If you find that the AOI addin does not remain enabled and instead disappears/does not automatically appear at every fresh launch of Excel then please go through the following:
This could be due to multiple causes which ultimately is corrupting the COM addin load behaviour.
To resolve this the below would need to be worked through in addition to the article mentioned above, which may require assistance from your IT admin.
To view the the COM addin load behaviour:
Ensure Excel is completely closed, and the EXCEL.EXE process is no longer running in the Task Manager, Details tab.
Launch Excel (a new single blank workbook).
Click File, then Options.
In the Excel Options window, navigate to Add-ins.
At the bottom of this section, choose to manage COM Add-ins, and then click Go...
Within the COM Add-ins prompt, highlight the Access Office Integration For Microsoft Excel, and review the details below.
Here you should see what the Load Behaviour states. This may state either 'Unloaded' or 'Not Loaded', instead of 'Load at Startup', hence why you can enable AOI for the instance of Excel running, but then disappears on the next fresh launch of Excel.
Both these errors are similar and signifies corruption, as this would need to state 'Load at Startup' in order for AOI to automatically appear when Excel is launched.
Possible causes:
Incorrect Load Behaviour registry key in regedit
COM add-in needs to be reset by removing and re-adding
Incorrect Trust Center Add-ins settings
AOI COM add-in is experiencing a runtime issue
AOI is not correctly installed, i.e. 1 or more pre-requisites may be missing
Excel and/or AOI admin process(es) in Task Manager details tab does not automatically end itself when Excel is closed
The installation of Microsoft Office may have become corrupted - which could be caused by either an Office or Windows update - and thus in turn is affecting the AOI add-in
Solution 1 - Load Behaviour Registry Key:
Select Start, select Run. The ‘Run’ window appears.
In the Open box, enter ‘regedit’. Click OK. The ‘User Account Control’ dialog appears.
Click Yes. The ‘Registry Editor’ window appears.
Expand HKEY_CURRENT_USER, Software, Microsoft, Office, Excel, Addins.
Select Access Office Integration For Microsoft Excel <Office Version>.
In the right-hand window, check the LoadBehavior key is set to ‘3’, and spelt as 'LoadBehavior'.
If not, select LoadBehavior, right-click and select Modify... .
In the ‘Value data’ box, change the value to ‘3’. Click OK.
Open Excel and check if the Access tab is present.
Solution 2 - COM add-in reset by removing and re-adding:
In Excel, select File, select Options. The ‘Excel Options’ window appears.
Select Add-ins.
Use the ‘Manage’ drop-down and select COM Add-ins. Click Go. The ‘Com Add-Ins’ window appears.
Select the entry ‘Access Office Integration For Microsoft Excel <Office Version>’.
Click Remove.
Then click Add...
Browse to the location where Access Office integration is installed. By default this will be C:\Program Files (x86)\Access Applications\Access Office Integration (Client) X.XX.XX
Select the file AOIAdministrator.
Click Open. The ‘COM Add-ins’ window will show the add-in ‘Access Office Integration For Microsoft Excel <Office Version>’.
If not selected, select the entry for the version of Office installed.
Click OK. The Access tab may appear after a few seconds.
Close excel, ensuring the process has ended within the Task Manager details tab.
Launch Excel and see if AOI automatically loads correctly.
Solution 3 - Trust Center Add-ins Settings:
In Excel, select File, select Options, Trust Center, Trust Center Settings...
Within the Trust Center window, select Add-ins.
Make sure the option for Disable all Application Add-ins (may impair functionality) is not ticked. If it is, then un-tick it.
Click ok, ok, to close the trust center and options windows.
Close and re-launch Excel.
Solution 4 - AOI experiencing a runtime issue:
This is caused by the user not having read and execute permissions on the file (Microsoft.Office.Interop.Excel.dll) in the following folders:
C:\windows\assembly\GAC_MSIL\Microsoft.Office.Interop.Excel\15.0.0.0__71e9bce111e9429c
C:\windows\assembly\GAC_MSIL\Microsoft.Office.Interop.Excel\14.0.0.0__71e9bce111e9429c
Please check the permissions to the DLL’s by using the following:
Ensure Excel is closed.
On the computer with the issue, click Start.
Type Run and click Run.
In the Open field, enter: C:\windows\assembly\GAC_MSIL
Click OK.
Find and expand the folder Microsoft.Office.Interop.Excel
Expand either the folder 15.0.0.0__71e9bce111e9429c or 14.0.0.0__71e9bce111e9429c.
