How to switch from deprecated preview add-in to modern Web Add-in

Problem:

You were using CodeTwo Email Signatures for Office 365 Add-in to preview cloud (server-side) signatures in Outlook. The add-in is deprecated as of August 22, 2024, and no longer works, so you would like to move to the new Web Add-in to continue using CodeTwo as before.

Solution:

The switch between the two CodeTwo add-ins is simple and can be completed with no downtime for end users. To perform the switch, you need your tenant’s Microsoft 365 global admin account.

1. Deploy the modern Web Add-in
2. (Optional) Inform your end users
3. Remove the deprecated preview add-in

Deploy the modern Web Add-in

The Web Add-in is deployed via the Microsoft 365 admin center across your entire organization. For the simple & step-by-step deployment instructions, see the video below (or follow these instructions). The deployment of the Web Add-in usually takes about 6 hours, but it can take up to 72 hours, depending on the size of your organization.

(Optional) Inform your end users

Once the Web Add-in is deployed and becomes available in Outlook across your organization, inform your end users about the switch. Make sure your end users can identify the new Web Add-in and know how to start using it. Regardless of an email client, the icon of the modern Web Add-in is easily distinguishable from the deprecated add-in’s icon, as shown in Fig. 1. below: 

Fig. 1. The deprecated add-in’s icon (A) and the modern Web Add-in’s icon (B) in Outlook.

It might be a good idea to share this link with your end users, where they can quickly learn how to access the modern Web Add-in and use it to preview their email signatures.

Remove the deprecated preview add-in

This is the final step to ensure that the deprecated preview add-in is removed from end users’ Outlooks, so that they do not confuse it with the modern Web Add-in. The preview add-in was deployed per Microsoft 365 user, not per machine, so it will be automatically removed in both Outlook and Outlook on the web (OWA) once you complete these steps:

• Centrally remove the deprecated preview add-in via PowerShell (recommended)
• Let users manually* uninstall the deprecated add-in via Outlook on the web (OWA)

Centrally remove the deprecated preview add-in via PowerShell

1. Connect to your Microsoft 365 using PowerShell. See this article to learn how to do that.
2. Once connected, run the following cmdlet:

   Get-App | Format-Table -Auto DisplayName,AppId

3. Find CodeTwo Email Signatures for Office 365 Add-in in the results and copy its AppId (Fig. 2.).

   
   Fig. 2. Identifying the AppId of CodeTwo's deprecated preview add-in.

4.  Remove the add-in by using the following cmdlet:

   Remove-App -Identity <AppId> -OrganizationApp

   Be sure to replace <AppId> with the AppId found in step 3 (see Fig. 2.). In this example, the cmdlet would be:

   Remove-App -Identity 4824019b-4635-af8d-7791-6742c5aef85a -OrganizationApp

5. Disconnect the connection to Exchange Online:

   Remove-PSSession $Session

I can take up to 48 hours for the add-in to be removed across your organization.

Remove the deprecated add-in manually via Outlook on the web (OWA)

1. Sign in to OWA by using this link https://aka.ms/olksideload to access the Add-Ins for Outlook window (Fig. 3.).
2. Click My add-ins in the menu on the left.
3. Locate the CodeTwo Email Signatures for Office 365 Add-in tile, click the ellipsis (…) icon on the tile, choose Remove (Fig. 3.), and confirm the removal.

Fig. 3. Removing the deprecated preview add-in by using the Add-Ins for Outlook window.

See also:

• How to switch from legacy COM Add-in to modern Web Add-in
• How to automatically convert cloud (server-side) email signatures to Outlook (client-side) signatures and vice versa