> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://help.draftable.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Moving from the COM add-ins to the JavaScript add-ins

> A step-by-step process for administrators consolidating onto Draftable's modern JavaScript add-ins: deploy the new add-ins, stop the COM add-ins reinstalling themselves, and remove the ones already on your endpoints.

If your users currently see the Draftable **COM add-ins** in their Office ribbon and you want to standardise on the modern **JavaScript add-ins**, this article is the process for doing it cleanly.

<Note>
  This article covers **one direction only**: moving from the COM add-ins to the JavaScript add-ins. If you need to go the other way, contact [Draftable Support](/hc/en-us/articles/43674001541273-Contacting-Draftable-Support) so we can advise on your specific environment.

  New to the distinction between the two? Start with [COM add-ins vs JavaScript add-ins](/hc/en-us/articles/COM-add-ins-versus-JavaScript-add-ins).
</Note>

## Why you would do this

Running both generations at once is supported, but it leaves Word and Outlook showing two separate Draftable entry points with different capabilities behind each and nothing to tell them apart. Consolidating removes that ambiguity, and moves your estate onto the add-ins that update centrally and receive new capability.

## Before you start

<Steps>
  <Step title="Confirm you can deploy to your tenant">
    You need Microsoft 365 Global Administrator rights, or equivalent permission to use **Integrated apps** in the Microsoft 365 admin center.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Confirm endpoints can reach dl.draftable.com">
    The JavaScript add-in manifests and runtime are served from `dl.draftable.com`. If your web filter or proxy blocks it, deployment will fail validation and the add-ins will not load. Check this before you disable anything.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Check your desktop version">
    Each JavaScript add-in states a minimum Draftable Legal desktop version in its installation article. Confirm your fleet meets it, and upgrade first if not.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Decide which add-ins replace what">
    Map each COM workflow your users rely on to its replacement so nobody loses a workflow mid-migration:

    | Current COM workflow            | Replacement                                    |
    | ------------------------------- | ---------------------------------------------- |
    | **Compare** on the Word ribbon  | Draftable in Office, or Draftable for Office   |
    | Outlook **Compare attachments** | Draftable in Outlook, or Draftable for Outlook |
    | Outlook **1-Click Compare**     | Draftable for Outlook                          |
    | Outlook **Compare text**        | Draftable for Outlook                          |
    | Excel ribbon comparison         | Draftable in Office, or Draftable for Office   |
  </Step>
</Steps>

<Warning>
  Deploy the replacements **before** you disable the COM add-ins. The order matters: disabling first leaves users with no Draftable entry point in Office until central deployment propagates, which can take up to 24 hours.
</Warning>

## Step 1: Deploy the JavaScript add-ins

Deploy the add-ins you selected above through the Microsoft 365 admin center. Each has its own installation article with the manifest URL and the exact admin center steps:

* [Installing Draftable in Office](/hc/en-us/articles/52362093587481-Draftable-in-Office)
* [Configuring Draftable for Office](/hc/en-us/articles/51764565990425-Configuring-Draftable-for-Office)
* [Installing Draftable in Outlook](/hc/en-us/articles/Installing-Draftable-in-Outlook)
* [Installing Draftable for Outlook](/hc/en-us/articles/Installing-Draftable-for-Outlook)
* [Configuring Redline in Email](/hc/en-us/articles/46382047949978-Configuring-Redline-in-Email-Outlook-with-Draftable)

Allow up to 24 hours for the deployment to reach every user, then confirm with a sample of users that the add-in appears and works before continuing.

## Step 2: Stop the COM add-ins reinstalling themselves

This is the step most migrations get wrong. The Draftable Legal desktop application checks three settings each time it launches and reinstalls any enabled COM add-in it finds missing. Until you set these to `0`, anything you remove in Step 3 comes straight back on next launch.

All three live in the Draftable `Feature` namespace:

```bash theme={null}
Key: HKCU:\Software\Policies\Draftable\Feature
```

<AccordionGroup>
  <Accordion title="Word: use the Group Policy setting">
    The Word add-in has a working Group Policy setting. In the Draftable Legal administrative template, set:

    **Enable VSTO Add-In (Word)** → **Disabled**

    That writes:

    ```bash theme={null}
    Key: HKCU:\Software\Policies\Draftable\Feature
    Value name: WordVstoAddInEnabled
    Value type: REG_DWORD
    Value data: 0
    ```

    You can also write the value directly if you prefer to deploy registry items rather than policy.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Outlook: set the registry value directly, not the policy">
    <Warning>
      Do **not** rely on the **Enable VSTO Add-In (Outlook)** Group Policy setting for this. In the current shipping template (26.8.000) that policy writes the value name `OutlookVstoAddInEnabled`, while the application reads `OutlookVstoAddInEnabledSetting`. Setting the policy to Disabled will appear to apply and the Outlook add-in will keep reinstalling.
    </Warning>

    Write the value the application actually reads, using a Group Policy Preferences registry item, an Intune configuration profile, or your deployment tooling:

    ```bash theme={null}
    Key: HKCU:\Software\Policies\Draftable\Feature
    Value name: OutlookVstoAddInEnabledSetting
    Value type: REG_DWORD
    Value data: 0
    ```

