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Configure a computer to develop Office solutions

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Applies to: yesVisual Studio noVisual Studio for Mac

Note

This article applies to Visual Studio 2017. If you're looking for the latest Visual Studio documentation, see Visual Studio documentation. We recommend upgrading to the latest version of Visual Studio. Download it here

To create VSTO Add-ins and customizations for Microsoft Office, install a supported version of Visual Studio, the .NET Framework, and Microsoft Office.

Software Supported versions
Visual Studio 2017 Any edition with the Office/SharePoint development workload.
.NET Framework - The .NET Framework 4 or later.
Microsoft Office
  • Any suite edition of Office including Microsoft 365 apps for enterprise.
  • Any of the following standalone applications:

    • Excel
    • InfoPath (Office 2013 and Office 2010 only)
    • Outlook
    • PowerPoint
    • Project
    • Visio
    • Word

Visual Basic for Applications (VBA) must be installed as part of Office. Important: Click-to-Run versions of Office 2010 applications are not supported.

For detailed installation steps, see How to: Configure a computer to develop Office solutions.

If project templates don't appear or they don't work in Visual Studio

If you install a supported version of Visual Studio, the .NET Framework, and Microsoft Office, but Office project templates either don't appear in the Visual Studio New Project dialog box, or you receive an error when you try to use one, check the following:

  • Ensure that you have the Microsoft Office developer tools installed on your computer.

    Office developer tools are an optional component of Visual Studio, but they are installed automatically along with Visual Studio. If you customize the Visual Studio installation by specifying which features to install, make sure that you choose Microsoft Office Developer Tools during setup to install the tools.

    To make sure that these tools are installed, start the Visual Studio setup program, and choose the Modify button. Select the Microsoft Office Developer Tools check box, and then choose the Update button.

  • Make sure that you're not running a version of Office that was delivered by Click-to-Run. See How to: Verify whether Outlook is a Click-to-Run application on a computer.

  • Ensure that you're running only one version of Microsoft Office.

If you continue to experience problems, see Additional support for errors in Office solutions.

See also