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Microsoft 365 Apps SHOULD NOT overwrite Office 2019/2021 one-time retail installs
I want to raise a serious concern about Microsoft 365 Apps being imposed over existing Office 2019/2021 installations that were activated with legitimate one-time installation retail keys. In our case, these are not Microsoft 365 subscriptions and they are not licenses we can simply deactivate and reactivate freely. They are one-time installation retail keys. Once the product has been installed and activated, removing Office and reinstalling it later can make the original key unusable or trigger “already used” activation problems. That is precisely why the current behavior is so damaging. We have PCs with legitimate Office 2019/2021 installations. These machines did not request a migration to Microsoft 365 Apps. However, after internet connection, Office update activity, or Microsoft account interaction, Office appears to silently update, convert, or replace the existing retail installation with the Microsoft 365 Apps version. This is not a minor inconvenience. It creates a serious licensing and operational problem: -A valid one-time Office 2019/2021 installation is replaced by Microsoft 365 Apps without clear, explicit consent. -The original retail installation is no longer cleanly usable. -Fixing the issue requires uninstalling Office, removing Click-to-Run/licensing/account leftovers, and reinstalling the previous Office 2019/2021 version. -But because these keys are one-time installation keys, that reinstall process can render the original key unusable or create activation failures. -In practice, a forced Microsoft 365 conversion can destroy the value of a legitimate one-time Office license. From a user’s perspective, this looks less like a normal software update and more like an exploitative commercial strategy: using Microsoft’s control over Office updates, account sign-ins, Click-to-Run, and activation systems to push already-paid retail users toward Microsoft 365 subscriptions. Even if Microsoft does not intend that result, the practical effect is that users who already paid for Office 2019/2021 can lose practical access to their licensed product and are then nudged toward paying again through a subscription. This should not happen. A perpetual or one-time installation Office license and Microsoft 365 Apps are different products with different licensing models. Microsoft should not silently replace or convert one into the other because a Microsoft 365 account exists on the PC, because the user signs into Office, because OneDrive is present, or because Office updates are enabled. At minimum, Microsoft should provide: -A clear opt-in confirmation before replacing, converting, upgrading, or rebranding Office 2019/2021 retail installations as Microsoft 365 Apps. -A supported way to block Microsoft 365 Apps from taking over one-time installation Office versions. -A clean removal tool that fully removes Microsoft 365 Apps, Click-to-Run leftovers, licensing remnants, and account-based activation conflicts. -A reliable way to restore the original Office 2019/2021 retail installation without invalidating or losing the original one-time key. -Clear separation between Windows account sign-in, OneDrive sign-in, Microsoft 365 entitlement, and local Office retail activation. Users who purchased legitimate one-time installation Office licenses should not be forced into Microsoft 365 Apps by unclear update behavior. If Microsoft wants users to move to Microsoft 365, that should be a deliberate, informed choice — not a silent process that leaves the user cleaning up the installation and losing access to a paid retail license. I am not asking how to install Microsoft 365. I am asking Microsoft to stop Microsoft 365 Apps from taking over valid one-time Office 2019/2021 installations without explicit consent.
Remove Archive button from Outlook Ribbon
I am attempting to deploy Office 365 using the ODT and the OCT. After deploying I noticed the "Archive" button is listed in the "Delete" group, on the ribbon. I have turned off AutoArchive settings, when customizing the OCT, but the option to remove this button is not listed. I have found the registry entry to remove the button and when I manually enter it, it works. I have not been able to find a way to enter custom registry entries, in the OCT file, that will automatically enter the setting. I attempted to edit the .xml file, but the button still shows. How do I edit the OCT file to add custom registry options? Thank you, EdOneNote Keeps Jumping to the top of the Page
This is probably the most annoying bug out there. This issue has been ongoing for years now and it seems like Microsoft is not fixing this issue. I have searched through multiple threads and I haven't found any solution for this... Microsoft OneNote constantly jumps to the top of the page when looking at an inserted PDF. This usually happens when I'm scrolling with my MacBook Pro trackpad. I'm begging anyone who has a solution to this to speak up. It is extremely annoying having to scroll back to a specific page on a 40+ page document. Sometimes, it happens every 30 seconds or so and it makes the user experience almost unbearable at this point. The only reason I haven't switched away from OneNote is that I have all my other notes on this program. PLEASE HELP!! Details: Microsoft OneNote 16.45 MacBook Pro: MacOS Catalina 10.15.2
Markdown and OneNote
2025 and still no markdown support in OneNote(touch supported version). This is Post ChatGPT era and all the LLMs generate text in markdown format. And I am pretty sure, a lot of people out there nowadays generate quick and concise notes through LLMs. But no, OneNote does not wanna render markdown. However, keeping source formatting can format text somewhere close to LLMs output. But not perfectly. The code snippets and tables does not render and appear as a mess. In simple words, I cannot copy LLM output for "Give me code examples of Rust's thread::spawn() function" directly into OneNote because it will be just appear gibberish. NOTE: There are two types of copying. 1) Select text and copy 2) Dedicated copy button in LLM output. So when I say copy I mean *2 as it preserves the markdown syntax.
