Understanding Excel s Add-In Manager

Understanding Excel's Add-In Manager

The most efficient way to load and unload add-ins is with Excel's Add-Ins dialog box, which you access by choosing Office Excel Options Add-Ins. Then, in the Excel Options dialog box, choose Excel Add-Ins from the Manage drop-down box and click Go.

Tip  

The Alt+TI shortcut key sequence used in earlier versions of Excel is a quicker way to display the Add-Ins dialog box. Also, consider adding the Add-Ins button to your Quick Access Toolbar (QAT). Right-click the QAT and choose Customize. In the Excel Options dialog box, choose Commands Not in the Ribbon, select Add-ins, and click Add.

Figure 21-2 shows the Add-Ins dialog box. The list contains the names of all add-ins that Excel knows about, and check marks identify add-ins that are open. You can open and close add-ins from this dialog box by clearing or marking the check boxes.

Figure 21-2: The Add-Ins dialog box.

Caution  

You can also open most add-in files by choosing the Office Open command. Because an add-in is never the active workbook, however, you can't close an add-in by choosing Office Close. You can remove the add-in only by exiting and restarting Excel or by executing VBA code to close the add-in. For example:

 Workbooks("myaddin.xlam").Close 

Opening an add-in with the Office Open command opens the file, but the add-in is not officially installed.

When you open an add-in, you might notice something different about Excel. In almost every case, the user interface changes in some way: Excel displays either a new command in the Ribbon or new menu items on a shortcut menu. For example, when the Analysis ToolPak add-in is installed, it gives you a new command: Data Analysis Data Analysis. When you install Excel's Euro Currency Tools add-in, you get a new group in the Formulas tab: Solutions.

If the add-in contains only custom worksheet functions, the new functions appear in the Insert Function dialog box.