiated, usually living in the task pane or as a contextual command. A passive or constantly running timer (especially one that feels “always on”) can easily conflict with Microsoft’s UI guidance if it becomes intrusive, distracting, or looks like it’s monitoring the user rather than assisting them.

    If the timer:

    Lives in a task pane that the user explicitly opens

    Is clearly tied to a user action or workflow

    Can be paused, hidden, or dismissed

    Does not overlay or modify the document canvas

    then it generally aligns well with Office Add-in UX expectations.

     

    What Microsoft discourages is:

    Always-visible overlays

    Background processes that feel automatic or forced

    UI elements that compete with core Word/Excel experiences

    In practice, many teams handle this by:

    Keeping the timer inside a task pane or ribbon-invoked experience

    Using the add-in mainly as a control surface, while core timing logic runs in their own platform

    Making the timer opt-in and user-controlled

     

    So yes - it's possible and supported, but the key is making sure the timer feels helpful, intentional, and non-intrusive within Word/Excel

Resources