We’ve received reports that the VXL Live Add‑in is not working in Excel after a recent Microsoft update.

<aside> 👋

Root cause seems to be related to a change in how Office caches Add-in.

The issue can be resolved by clearing the Add‑in cache, or by refreshing the Add-in. Please see the instructions below.

</aside>

Clearing the Add-in cache manually:

Original source Clear the Office cache - Office Add-ins | Microsoft Learn

  1. From the ribbon of Excel, PowerPoint, or Word, navigate to File > Options > Trust Center > Trust Center Settings > Trusted Add-in Catalogs.
  2. Select the Next time Office starts, clear all previously-started web add-ins cache checkbox.
  3. Select OK.
  4. Restart Excel.

Clearing the Add-in cache by Script:

Below is a PowerShell script that can be deployed to clear the cache:

# Must run in user context
# Ideally run this script upon user logon to avoid issues with running Office processes

$officeProcesses = @('EXCEL', 'WINWORD', 'POWERPNT', 'OUTLOOK', 'ONENOTE', 'VISIO')
$running = Get-Process -Name $officeProcesses -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue
if ($running) {
    $names = ($running | Select-Object -ExpandProperty ProcessName | Sort-Object -Unique) -join ', '
    Write-Warning "Cannot clear cache—these Office apps are open."
    return
}

$cachePath = Join-Path $env:LOCALAPPDATA 'Microsoft\\Office\\16.0\\Wef'

if (Test-Path $cachePath) {
    Write-Host "Clearing cache: $cachePath"
    try {
        Remove-Item -LiteralPath $cachePath -Recurse -Force -ErrorAction Stop
        New-Item -ItemType Directory -Path $cachePath | Out-Null
        Write-Host 'Done.'
    }
    catch {
        Write-Warning "Failed to clear cache; some files may be locked. Close Office apps and try again."
    }
}
else {
    Write-Host "Cache folder not found: $cachePath"
}

How to Refresh the VXL Live Add‑in:

  1. Enable the Developer tab in Excel:
  2. On the Developer tab, click Excel Add‑ins (for legacy .xlam or .xla files).