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Enable outlook add-in when reading pane is turned off.

Enable outlook add-in when reading pane is turned off.
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 Mar 20 2023
9 Comments (9 New)
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Hi Team,

Outlook Add-In is not enabled when the user has selected a mail (not yet read) while the reading pane is off. As a result, while developing any custom add-ins, we are not able to retrieve the details of a particular mail using the Office.js library, even when the mail is highlighted in the grid. It would be great if the add-ins are enabled even when the reading pane is off.

 

 

225878566-d86afcf0-1f4c-48fe-9aad-24580ee1da3d.png

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EricLegault
Brass Contributor
‎Mar 21 2023 06:39 AM
‎Mar 21 2023 06:39 AM

This behaviour is by design in both the Outlook desktop client and Outlook Online:

 

Outlook add-in commands - Office Add-ins | Microsoft Learn

cworth
Copper Contributor
‎Mar 27 2023 08:51 AM
‎Mar 27 2023 08:51 AM

Viva Insights can be displayed without the reading pane.

 

Is it possible to configure a custom outlook addin to be visible without the reading pane?

 

We have developed an outlook addin and we would like it to be enabled all the time, even when the user doesn't have the reading pane opened.

EricLegault
Brass Contributor
‎Mar 27 2023 09:05 AM
‎Mar 27 2023 09:05 AM

The Ribbon button for Viva Insights (or any add-in) is not displayed when the Reading pane is off - please check again. Regardless, there is unfortunately no way to do what you want to do. Users must always activate an add-in manually when reading messages, and then they can pin it so it stays open. Only compose scenarios allow for an add-in to run script through event-based activation, but even those cannot automatically open a task pane.

cworth
Copper Contributor
‎Mar 27 2023 09:11 AM
‎Mar 27 2023 09:11 AM

Capture.PNGCapture1.PNG

cworth
Copper Contributor
‎Mar 27 2023 09:13 AM
‎Mar 27 2023 09:13 AM

Pinning doesn't result in the addin staying "open".  When you switch from an email with addin open to different folder where reading pane is not enabled the addin will close.

EricLegault
Brass Contributor
‎Mar 27 2023 09:21 AM
‎Mar 27 2023 09:21 AM

You are correct, the Viva Insights button does indeed show up without the Reading pane open. It simply wasn't showing for me the first time; when I restarted Outlook to check again, it was visible. Weird. I will ask the Office extensibility team about this, as this capability is not available to non-Microsoft add-in developers, but it is clearly possible.

 

Regardless, pinnable task panes will indeed close when navigating to a folder with the Reading pane turned off - but it will open and remain pinned if you navigate to a folder that does have the Reading pane on.

cworth
Copper Contributor
‎Mar 27 2023 10:06 AM
‎Mar 27 2023 10:06 AM

@EricLegault thank you for reaching out to Office extensibility team.  I am looking forward to a response to see if what we want to do can be done.

EricLegault
Brass Contributor
‎Apr 05 2023 09:52 AM
‎Apr 05 2023 09:52 AM

They have told me that there are Microsoft add-ins that do contain some functionality that is not currently exposed for developers. Viva Insights is one of them. In time, these features may be made generally available. No timelines were shared. In the meantime, I would recommend sharing your feature request here: Microsoft 365 Developer Platform - Microsoft Community Hub

EricLegault
Brass Contributor
‎Jun 14 2023 07:05 AM
‎Jun 14 2023 07:05 AM

@cworth This feature is now available! Activate your Outlook add-in without the Reading Pane enabled or a message selected - Office Add-ins...

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