If the AOI add-in keeps disappearing each time Excel is freshly launched, this is likely caused by corruption in the COM add-in load behaviour. Work through the solutions below. You may need assistance from your IT administrator.
View the COM add-in 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-in settings.
AOI COM add-in is experiencing a runtime issue.
AOI is not correctly installed — one or more prerequisites may be missing.
Excel or AOI Administrator process(es) in Task Manager do not automatically end when Excel is closed.
The Microsoft Office installation may have become corrupted, caused by an Office or Windows update, and is affecting the AOI add-in.
Solution 1 — Load behaviour registry key
Click Start, then click Run.
In the Open box, enter regedit and click OK. The User Account Control dialog appears.
Click Yes. The ‘Registry Editor’ window appears.
Expand HKEY_CURRENT_USER > Software > Microsoft > Office > Excel > Addins.
Click Access Office Integration For Microsoft Excel [Office Version].
In the right-hand panel, confirm the LoadBehavior key is set to 3 and spelt as LoadBehavior.
If not, right-click LoadBehavior and click Modify.
Set the value to 3 and click OK.
Open Excel and check whether the Access tab is present.
Solution 2 — Reset the COM add-in by removing and re-adding
In Excel, click File, then Options.
Click Add-ins.
From the Manage drop-down, select COM Add-ins and click Go.
Click Access Office Integration For Microsoft Excel [Office Version].
Click Remove.
Click Add.
Browse to the Access Office Integration installation folder (usually C:\Program Files (x86)\Access Applications\Access Office Integration (Client) X.XX.XX).
Click the AOIAdministrator file.
Click Open. The add-in reappears in the COM Add-ins window.
If not already selected, tick the entry for your installed version of Office.
Click OK. The Access tab should appear within a few seconds.
Close Excel, confirm the process has ended in Task Manager (Details tab).
Launch Excel and confirm AOI loads correctly.
Solution 3 — Trust Center add-in settings
In Excel, click File > Options > Trust Center > Trust Center Settings.
In the Trust Center window, click Add-ins.
Confirm Disable all Application Add-ins (may impair functionality) is unticked. Untick it if needed.
Click OK twice 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.
Click Start.
Type Run and press Enter.
In the Open field, enter: C:\windows\assembly\GAC_MSIL
Click OK.
Expand the folder Microsoft.Office.Interop.Excel.
Expand either 15.0.0.0__71e9bce111e9429c or 14.0.0.0__71e9bce111e9429c.
Right-click Microsoft.Office.Interop.Excel.dll and click Properties.
Click the Security tab.
Click the group or username the user belongs to. If it is not listed, add it.
In the lower panel, confirm both Read & Execute and Read are ticked in the Allow column. If not, tick them and save. A Windows update may have changed these permissions.
Also confirm that both the Microsoft.Office.Interop.Excel folder and its sub-folder grant the user's group Read & Execute, List folder contents, and Read permissions.
If any permissions were changed, restart the machine before testing Excel again.
Solution 5 — Ensure AOI is correctly installed
Run the AOI installer as administrator and install the prerequisites listed in Install or upgrade AOI.
The prerequisites are: Office Web Components, the Microsoft Office component, and the required .NET framework versions for your version of AOI.
📌 Note: The minimum .NET framework versions required are typically 3.5 and 4.6.2, even if newer versions are already installed.
If any .NET frameworks are missing, install them before proceeding.
Solution 6 — Excel or AOI processes do not close when Excel is closed
Close all Excel workbooks.
Right-click the taskbar and click Task Manager.
If only a list of applications appears, click More details.
Click the Details tab.
Confirm that AOIAdministrator.exe and EXCEL.EXE are no longer running.
If either are still running, wait a few moments to see if they end themselves.
If they do not end, click each process and choose End Task.
Launch Excel and check whether AOI loads correctly.
Watch the Task Manager when you next exit Excel to confirm whether this is a recurring pattern.
If the processes consistently do not end automatically, this indicates corruption in the AOI or Office installation.
Solution 7 — Corrupted Office or AOI installation
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.
Quick fix attempt
Close all programs and applications.
Open Control Panel.
Click Programs and Features.
Click Microsoft Office.
Click Change.
Choose Online Repair.
Run the repair and wait for a confirmation of successful completion.
Restart the machine.
Log back in and launch Excel to check whether the issue is resolved.
If the issue appears resolved, monitor it to determine whether the repair is permanent.
Permanent fix
If the issue continues or the repair is only a short-term fix, fully uninstall and reinstall both Office and AOI. Uninstall in the reverse order shown below.
Uninstall order
Close all programs and applications.
Open Control Panel.
Click Programs and Features.
Click AOI client, then click Uninstall. Follow the wizard.
Click AOI Registration, then click Uninstall. Follow the wizard.
Click Microsoft Office Web Components, then click Uninstall. Follow the wizard.
Click Microsoft Visual Studio Tools for Office Runtime, then click Uninstall. Follow the wizard.
Click Microsoft Office, then click Uninstall. Alternatively, follow the Microsoft Guide for uninstalling Office.
Refresh the AOI AppData. Follow steps 1–7 in AOI: Refresh the AppData. Read the full article if you have existing or custom templates that will be needed after reinstalling.
Restart the machine.
Fresh reinstall order
Once the machine has restarted, install in the following order:
Install the Microsoft Office suite. Use the Desktop Program version, not the Microsoft Store version.
Restart the machine.
Complete the Office setup and install all available Office updates.
Check Windows Update and install any remaining Office updates.
Restart the machine.
Install AOI in full, including all prerequisites. See Install or upgrade AOI.
Apply any relevant hotfixes required for your AOI version.
Launch Excel and confirm AOI loads automatically and works correctly.