Issue with viewing mode for E5 licensed users
I'm a sysadmin for a Health care provider in Sweden and we have an issue with users with an E5 license loading into Office apps in view-mode. As far as I know we are a coupe of organisations providing health care that have this same issue. Background: We have a mix of F3 and E5 licenses and sometimes the F3 licensed users need to view documents that contains info that isn't allowed to be saved in the cloud. To minimize the popups that show up when a user starts word unlicensed we have a GPO (viewer mode) that says that it should open i view-mode. Per my understanding this GPO is device based and not user based. However, this also affects the users of E5 license who regularly change workstations, easily 5-10 devices in a day. Since they should be able to view and edit documents in office apps it causes frustration and confusion when they load into view-mode and have to log out and then in again (or update license) and restart the program. Our computers devices are Microsoft Entra hybrid joined and shared computer licensing is enabled. Are there any solutions or viable workarounds for this issue? It's not complicated for users to handle but frustrating and causes a lot of tickets to the support team. Unsure if I'll be able to participate due to the time zone difference but will appreciate any and all help. /Per Ekholm
OneNote - Inserting Code Blocks
Are there any plans for a way to format code blocks in OneNote without inserting a 1 column/row table or an ugly print out? The most relevant Google search brings up a post from 2018 where the top answer says its been requested on UserVoice and directs OP there, but 3 years later, still no code block formatting options and Microsoft isn't using UserVoice anymore so I don't where else I can submit feature requests besides this discussion board. Thanks!
re-distributable installer for OneNote for Windows 10
Hi, I am attempting to obtain a re-distributable installer for"OneNote for Windows 10"( We have computers in our environment where the Microsoft Store is locked down and not accessible. I have access to the Microsoft Store on other computers and am able to successfully install/uninstall/re-install the app. I have also conducted online searches to determine where the MS Store downloads it's files to and tried to obtain the installer files by looking in the c:\programfiles\windowsapps\ directory and have been unsuccessful. I am attempting to comb through the temp directories to try to find anything. Any insight and guidance would be appreciated. Thank you.[Update on Microsoft 365 Copilot Mac app issue]
We have identified the root cause of the issue currently affecting some users on Microsoft 365 Copilot Mac app, starting with version 1.2601 released on January 27. A fix has been prepared for the same and will be delivered via Microsoft AutoUpdate (MAU) within the next 48 hours. Please note that the app may not function as expected if MAU configurations are being managed through MDM. To mitigate, tenant administrators can remove the LCID key from their MAU configuration, as illustrated below. Kindly let us know if the issue persists for you beyond this timeline.New add-in inventory report for Configuration Manager
Today a new report was released to the GitHub community site that allows you to collect and view an inventory of the Office Add-ins that are in use by the clients that you manage with System Center Configuration Manager (2012 R2 or later). This report gathers the inventory of each Office add-in that is installed as well as the device that has it installed and the status (enabled, disabled) allowing you to determine which add-ins are in use as well as the impact based on the number of installations. This report also provides a link to Microsoft's Office ProPlus Add-in Readiness report which you can view from http://aka.ms/addinreadiness. To get this new report, download it directly from GitHub at https://github.com/OfficeDev/Office-IT-Pro-Deployment-Scripts/tree/master/Office-ProPlus-Management/Get-OfficeAddins