    Note the `Setting` suffix. It is easy to miss and it is the difference between the change taking effect and doing nothing.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Excel: registry only, no policy exists">
    There is no Group Policy setting for the Excel add-in in the administrative template. Write the value directly:

    ```bash theme={null}
    Key: HKCU:\Software\Policies\Draftable\Feature
    Value name: IsExcelVstoAddInEnabledSetting
    Value type: REG_DWORD
    Value data: 0
    ```
  </Accordion>
</AccordionGroup>

<Note>
  Draftable resolves settings in the order **HKCU policy → HKLM policy → HKCU user**, so a value written under `HKLM:\Software\Policies\Draftable\Feature` also works and applies to every user on the machine. Use it where you are configuring shared or non-persistent machines.
</Note>

## Step 3: Remove the COM add-ins already installed

Setting those values to `0` stops Draftable **installing or upgrading** the COM add-ins. It does **not** remove an add-in that is already registered on a machine — those users keep their existing Draftable ribbon tab until it is removed.

You have three ways to clear them:

<AccordionGroup>
  <Accordion title="Per user, in the host application">
    Suitable for a small number of users, or for testing before a fleet-wide change.

    <Steps>
      <Step>
        In Word, Outlook or Excel, go to **File → Options**.
      </Step>

      <Step>
        Select **Add-ins**, choose **COM Add-ins** in the **Manage** dropdown at the bottom, and click **Go**.
      </Step>

      <Step>
        Clear the checkbox for the **Draftable Add-in** and click **OK**. To remove the registration entirely rather than just unload it, select it and click **Remove**.
      </Step>
    </Steps>

    The same dialog is used in reverse in [How to re-enable Draftable Word Add-in](/hc/en-us/articles/26630500422809-How-to-re-enable-Draftable-Word-Add-in), which is useful if you need to undo this on a machine.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="At scale, by removing the registration key">
    Each COM add-in is registered as a registry key named after the add-in, under the Office application's `Addins` key. Deleting the key unregisters the add-in from that host application:

    ```bash theme={null}
    HKCU:\Software\Microsoft\Office\Word\Addins\Draftable.CompareTool.WordAddIn
    HKCU:\Software\Microsoft\Office\Outlook\Addins\Draftable.CompareTool.OutlookAddIn
    HKCU:\Software\Microsoft\Office\Excel\Addins\Draftable.CompareTool.ExcelAddIn
    ```

    Two things to watch:

    * On a 64-bit version of Windows running **32-bit Office**, the keys sit under `Software\Wow6432Node\Microsoft\Office\...` instead.
    * Where Draftable was installed machine-wide with the MSI, the registration may be under `HKLM` rather than `HKCU`. Check both.

    Complete Step 2 first. If the `Feature` values are still set to `1`, the next launch of Draftable Legal will simply recreate these keys.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="As part of a desktop uninstall or rebuild">
    Uninstalling the Draftable Legal desktop application removes the Word and Outlook COM add-in registrations as part of its clean-up. If you are rebuilding or repackaging endpoints anyway, that handles those two for you.

    Be aware that this clean-up covers **Word and Outlook only** — an Excel add-in registration can be left behind, so check for the Excel key above on machines where the Excel add-in had been installed.
  </Accordion>
</AccordionGroup>

## Step 4: Verify

<Steps>
  <Step title="Check a sample of user machines">
    Open Word, Outlook and Excel. The old **Draftable** COM ribbon tab should be gone, and the JavaScript add-in should be present — under the **Home** tab, or in **My Add-ins**, depending on your Office version.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Relaunch Draftable Legal and check again">
    This is the test that proves Step 2 worked. Close and reopen the desktop application, then reopen the Office applications. If the COM tab has reappeared, one of the three `Feature` values did not apply — the Outlook `Setting` suffix is the usual culprit.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Confirm the desktop app agrees">
    In Draftable Legal, open **Settings** and select the **Integrations** tab. It reports which add-ins are installed and at what version, so you can confirm the state of the machine without going through each Office application.
  </Step>
</Steps>

## If you need to roll back

Set the three `Feature` values back to `1`, or remove them so the defaults apply, then relaunch Draftable Legal. It reinstalls the COM add-ins for the current user at launch. Users already have the JavaScript add-ins at that point, so remove those from **Integrated apps** in the Microsoft 365 admin center if you want to return to a single entry point.

## Related articles

* [COM add-ins vs JavaScript add-ins](/hc/en-us/articles/COM-add-ins-versus-JavaScript-add-ins)
* [Most common Draftable Legal registry configurations](/hc/en-us/articles/24732245077401-Most-common-Draftable-Legal-registry-configurations)
* [Configuring settings with Group Policy](/hc/en-us/articles/18763487262106-Configuring-settings-with-Group-Policy-Draftable-Legal)
* [Office Add-ins not loading after MSI installation](/hc/en-us/articles/53125847291673-Office-Add-ins-Not-Loading-After-MSI-Installation)
* [Working with our add-ins](/hc/en-us/articles/Working-with-our-add-ins)