Office add-in ribbons: same tab with 2 addins

The Problem (Q-score 7, ranked #84th of 95 in the VBA Core archive)

The scenario as originally posted in 2011

I’m trying to make two word add-ins’ groups to appear in the same tab (Tools) but they both create unique tabs (there’s two ‘Tools’ tabs). I saw this video but I’m using the Visual Designer, not XML.

Can I edit the designer code in some way to make this work?

Why this Range / Worksheet targeting trips people up

The question centers on reaching a specific cell, range, or workbook object. In VBA Core, this is the #1 source of failures after activation events: every property (.Value, .Formula, .Address) behaves differently depending on whether the parent Workbook is explicit or implicit.

The Verified Solution — niche answer (below median) (+4)

9-line VBA Core pattern (copy-ready)

http://blogs.msdn.com/b/vsto/archive/2008/03/10/share-a-ribbon-customization-between-office-applications.aspx

Office 2007

Create the Ribbon

1. Create a 2007 Excel, Outlook, PowerPoint, or Word project in Visual Studio. For the purpose of these steps, create a C# project and name the project RibbonStarterProject.
2. Add a Ribbon (Visual Designer) item to the project. For the purpose of these steps, accept the default name “Ribbon1”.
3. Save and close the project.

Create a Class Library Project

1. Create a new class library project in Visual Studio. For the purpose of these steps, name the project SharedRibbonLibrary.
2. Add a project reference to the Microsoft.Office.Tools.Common.v9.0 assembly.
3. On the Project Menu in Visual Studio, click Add Existing Item.
4. In the Add Existing Item dialog box, browse to the “RibbonStarterProject” project directory, select the Ribbon.cs file, and click Add.
   Ribbon1.cs is copied to the project directory and appears beneath the project node in Solution Explorer.
5. Double-click Ribbon1.cs.
   The Ribbon designer appears.
6. From the Office Ribbon Controls tab of the Toolbox, drag a button onto group1.
7. Click button1 to select it.
8. In the Properties window, set Modifiers to Public.
   Note: By default, controls that you add to the Ribbon are Internal. That makes them only accessible to code inside the same assembly. However, when you access these controls, you will be accessing them through an assembly reference. Therefore, to reach them from code, you must make them public. More on this soon.
9. Right-click the Ribbon designer, and then click Properties.
10. In the Properties window, click the RibbonType property, and then select the Ribbon ID’s of the applications or Outlook Inspector windows in which you want the Ribbon to appear. For more information about this property, see the MSDN reference topic for the RibbonType property.
11. In Solution Explorer, right-click Ribbon1.cs, and then click View Code.
12. Change the namespace of the class to “SharedRibbonLibrary”.
13. Repeat this step for the Ribbon1.designer.cs file.
14. Compile and save the SharedRibbonLibrary project. You can now use the resulting assembly in any VSTO project that supports the Ribbon.

Consume the Ribbon Customization

1. Create 2007 Excel, Outlook, PowerPoint, or Word project.
2. Add a reference to the SharedRibbonLibrary assembly.

3. Add the following code to the ThisAddin, ThisWorkbook, or ThisDocument class of your project. This code overrides the CreateRibbonExtensibilityObject method and returns the Ribbon to the Office application.

   protected override Microsoft.Office.Core.IRibbonExtensibility
   CreateRibbonExtensibilityObject()
   {
        return new Microsoft.Office.Tools.Ribbon.RibbonManager(
        new Microsoft.Office.Tools.Ribbon.OfficeRibbon[] { new       
           SharedRibbonLibrary.Ribbon1() });
   
   }
   

4. Add a new class to the project. Accept the default name “Class1.cs”.

5. Replace the code in the Class1 file with the following:

    partial class ThisRibbonCollection :    Microsoft.Office.Tools.Ribbon.RibbonReadOnlyCollection
   {
    internal SharedRibbonLibrary.Ribbon1 Ribbon1
    {
        get { return this.GetRibbon<SharedRibbonLibrary.Ribbon1>(); }
    }
   }
   

Ok – You are done! You can now access the Ribbon and the button that you added to the Ribbon in your code. Lets try by handling an event in the consuming project.

Handle the Button Click Event

1. Add the following code to the startup event handler of project.

   Globals.Ribbons.Ribbon1.button1.Click += new EventHandler<Microsoft.Office.Tools.Ribbon.RibbonControlEventArgs>(button1_Click);
   

2. Add the following event handler to your project:

   void button1_Click(object sender,
   Microsoft.Office.Tools.Ribbon.RibbonControlEventArgs e)
   {
   System.Windows.Forms.MessageBox.Show("I can handle events!");
   }
   

3. Run the project.

4. When the Office application opens, click the Add-Ins tab, and then click your button.
   A message that says “I can handle events!” appears.

Office 2010 implementation: http://blogs.msdn.com/b/vsto/archive/2010/06/23/sharing-a-ribbon-customization-between-office-projects-in-visual-studio-2010-mclean-schofield.aspx

The 2010 implementation actually add’s two Ribbons – one for each Add-In. I believe the article is only applicable to Add-Ins on the same Ribbon in different Office products (eg Word and Excel) not two Excel Add-ins.

The only other avenue I’ve found is a 3rd party component: http://www.add-in-express.com/creating-addins-blog/2012/11/05/excel-addin-shared-ribbon-tabs/

Loop-performance notes specific to this pattern

The loop in the answer iterates in process. On a 2026 Office build, setting Application.ScreenUpdating = False and Application.Calculation = xlCalculationManual around a loop of this size typically cuts runtime by 40–70%. Re-enable both in the Exit handler.

When to Use It — vintage (14+ years old, pre-2013)

Ranked #84th in its category — specialized fit

This pattern sits in the 97% tail relative to the top answer. Reach for it when your scenario closely matches the question title; otherwise browse the VBA Core archive for a higher-consensus alternative.

What changed between 2011 and 2026

The answer is 15 years old. The VBA Core object model has been stable across Office 2013, 2016, 2019, 2021, 365, and 2024/2026 LTSC, so the pattern still compiles. Changes that might affect you: 64-bit API declarations (use PtrSafe), blocked macros in downloaded files (Mark-of-the-Web), and the shift toward Office Scripts for web-first workflows.