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I've created a PowerPoint 2007/2010 VBA Add-In (.ppam) some code in a module. I've also added an XML ribbon (not important, but it shows me that the file is in fact open in PowerPoint). I can click a button in the ribbon I created and it will execute code from my module. cool.

When I open the VBA editor (ctrl + F11), the Add-In does not show up. In fact, if I don't have another document open I can't even open the editor. I've tried this in PowerPoint 2007 and 2010.

How can I edit the code of a PowerPoint Add-In I've already created? I've made many VBA Add-Ins in Excel, but maybe PowerPoint is different (am I crazy)?

ak112358
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2 Answers2

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Late to the party here, but for the sake of completeness, there's one other very useful trick people might want to be aware of.

  1. Close PPT if it's running
  2. In REGEDIT, go to HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Office\xx.0\PowerPoint\Options (where xx.0 is 11.0 for Office 2003, 12.0 for Office 2007, 14.0 for Office 2010)
  3. Add DebugAddins a DWORD=1
  4. Quit regedit.

Add-ins will now appear in the IDE; you can modify them, run them, test them, basically do anything but SAVE them, so after your code is debugged, export any modules/forms/classes you've changed so you can import them into the PPT/PPTM that contains your code and save as add-in again.

This can save hours of debugging tedium/time.

SliverNinja - MSFT
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Steve Rindsberg
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You cannot directly edit a .ppam as it is sort of "compiled". The way to do this is maintain all your code/customizations in a .pptm (and make sure you keep that .pptm as a .pptm) and when you want to test it as an add-in, do a "Save As.." to a .ppam and then load it. Not happy with it? Go back to your .pptm and make the changes there.

BTW, if you don't want to use the Ribbon just to ensure it has loaded as an add-in, just use an AutoOpen macro (in any module), like:

Sub Auto_Open()
    MsgBox "My add-in has loaded"
End Sub

You can remove that AutoOpen macro later, once you're satisfied with your add-in.

Todd Main
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    Phew. So I'm not crazy. I wonder why the PowerPoint team decided to make .ppam non-editable while Excel allows .xlam to be edited. I've heard that the development teams don't always interact or strive for consistency (look at Publisher for instance). MS needs a KB article on this one. – ak112358 Feb 27 '11 at 18:45
  • It is a bit odd, but it's kind of always been this way, so I'm used to it :) Now try Word where all you need to do is just add a .dotm to the startup folder and voila, you've now got an add-in... – Todd Main Feb 28 '11 at 06:05