Troubleshooting SignageTube Live Plugins in PowerPoint

Having trouble with your SignageTube Live plugin not showing up in PowerPoint? You’re not alone. COM add-ins can be tricky — PowerPoint silently disables them after a crash, buries them in obscure registry keys, and gives you almost no feedback when something goes wrong. This guide walks you through every common failure point, step by step.

Why PowerPoint Disables Add-ins (And Doesn’t Tell You)

PowerPoint has a built-in self-protection mechanism: if an add-in causes a crash or takes too long to load, PowerPoint will automatically disable it — often without showing any error message. The next time you open PowerPoint, the ribbon tab is simply gone.

This is the single most common reason users report that their SignageTube Live plugin has “disappeared.”

There are three ways an add-in ends up disabled:

• Hard disabled — PowerPoint detected a crash or load failure and forcibly removed the add-in from the active list.
• Soft disabled — The add-in is still registered but has been unchecked in the COM Add-ins dialog.
• Missing entirely — The add-in registration has been removed, typically after a reinstall, a Windows update, or a permissions change.

Step 1: Check the COM Add-ins Dialog

This is always your first stop.

1. Open PowerPoint.
2. Go to File → Options → Add-ins.
3. At the bottom of the window, set the Manage dropdown to COM Add-ins and click Go.

You’ll now see a list of registered COM add-ins. Look for the SignageTube entry. Three things can happen here:

If you check the box and click OK, but the add-in disappears again the next time you open PowerPoint, you have a LoadBehavior problem — covered in Step 3 below.

Step 2: Check Disabled Items

PowerPoint maintains a separate “Disabled Items” list for add-ins it has hard-blocked. This list is separate from the COM Add-ins dialog and is easy to miss.

1. Go to File → Options → Add-ins.
2. Set the Manage dropdown to Disabled Items and click Go.
3. If the SignageTube add-in appears here, select it and click Enable.
4. Restart PowerPoint.

Important: Enabling a disabled item does not always “stick.” If PowerPoint keeps re-disabling the add-in, this points to a crash or load-time issue that needs to be resolved at the source — for example, a missing dependency, a permissions problem, or an incompatible version of the add-in.

Step 3: Understanding LoadBehavior in the Registry

The LoadBehavior registry value controls how and when PowerPoint loads a COM add-in. This is one of the most important — and least understood — settings for add-in troubleshooting.

Where to Find It

Open Registry Editor (regedit.exe) and navigate to one of these paths, depending on how the add-in was installed:

Machine-wide install (all users):

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Office\PowerPoint\Addins\INSYNCR.SignageTube Live Plugin for PowerPoint

Per-user install:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Office\PowerPoint\Addins\INSYNCR.SignageTube Live Plugin for PowerPoint

On 64-bit Windows with a 32-bit Office install, also check: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\WOW6432Node\Microsoft\Office\PowerPoint\Addins\INSYNCR.SignageTube Live Plugin for PowerPoint

LoadBehavior Values Explained

The correct value for SignageTube is 3. If you see 0 or 2, the add-in has been disabled — either by you or automatically by PowerPoint after a crash.

How to Fix a Wrong LoadBehavior

1. In Registry Editor, navigate to the SignageTube key.
2. Double-click the LoadBehavior DWORD value.
3. Ensure the Base is set to Decimal, then set the value to 3.
4. Click OK and restart PowerPoint.

Pro tip: If the value keeps reverting from 3 to 2 after restarting PowerPoint, this is a strong sign that the add-in is failing to load and PowerPoint is automatically rolling it back. Check the Event Viewer (see Step 5) for error details.

Step 4: Resiliency Keys — When PowerPoint Keeps Disabling Your Add-in

When PowerPoint disables an add-in due to a crash, it writes an entry to a special registry location called the Resiliency key. As long as an entry exists here, Office may continue to suppress the add-in — even if you re-enable it manually.