Right-click the file Microsoft.Office.Interop.Excel.dll and select Properties.
Select the Security tab.
Select the Group or Username the user is part of. Note: If the relevant group or user does not exist in the list then they will need to be added in.
In the lower window, 'Permissions for Users', check that at minimum the Read & Execute and Read permissions both have a tick in the Allow column. If it does not, then this will need to be ticked and saved. This would have been automatically changed due to a windows update changing the permissions on these files.
Further to this, ensure that both the folders Microsoft.Office.Interop.Excel and the folder within has the group the user is a part of or the user themselves the security permissions enabled for Read & Execute, List folder contents, and Read.
If any permissions were changed then the machine will require a restart before Excel is reviewed.
Solution 5 - Ensuring AOI is correctly installed:
Run through the AOI install files (launching the installer as admin), and follow through the installation of the prerequisites required which are named in the article: Install or upgrade AOI
These are the Office Web Components, the Microsoft Office component, and the .NET framework versions required for your version of AOI.
Note: Usually the minimum .NET framework versions required are 3.5 and 4.6.2 - these are still required even if you have newer version already installed on the machine.
If any .NET frameworks
Solution 6 - Excel and/or AOI process(es) do not automatically end when Excel is closed.
Close all excel workbooks.
On Taskbar, right-click and select Task Manager.
If only a list of Applications appears, click More details.
Go to the Details tab.
Scrolling through this list, ensure that the processes for AOIAdministrator.exe and EXCEL.EXE are no longer running.
If either are running, wait a few moments to see if the tasks end themselves.
If they do not, you will need to select each of them and choose End Task.
Re-launch Excel to review.
To identify if the processes not ending automatically is a common pattern, you can keep an eye on the Task Manager when you exit Excel.
If this is a common pattern, then this signifies that there is a corruption in either or both of the AOI and Office installations.
Solution 7 - Corrupted Installation of Office and/or AOI.
If all the above has been followed through and the issue persists, then this would confirm the cause to be the installation of Microsoft Office and/or AOI being corrupted.
For a quick fix attempt:
Ensure all programs and applications are closed.
From the start menu search, type and launch the 'Control Panel'.
Within the Control Panel, navigate to Programs and Features.
Find and select the Microsoft Office installed.
Click on the Change option.
Choose the option for Online Repair.
Run through the online repair and wait for it to provide confirmation of successful completion.
Following this, the machine must be restarted.
Once the machine has booted back up and the user is logged in again, launch and review Excel.
If this seems to have resolved the issue then this will need to be monitored to identify whether this has been a short term or permanent fix.
A permanent last resort fix:
If the issue continues or the online repair has only been a short term fix, then the entire Office suite and AOI would require a full uninstallation and fresh re-installation from scratch. We recommend to uninstall and re-install in reverse order as advised below:
Uninstall Order Process
Ensure all programs and applications are closed.
From the start menu search, type and launch the 'Control Panel'.
Within the Control Panel, navigate to Programs and Features.
Find and select the AOI client, and choose Uninstall. Follow the Uninstall wizard and wait for it to complete.
Find and select the AOI Registration, and choose Uninstall. Follow the Uninstall wizard and wait for it to complete.
Find and select the Microsoft Office Web Components, and choose Uninstall. Follow the Uninstall wizard and wait for it to complete.
Find and select the Microsoft Visual Studio Tools for Office Runtime, and choose Uninstall. Follow the Uninstall wizard and wait for it to complete.
Find and select the Microsoft Office package, and choose Uninstall. Follow the Uninstall wizard and wait for it to complete. Alternatively, you can follow the Microsoft Guide for uninstalling Office.
Once the uninstalls have completed, the AOI appdata is preferred to be refreshed.
The machine will will now need to be restarted.
Fresh Re-install Order Process
Once the machine has been restarted, install in the following order:
Install the Microsoft Office suite package you require. Ensure this is the Desktop Program version and not the Microsoft Store apps version.
Restart the machine
Complete the setup of Microsoft Office, and run through to install all the Office updates via one of the Office applications.
Check Windows Updates to install any remaining updates for Microsoft Office.
Once the updates have been installed to completion, restart the machine again.
Proceed to install and setup AOI in full along with the prerequisites/components as per advised in the install AOI Article
Apply any relevant hotfixes you had previously or require for your AOI version.
Launch Excel to confirm AOI loads automatically and works without issue.