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We have created a VSTO Plugin for Outlook. Is it possible to make Outlook look a directory outside of C:\Program Files for the location of plugins?

SliverNinja - MSFT
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mmmm
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1 Answers1

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Outlook can look at any directory you choose (local path, UNC, or HTTP) - which you define in your Manifest registry key. The issue you will have is that installing outside of the Program Files directory will require you to have a Trusted Publisher Certificate or an Inclusion List - another hoop to jump through.

The reasoning is that you need administrative permissions to install to Program Files, so Outlook automatically trusts any plugins with their manifest pointing to the Program Files path.

SliverNinja - MSFT
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  • Outlook automatically trusts any local add-in, it does not have to be in Program Files. – Dmitry Streblechenko Jun 17 '13 at 17:01
  • @DmitryStreblechenko For MSI - I think this depends on whether you are installing it for **All Users** or the **Current User**. For **All User** installations, I've had issues getting plugins to work properly if the plugin wasn't loaded from the `Program Files` path. – SliverNinja - MSFT Jun 17 '13 at 18:37
  • Nope, that might make some difference to the .Net run-time, but Outlook itself would not care less: it reads the class name from registry and creates an instance of the COM object that has to implement the IDTExtensibility2 interface. Nothing else matters. – Dmitry Streblechenko Jun 17 '13 at 21:04