Clearing the Resiliency Key

Navigate to:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Office\16.0\PowerPoint\Resiliency\DisabledItems

(Replace 16.0 with your Office version: 15.0 for 2013, 16.0 for 2016/2019/2021/365)

Look for any entries related to SignageTube and delete them. Then:

1. Re-enable the add-in in the COM Add-ins dialog.
2. Set the LoadBehavior to 3 in the registry.
3. Restart PowerPoint.

Also check:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Office\16.0\PowerPoint\Resiliency\CrashingAddinList

Delete any SignageTube entries here as well.

Step 5: Check Windows Event Viewer for Load Errors

If the add-in keeps failing silently, the Windows Event Viewer often contains the real error message.

1. Press Windows + R, type eventvwr.msc, and press Enter.
2. Navigate to Windows Logs → Application.
3. Look for errors with a source of Microsoft Office or the add-in name around the time you last opened PowerPoint.

Common errors you might find:

• “The add-in could not be loaded” — often caused by a missing or mismatched dependency (e.g., a .NET runtime or Visual C++ redistributable).
• “Access is denied” — a permissions issue, often on the add-in’s installation folder or registry key.
• “Class not registered” — the COM registration is missing or broken. Reinstalling the add-in or running regsvr32 will fix this.

Step 6: Re-register the Add-in (COM Registration)

If the add-in does not appear in the COM Add-ins list at all, its COM registration may be missing. This can happen after a Windows update, a repair of Office, or an incomplete installation.

Re-registering Manually

Re-registration is handled by the ClickOnce or VSTO installer. Running the setup file again (or using the repair option) is the safest approach.

After re-registering, open PowerPoint, go to the COM Add-ins dialog, and verify the SignageTube entry has returned. If it does not appear automatically, click Add… and browse to the add-in file manually.

Step 7: Check Office Trust Center Settings

PowerPoint’s Trust Center can block add-ins based on security policies, especially in managed corporate environments.

1. Go to File → Options → Trust Center → Trust Center Settings.
2. Click Add-ins in the left panel.
3. Make sure neither of these options is checked:
   • Disable all Application Add-ins
   • Require Application Add-ins to be signed by Trusted Publisher

If your organization enforces these settings via Group Policy, you may need to contact your IT department to whitelist the SignageTube add-in.

Step 8: Run a Repair Install of SignageTube Live

If all of the above steps fail to resolve the issue, the cleanest solution is often a full reinstall:

1. Go to Settings → Apps (Windows 10/11) and uninstall the SignageTube plugin completely.
2. Manually check that the registry keys under HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Office\PowerPoint\Addins\ have been removed. Delete any remaining SignageTube entries.
3. Restart Windows.
4. Download the latest SignageTube plugin installer from the SignageTube portal and run it as Administrator.
5. Open PowerPoint and verify the add-in is present and active.

Quick Reference Checklist

Use this checklist whenever the SignageTube plugin is missing or not working:

• [ ] Check COM Add-ins dialog — is SignageTube listed and checked?
• [ ] Check Disabled Items — is SignageTube in this list?
• [ ] Check the LoadBehavior registry value — is it set to 3?
• [ ] Clear the Resiliency registry keys for SignageTube.
• [ ] Check Windows Event Viewer for load errors.
• [ ] Verify COM registration is intact (regsvr32 or reinstall if not).
• [ ] Review Trust Center settings for add-in restrictions.
• [ ] Run a clean reinstall of the SignageTube plugin as a last resort.

Still Stuck?

If you’ve worked through this guide and the SignageTube plugin still isn’t behaving, reach out to the SignageTube support team with the following information to speed up the diagnosis:

• Your PowerPoint version (File → Account → About PowerPoint)
• Your Windows version
• The current value of the LoadBehavior registry key
• Any error messages from Windows Event Viewer
• Whether the issue happens on a single machine or across multiple machines

Our support team can also remotely inspect your add-in registration and logs to pinpoint the cause quickly.