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If you have installed Draftable Legal using the MSI installer and the Office Add-ins (Word, Excel, or Outlook) are not loading correctly or showing as unavailable in the Draftable Add-ins tab, this may be due to the LoadBehavior registry value not being set correctly. Before investigating the registry, you can check the status of your add-ins directly within Draftable Legal.
1

Open Draftable Legal Settings

Open Draftable Legal and navigate to Settings > Add-ins tab.
2

Review Add-in Status

The Add-ins tab displays all installed Draftable add-ins and their current status.
Draftable Legal Add-ins tab showing add-in status
When add-ins are working correctly, they will show as loaded. However, if you see a “Failed” status against any add-in, this indicates there is an issue with that add-in loading correctly.
If any add-in shows a “Failed” status, you will need to investigate the LoadBehavior registry value for that specific add-in as described below.

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Understanding LoadBehavior

Microsoft Office uses a registry value called LoadBehavior to determine how and when add-ins should be loaded. According to Microsoft’s documentation on keeping add-ins enabled, the LoadBehavior value controls the loading behavior of COM add-ins. For Draftable Add-ins to load correctly at startup, the LoadBehavior value must be set to 3 (Load at startup).
If the LoadBehavior is not set to 3, the Add-ins may not load correctly and can show false positives within the Draftable Add-ins tab, appearing as if they are installed but not functioning.

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How to Check and Fix LoadBehavior

1

Open the Registry Editor

Press Win + R, type regedit, and press Enter to open the Windows Registry Editor.
2

Navigate to the Add-in Registry Keys

Check the LoadBehavior value for each Office application where the add-in is not loading:For Outlook:
Computer\HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\Outlook\Addins\Draftable.CompareTool.OutlookAddIn
For Word:
Computer\HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\Word\Addins\Draftable.CompareTool.WordAddIn
For Excel:
Computer\HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\Excel\Addins\Draftable.CompareTool.ExcelAddIn
Machine-wide installation? Depending on your installation type and end-user machine configuration, the registry keys may be located under HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE instead of HKEY_CURRENT_USER. If you cannot find the keys in the CURRENT_USER location, check the following paths:
  • Computer\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Office\Outlook\Addins\Draftable.CompareTool.OutlookAddIn
  • Computer\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Office\Word\Addins\Draftable.CompareTool.WordAddIn
  • Computer\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Office\Excel\Addins\Draftable.CompareTool.ExcelAddIn
3

Check the LoadBehavior Value

In each of the registry locations above, look for a DWORD value named LoadBehavior.
LoadBehavior registry value in Windows Registry Editor
4

Set LoadBehavior to 3

If the LoadBehavior value is not set to 3, double-click on it and change the value to 3.
ValueBehavior
0Do not load automatically
1Do not load automatically
2Load at startup (but not connected)
3Load at startup (recommended)
9Load on demand
16Load first time, then load on demand
5

Restart Office Applications

After changing the LoadBehavior value, close and restart the affected Office application(s) for the changes to take effect.

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Deploying the Fix via Group Policy

For enterprise deployments, administrators can ensure the correct LoadBehavior is set via Group Policy or during the MSI installation process. Contact your IT administrator to configure the registry values centrally.

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Still Having Issues?

If you have verified that the LoadBehavior is set to 3 and the add-ins still do not load:
  1. Check that the add-in is not disabled in the Office application’s COM Add-ins settings
  2. Verify that Draftable Legal is installed and running correctly
  3. Try manually re-installing the add-in
If the issue persists, please contact us at support@draftable.com with details about your installation method and any error messages you are seeing.