Conditionally load Add-in on document load
Right now with our PowerPoint office add-in we are loading the add-in during document open time using office.addin.setStartupBehavior(Office.StartupBehavior.load). For the users who already have the add-in, the experience is great when they open the document. But, for others who don't have the add-in they are getting an error popup "This add-in is no longer available: ..." when they open the document that is saved with the office add-in. Can you add some behavior to conditionally load the add-in in the document only if the user has it.Support for Right-Click Event Hook in Word to Dynamically Update Custom Context Menu Items
The Office JavaScript API currently provides support for adding custom items to Word’s context menu and controlling their enabled/disabled state. However, there is no event hook available to detect when a user performs a right-click within the document. This limitation prevents add-ins from dynamically evaluating the current context and updating menu item availability accordingly. As a result, users may encounter disabled options when they expect functionality, or enabled options that are irrelevant to their current selection or location in the document. In contrast, this capability is fully supported in the VSTO (Visual Studio Tools for Office) framework, allowing developers to align closely with Word’s native UX behavior. The absence of a comparable feature in Office JS presents a significant obstacle in the process of migrating existing solutions to the web-based platform. Request: We propose the introduction of a right-click (or context menu) event hook in the Office JS API for Word. This event should provide sufficient contextual information to enable add-ins to make real-time decisions about which menu items should be active. This enhancement would greatly improve the interactivity and responsiveness of modern Office add-ins, helping to bring them closer to parity with legacy solutions and ensuring a smoother user experience.
Control focus and scroll in Word office JS add-in's
Suggestion: Ability to Control Scrolling Behavior in Word JavaScript API Problem: Currently, using Range.select() in the Word JavaScript API automatically scrolls the document to bring the selected range into view. This behavior cannot be controlled or disabled. In many real-world scenarios, this is problematic. Our users often work with large Word documents and long ranges or selections. Any programmatic selection — for example, when updating or analyzing a range — causes Word to jump to another part of the document. This disrupts the user’s workflow and creates a frustrating experience. Proposed Improvement: Add an option to control scrolling behavior when selecting or manipulating ranges. For example: range.select({ scroll: false }); This would allow developers to programmatically select or update ranges without forcing Word to scroll to that location. Impact: Providing control over scrolling would greatly improve usability for scenarios involving background processing, automated edits, or analytical operations in large documents, where visual focus should remain undisturbed
Customize default task pane width for Excel add-ins
The default width of the task pane in Office add-ins is quite small, making styling difficult when you want to display more content in it. At a 1366x768 resolution, for Excel desktop the width of the task pane is 320 pixels. It would be nice if we could customize the default width of the task pane from the manifest or via the Office JS API.
Office.js API — Open OneDrive Files in Current Word/PPT Instance
Currently, Office.js does not provide an API to directly open a OneDrive (or SharePoint Online) file in the current Word/PPT desktop instance. For add-ins that integrate with external systems, this creates a significant limitation. Users often need to: Access Word/PPT documents stored in OneDrive/SharePoint directly from an add-in. Ensure the file opens seamlessly in the same Word/PPT session, without forcing them to manually download or open a new instance. Why this is important Improves user workflow and productivity. Essential for add-ins that sync or integrate with cloud storage and external systems. Avoids user confusion from multiple Word windows or manual file handling. Requested capability An Office.js API such as: Office.context.document.openFileFromUrl(fileUrl, options); where fileUrl is a OneDrive/SharePoint URL and options could specify whether to open in the current instance or a new one. This would align Office.js capabilities more closely with real-world workflows and reduce friction for both developers and end-users.
Feature Request: Add error/rejection support to Office.onReady() for network/dependency failures
Description Currently, when Office.js loads but one of its dependent resources (such as office_strings.js) fails to load due to network issues or blocking, the Office.onReady() promise never resolves or rejects. This leaves developers without a reliable way to detect missing dependencies. Instead of relying on timeouts or log messages, it would be very helpful if Office.onReady() provided an error callback or rejection in these scenarios. Why this matters: Helps developers handle production failures gracefully. Avoids arbitrary timeouts/workarounds to detect missing dependencies. Provides parity with modern async practices where promises resolve or reject deterministically. Enables better telemetry/analytics by explicitly knowing why initialization failed. Suggested Approach: If a required dependency fails to load, Office.onReady() should reject with an error describing the missing dependency. Alternatively, provide an event/callback (e.g., Office.onError) that developers can subscribe to. Example: Office.onReady() .then(info => { console.log("Office.js initialized:", info); }) .catch(err => { console.error("Office.js failed to initialize:", err); // custom fallback handling }); Impact: This would improve developer experience significantly and make add-ins more resilient in real-world network environments.Customizations to Right Click Context Menu Web add-ins - PowerPoint, Word and Excel
On Web addins, custom context menus are available only for basic text in PowerPoint, Word, and cells in Excel. Will this be extended in the future to include other objects like slide thumbnails, slide gaps, pictures, shapes, tables, charts, etc.? Currently in COM addins we have additional custom Content Menus for various Office objects.
Expose tracked change and comment author email in Word JavaScript API
The Word JavaScript API currently only exposes the author’s display name for tracked changes and comments, not their unique email address or user ID. This makes it impossible to reliably determine if a change or comment is from an internal user or an external counterparty—critical context for document review. Please add support for retrieving the author’s email (or unique tenant/user ID) for tracked changes and comments in the API. This will allow apps to accurately identify comment authors, enforce org-level permissions, and improve document security for enterprise scenarios.