Edit a .ppam file for customizing an add-in
If it's a PPAM file, it was created in PowerPoint from a PPTM file saved as an add-in.
While you can edit loaded add-ins "in place" for testing purposes, you can't edit then save them. But you can export the add-in's modules then import them into a new PPTM file or copy/paste code between the two.
In order to get access to the modules/code of the loaded add-in, you need to make a registry change.
IMPORTANT: Quit PowerPoint first.
Then go to:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\14.0\PowerPoint\Options
(That'd be for PPT 2010; substitute 16.0 in place of 14.0 for PPT 2016/365 and PPT 2019, 15.0 for PPT 2013, 12.0 for PPT 2007 and so on ... there's no 13.0)
Add a new DWORD value: DebugAddins = 1
Start PPT again; now your loaded add-ins will appear in the VBA IDE. If they're not password protected, you'll be able to open them, edit for test purposes, and export the modules or copy/paste for use in a new PPTM file.
Be sure to export any modules you've changed fairly often; if you quit PPT or it crashes, you'll lose any changes since the last save.
If you also want to copy/modify a custom ribbon
In addition to Steve Rindsberg's perfect solution, you can do the following to transfer custom ribbon properties:
- Start off from the original .ppam file and the modified .pptm file as described in Steve's post. In the following, I'll refer to them as
OLD.ppam
andNEW.pptm
. - Open both
OLD.ppam
andNEW.pptm
using Office RibbonX Editor. - Under the
NEW.pptm
file, add acustomUI14.xml
entry by clicking Insert --> Office 2010+ Custom UI part. - Copy the contents from the
customUI14.xml
part of theOLD.ppam
to the one withinNEW.pptm
. - To get the icons: Extract the
OLD.ppam
file in the Windows Explorer using 7zip or similar. You'll find the images within the extracted folderOLD/customUI/
. - Back in Office RibbonX Editor, click on
customUI14.xml
withinNEW.pptm
. Then, insert the Icons from the Insert menu. You can select all items at once. - Save the file
NEW.pptm
in Office RibbonX Editor and close it. - To create an add-in, open
NEW.pptm
in PowerPoint and save it asNEW.ppam
.