Office Add-in

Last Updated: 2026-02-17

The cloak.business Office Add-in lets you detect and anonymize personal information directly inside Microsoft Office applications, without leaving your document.

Table of Contents#

1. Overview
2. Installation
3. Supported Applications
4. How to Use
5. Features
6. Account & Tokens
7. Troubleshooting

Overview#

The Office Add-in brings cloak.business functionality into your Microsoft Office workflow. Select text in Word, Excel, or PowerPoint, analyze it for PII, choose an anonymization method, and have the text replaced directly in your document -- all from the add-in sidebar.

Key benefits:

• No copy-pasting between applications.
• Document formatting is preserved after anonymization.
• Works with the same account, presets, and anonymization methods as the web app.
• Token balance is shared across all platforms.

Installation#

From Microsoft AppSource#

1. Open a Microsoft Office application (Word, Excel, or PowerPoint).
2. Go to Insert > Get Add-ins (or Office Add-ins).
3. Search for cloak.business in the store.
4. Click Add to install the add-in.
5. The cloak.business icon appears in your ribbon.

Sideloading (Manual Installation)#

For testing or organizations that distribute add-ins internally:

Download: manifest.xml

Manifest URL (for copy/paste):

https://cloak.business/office_addin/manifest.xml

Steps:

1. Click the download link above, or copy the URL.
2. In Office, go to Insert > Get Add-ins > My Add-ins > Upload My Add-in.
3. Browse to the manifest file and upload it (or paste the URL if your Office version supports it).
4. The add-in will appear in your ribbon.

Alternative: Admin Deployment

For Microsoft 365 administrators deploying to an organization:

1. Go to Microsoft 365 Admin Center > Settings > Integrated Apps.
2. Click Upload custom apps.
3. Enter the manifest URL: https://cloak.business/office_addin/manifest.xml
4. Assign to users or groups as needed.

Supported Applications#

The add-in works on both Windows and macOS versions of Microsoft Office.

How to Use#

Step-by-Step#

1. Open the sidebar. Click the cloak.business icon in your Office ribbon. The add-in sidebar opens on the right side of your document.

2. Sign in. Enter your cloak.business credentials. You only need to sign in once per session.

3. Select text. Highlight the text in your document that you want to analyze.

4. Click Analyze. The add-in sends the selected text for PII detection. Detected entities appear in the sidebar with types, values, and confidence scores.

5. Review results. Toggle individual entities on or off. Deselect any false positives.

6. Choose anonymization method. Select a method for each entity type or apply one globally (Replace, Redact, Hash, Encrypt, or Mask).

7. Click Anonymize. The selected text in your document is replaced with the anonymized version. Formatting (bold, italic, font size, etc.) is preserved.

Working with Entire Documents#

To anonymize an entire document:

1. Select all text (Ctrl+A / Cmd+A).
2. Click Analyze in the sidebar.
3. Review and anonymize as described above.

Features#

Real-Time Detection#

As you select text and click Analyze, results appear within seconds. The same 317 pattern recognizers and NLP models used by the web app power the add-in.

All Anonymization Methods#

All five methods are available in the add-in:

Format Preservation#

When text is anonymized in your document, the original formatting is maintained:

• Font family, size, and color are preserved.
• Bold, italic, and underline styling is kept.
• Paragraph alignment and spacing remain unchanged.

Preset Support#

Select country, regional, or industry presets from the sidebar dropdown. Presets work identically to the web app.

Account & Tokens#

• Sign in with your existing cloak.business account.
• Token balance is shared across all platforms (web app, desktop app, add-in, API).
• Token usage follows the same rules: 1 token per character of analyzed text.
• Check your remaining balance in the sidebar or on the web dashboard.

Troubleshooting#

Add-in Does Not Appear in the Ribbon#

• Ensure you are using a supported version of Office (Microsoft 365 or Office 2019+).
• Try restarting the Office application.
• Check that the add-in is enabled: File > Options > Add-ins > Manage: COM Add-ins > Go.

Analysis Returns No Results#

• Ensure you have selected text before clicking Analyze.
• Check that your internet connection is active.
• Verify that your token balance is not exhausted.

Formatting Lost After Anonymization#

• This may occur with complex formatting (tables, merged cells, embedded objects). For these cases, consider using the web app or desktop app and manually replacing text.

Sign-In Issues#

• Ensure you are using the correct cloak.business credentials.
• Check your internet connection.
• If you recently changed your password, sign out and sign in again with the new password.