Install Flat Pack

Flat Pack is a Windows PowerPoint add-in, so you need Microsoft PowerPoint installed on the PC. The browser-only version of PowerPoint won’t work. Installing is one step: run the setup file and reopen PowerPoint.

Download the setup file

You’ll find the Flat Pack setup file with your purchase:

• From your Gumroad library. Flat Pack appears there after you buy, and the same page always has the latest version.
• Or from the product page.

Run the installer

1. Close PowerPoint and every other Office app, including Word, Excel, and Outlook.
2. Run the setup file you downloaded.
3. Follow the installer through to the end.
4. Reopen PowerPoint. The Flat Pack tab now appears in the ribbon.

That’s it. Flat Pack loads itself into PowerPoint, so there’s no separate step to add a file by hand.

Caution

Windows can block files it knows came from the internet. If the setup file won’t run, right-click it, choose Properties, tick Unblock at the bottom of the General tab, click OK, and run it again.

If the installer won’t run

A few things can stop the setup file, all fixable:

• “Access denied” or Code 5. An Office app is still holding a file open. Close PowerPoint, Word, Excel, and Outlook, then run the setup again. If it still won’t proceed, reboot and retry.
• “This app can’t run” or “only Store apps are allowed.” The PC is likely in Windows S Mode, which blocks any installer that isn’t from the Microsoft Store. Switch out of S Mode first, then run the setup file.

Confirm it worked

Open PowerPoint and look for the Flat Pack tab in the ribbon. If it’s there, you’re ready. Head to getting started.

If the tab doesn’t appear, or disappears later, that’s usually PowerPoint losing track of the add-in’s file location, Windows blocking it, or lost Trusted Publisher status after a Windows update. See the add-in missing from PowerPoint and the add-in being blocked for the fixes. A lost Trusted Publisher certificate after a Windows update can knock out several Bearwood Labs add-ins at once, so if another add-in vanished at the same time, that’s the likely cause.

Updating

Flat Pack updates by re-running its installer, not by swapping a loose file:

1. Download the latest version from your Gumroad library or the product page.
2. Close PowerPoint completely.
3. Run the new setup file. If it tells you to uninstall the old version first, do that, then run the new setup again.
4. Reopen PowerPoint.

Updating is a straight swap of the add-in. It doesn’t touch your license, your Flat Pack settings, or any PowerPoints, PDFs, or resources you’ve already made. If PowerPoint ever says the add-in’s certificate has expired, installing this latest signed version is the fix. See updating an add-in for the general process.