{"id":2058,"date":"2026-05-12T15:42:27","date_gmt":"2026-05-12T07:42:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/xlwings.net\/blog\/?p=2058"},"modified":"2026-03-28T05:55:33","modified_gmt":"2026-03-28T05:55:33","slug":"how-to-use-applicationcomaddins-in-the-xlwings-api-way","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/xlwings.net\/blog\/how-to-use-applicationcomaddins-in-the-xlwings-api-way\/","title":{"rendered":"How to use Application.COMAddIns in the xlwings API way"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Application.COMAddIns property in Excel&#8217;s object model provides access to the collection of currently installed COM add-ins. This is particularly useful for developers who need to programmatically check, manage, or interact with these add-ins from within Python using the xlwings library. COM add-ins extend Excel&#8217;s functionality, and accessing them via xlwings allows for automation tasks such as verifying if a specific add-in is loaded, enabling or disabling add-ins, or retrieving details about them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Functionality:<\/strong><br>The COMAddIns collection enables you to:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Count the number of installed COM add-ins.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Iterate through each COM add-in to get its ProgID (Programmatic Identifier), description, and connection state (whether it is loaded or not).<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Activate or deactivate an add-in programmatically.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>This is essential for ensuring that dependent add-ins are available before executing macros or functions that rely on them, improving script robustness.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Syntax in xlwings:<\/strong><br>In xlwings, you access this property through the <code>api<\/code> property of the App or Application object. The typical call format is:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<pre class=\"wp-block-code\"><code>app = xw.App() # or xw.apps.active for an existing instance\ncom_addins = app.api.COMAddIns<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Once you have the collection, you can use its methods and properties. Key members include:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><code>Count<\/code>: Returns the number of COM add-ins (integer).<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><code>Item(index)<\/code>: Retrieves a specific COMAddIn object, where <code>index<\/code> can be an integer (1-based) or the add-in&#8217;s ProgID (string).<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><code>Update()<\/code>: Updates the list of COM add-ins from the registry.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">For a COMAddIn object, important properties are:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><code>ProgId<\/code>: The programmatic identifier (string).<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><code>Description<\/code>: A descriptive name (string).<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><code>Connect<\/code>: A boolean indicating if the add-in is currently loaded (True\/False). Setting this property enables or disables the add-in.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Example Usage:<\/strong><br>Below is a practical xlwings code example that demonstrates how to list all COM add-ins and toggle one add-in&#8217;s state:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<pre class=\"wp-block-code\"><code>import xlwings as xw\n\n# Connect to the active Excel instance\napp = xw.apps.active\n\n# Access the COMAddIns collection\ncom_addins = app.api.COMAddIns\n\n# Print the number of add-ins\nprint(f\"Total COM add-ins: {com_addins.Count}\")\n\n# Iterate through each add-in and display details\nfor i in range(1, com_addins.Count + 1):\n    addin = com_addins.Item(i)\n    print(f\"Add-in {i}:\")\n    print(f\" ProgID: {addin.ProgId}\")\n    print(f\" Description: {addin.Description}\")\n    print(f\" Loaded: {addin.Connect}\")\n\n# Example: Toggle the state of a specific add-in by ProgID\ntarget_progid = \"Example.AddIn\" # Replace with an actual ProgID\ntry:\n    specific_addin = com_addins.Item(target_progid)\n    current_state = specific_addin.Connect\n    specific_addin.Connect = not current_state # Toggle the state\n    print(f\"Toggled add-in '{target_progid}' from {current_state} to {specific_addin.Connect}\")\nexcept Exception as e:\n    print(f\"Add-in '{target_progid}' not found or error: {e}\")\n\n# Optional: Update the collection\ncom_addins.Update()<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Application.COMAddIns property in Excel&apos;s object model provides access to the collection of curr&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[25],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2058","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-xlwings-api-reference"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/xlwings.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2058","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/xlwings.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/xlwings.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xlwings.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xlwings.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2058"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/xlwings.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2058\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3150,"href":"https:\/\/xlwings.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2058\/revisions\/3150"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/xlwings.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2058"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xlwings.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2058"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xlwings.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2058"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}