Troubleshooting
Common problems with the picture placeholder choice add-in
Written by Technical Support
Updated at September 23rd, 2024
Search for the issue and expand if for troubleshooting steps.
PowerPoint can't load the add-in
Problem
You see a message like this when PowerPoint starts:
Causes
The add-in is either missing from the expected folder, quarantined by your endpoint security solution, or is marked as having been downloaded from the internet.
Solutions
missing or quarantined ppam
- Open Windows File Explorer
-
Copy & Paste this location into the address bar and press Enter:
%AppData%\Microsoft\AddIns - If this file is missing, download it from the blog article:
Picture Placeholder Choice.ppam
marked as from the web
- Open Windows File Explorer
-
Copy & Paste this location into the address bar and press Enter:
%AppData%\Microsoft\AddIns - Right-click this file and select Properties:
Picture Placeholder Choice.ppam - Tick the Unblock box* and click OK:
*The unblock checkbox removes the MOTW (Mark Of The Web) attribute from the file. This can be added by Microsoft Windows Defender when a file is downloaded via a web browser or saved from an email attachment.
Nothing happens when the picture placeholder icon is clicked
Problem
When you click the icon/button inside a picture placeholder, nothing seems to happen i.e. the menu doesn't appear.
Cause
This can happen when the add-in fails to correctly identify the mouse cursor position and the menu appears outside of the monitor area. The behaviour has been reported on some Parallels VMs when the display resolution is controlled by Parallels instead of Windows.
Solution
Please uninstall the add-in as there is no known fix for this at the moment.
