Cannot debug or run Word AddIn because the required version of Microsoft Office is not installed

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Apparently, when the addin project is created, debug information such as the MS Office version and the executable path used for debugging is saved in the .CSPROJ file.

So debug is not guaranteed to work on another machine.

This information is saved in following XML node of the project file:

ProjectExtensions \ VisualStudio \ FlavorProperties \ ProjectProperties

In my case, the problem was in the attributes

  • OfficeVersion="14.0"
  • DebugInfoExeName="#Software\Microsoft\Office\14.0\Word\InstallRoot\Path#WINWORD.EXE"

Changing 14.0 to 12.0 (2010 to 2007) in their values solved my problem.

Check out these questions for reference:

  • Determine Excel 2007 addin vs excel 2010 addin
  • convert an Excel 2010 addin to a 2007 addin (both VSTO)

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