Forum Discussion
How do I block Microsoft yellow info bar ads?
A few times per week I get these annoying ads from office 365. I think the last one was advertising a free month if I change to monthly billing. They show up in Excel and Word (and I assume the other applications as well - but I use Excel and Word much more often.)
I can find no documentation about how to get rid of these ads.
I want them to go away.
Forever.
Thanks! Screenshot of an example (advertising Word templates) below.
29 Replies
I keep getting this one anyone know how to get rid of it
garthy
I agree that this is a "feature" that should be automatically disabled for paying customers.
The way I turned it off:
File > Options > Privacy Settings > Scrolll down...
Disable: Connected experiences:-Experiences that analyze your content
-Experiences that download online content
-All connected experiences-Personalized Offers and Discounts for Microsoft Products:
Then press [OK] and make sure to restart your Excel.
- Has any one found a solution yet? I have a paid office 365 subscription and still get these annoying messages. I've looked under Trust Center Settings and see no options for connected experiences. These messages started appearing after a recent automatic Microsoft update.
- The only true solution is to get off of MSO get on Linux with Open Office Suite! Even though this is not realistic when working for a larger organization with tech illiteracy syndrome, it is palliative to have one's own laptop with a Linux OS installed in the same workspace. Then every time one gets annoyed by MS software, go on the Linux machine and play some music, make a meme, read some chat mail, etc.
- I'm just getting horrible Microsoft adverts in the info bar...WTF honestly its a bloody paid product, ditch this stuff Satya if you want to keep selling Office...total stupidity!
- In Word (Office 365), try disabling "connected experiences".
Go to Options > Trust Center > Trust Center Settings > Privacy Options > Privacy Settings, then uncheck "Turn on optional connected experiences"- This works but unfortunately for TEAMS they still send annoying popup tips that never time out even with "Optional connected experiences" turned OFF.
This is clearly highly annoying SPAM from Microsoft for their PAYING customers. I bought the full version of office instead of buying into any endless subscription since I prefer a one time payment over and recurring payment.
Now they are annoying me with these SPAM ads - without any option right there to "DO NOT EVER SHOW THISE ANNOYING ADS AGAIN" - completely unacceptable Microsoft!
I have had the "Show policy tip" check box unchecked for some time now, and I still have this.
We pay fees and they still spam us? This is very annoying.
This is something called Biz Bar notifications in Microsoft office. These notifications provide tips and guidance for using new apps. Refer screenshot for more details..
However I was not able to find any documents on how to opt in or opt out of these notifications from the Microsoft365 Admin Center in my test tenant.
Though I would strongly recommend try Organizational profile tab under Settings in Microsoft365 Admin center and check if you have any options to opt out of these notifications...
Thanks
Robin Nishad
Consultant
Rnishat0786 roygern VasilMichev , Anyone found the answer to this?
Closest i can get is this: https://community.spiceworks.com/topic/2184238-how-to-disable-office-application-tips
but i dont want to disable Policy tips, even if it works.
I think I've found an solution.
When you uncheck: Preferences > Privacy -> Connected Experiences
the bar disappears.
Sadly Gmail stops working also 😞
Any solution to this yet?
I've been getting a yellow bar ad in Excel for over a week. It states:
"Pro Tip: Get the answers you need from your numbers with Power BI"There are no settings to turn this off. I don't want advertising Microsoft. Plain and simply. My company pays a LOT (every year) for our licenses. It should not be subsidized with ads.
No way to turn it off and having it show up in the yellow bar, which you know people will look at because that's where important messages are displayed, is a shady business practice. While I'm not surprised based on the atmosphere at MS this last half decade, it is annoying.
Deleted
Did you try to disable the notifications from Windows 10 settings..
Settings - System - Notifications and actions -
Turn the Notification Off...
Thanks
Robin Nishad
My Windows notifications have been disabled since the day I installed. I'm not sure this would affect what I'm seeing in Excel anyway.
To be clear this is not a windows pop-up notification. OP and I are speaking about the yellow info bar that Office uses. The one right below the ribbon. This yellow bar is typically used to notify users of dangerous content and other important messages. Having it show ads everyday is not only annoying but is going to make me less likely to pay attention to actual important messages.
Never seen one of these, which version/build of Office is that? They seem to use the same "info bar" UI that's used by other, more important features, so I can see how that can be annoying...
- Any fix for this? At this point, it's become spam. It's infuriating.
I've also got Office 365. Version 1902 (Build 11328.20158).
