Deploying and installing Qlik add-ins for Microsoft Office

To install add-ins on a desktop version of Excel, PowerPoint, or Word without centralized deployment, you can set up a network share and load the manifest into it. This can only be done on a Windows operating system.

Follow the guidelines below to sideload add-ins via network share. The instructions are adapted from the official Microsoft documentation. See Sideload Office Add-ins for testing from a network share or other Microsoft resources for more information.

Step 1: Create and share a folder

Do the following:

1. Create a folder to host the Qlik add-in. For example: C:\Qlik Office add-ins

2. In the Windows File Explorer, go to the parent folder, or drive letter, of the folder you want to use as your shared folder catalog. For example: C:\

3. Right-click the folder and select Properties.

4. Open the Sharing tab and then click the Share... button.

   

5. In the dialog window, add yourself and any other users and/or groups with whom you want to share your add-in. You will need at least Read/Write permission to the folder. After you have finished choosing people to share with, click Share.

6. When you see confirmation that your folder has been shared, make note of the full network path that is displayed immediately following the folder name. Click Done to close the dialog window.

   

7. Click Close to close the Properties dialog window.

Step 2: Manually configure the shared folder as a trusted catalog

Do the following:

1. Open a new blank workbook in the desktop version of Excel, PowerPoint, or Word.

2. Click the File tab, and then click Options in the bottom left corner.

3. Click Trust Center, and then click the Trust Center Settings... button.

   

4. Click Trusted Add-in Catalogs.

   

5. In the Catalog Url box, enter the full network path to the folder that you shared previously.

6. Click Add catalog.

7. Check the Show in Menu checkbox for the newly added item, and then click OK to close the Trust Center dialog window.

   

8. Click OK to close the dialog window.

9. Close and re-open the application so your changes take effect.

Step 3: Sideload the add-in

Do the following:

1. Add the add-in manifest XML file to the shared folder.

2. In ExcelPowerPoint, or Word, click Add-ins on the Home tab of the ribbon.

3. Click More Add-ins.

4. Click SHARED FOLDER at the top of the Office Add-ins dialog box.

5. Select Qlik to insert the add-in.

6. You might see a dialog window that says something like the following: Qlik wants to display a new window. Click Allow.

Removing an add-in installed through network share

Do the following:

1. If you have Excel, PowerPoint, or Word open, close it.

2. Delete the contents of this folder: %LOCALAPPDATA%\Microsoft\Office\16.0\Wef\

For macOS, add-ins can be installed on Microsoft 365 desktop versions of Excel, PowerPoint, or Word. For the system and software requirements, see System and software requirements.

Follow the guidelines below. The instructions are adapted from the official Microsoft documentation. For full instructions, refer to the official Microsoft documentation: Sideload an add-in in Office on Mac

Do the following:

1. Open the Finder application on your computer.

2. Enter the following keyboard combination: Command+Shift+G

   The Go to folder menu opens.

3. Enter one of the following paths depending on the Microsoft Office application:

   • Excel: /Users/<username>/Library/Containers/com.microsoft.Excel/Data/Documents/wef

   • PowerPoint: /Users/<username>/Library/Containers/com.microsoft.Powerpoint/Data/Documents/wef

   • Word: /Users/<username>/Library/Containers/com.microsoft.Word/Data/Documents/wef

   It could happen that the wef folder does not exist on your computer yet. If so, create it in this location.

4. In the wef folder, add a copy of the XML manifest file.

5. Open Excel, PowerPoint, or Word. If you already have it open, you will need to restart it.

6. In the ribbon bar, navigate to Home > Add-ins.

7. Select the Qlik add-in.

The Qlik add-in should now be available in your ribbon bar.

Removing a sideloaded add-in from desktop macOS applications

To remove the Qlik add-in, you need to clear the Office cache on your computer. For more information, see:

• Remove a sideloaded add-in

• Clear the Office cache

When a user tries to authenticate to a reporting add-in for Microsoft Excel, Microsoft PowerPoint, or Microsoft Word, their authentication pop-up dialog might be blank. Alternatively, the user could instead see an error in the dialog (particularly, 12006).

For a user to work with a Qlik add-in for Microsoft Office, the authentication flow requires a redirect between your tenant and the identity provider hosted in a different domain. Your identity provider is setting a Cross-Origin-Opener-Policy with restrictive settings. As a result, the cross-domain communication part of the authentication flow is blocked, preventing login information to be correctly returned to the add-in.

Proposed action  

The following resolution should be performed by a network administrator who is responsible for setting up identity providers.

Do the following:

• Set the response header from your IDP to your dialog to:

  Cross-Origin-Opener-Policy: unsafe-none

For more information, refer to the official Microsoft documentation: Best practices and rules for the Office Dialog API