How do I block Microsoft yellow info bar ads?

Copper Contributor

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.

 

infoAd.JPG

29 Replies

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...

It's 365

 

version 1902, build 11328.20146

 

 

@Vasil Michev 

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).

I'm on the same build and I've left Word running for a few days now, I haven't seen any such "ad". I'd suggest you open a support case and see what the engineers tell you.

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 - 

 

 

excel.PNG

 

Turn the Notification Off...

 

Thanks

 

Robin Nishad

@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. 

@Deleted 

 

In that case as @Vasil Michev suggested.. open a support case with MS..

 

Thanks

 

Robin Nishad

@roygern 

 

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

ConsultantBiz Bar.PNG

@Robin Nishad @roygern @Vasil Michev , 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.

@kimmedi 

I think I've found an solution.

When you uncheck: Preferences > Privacy -> Connected Experiences 

the bar disappears.

Sadly Gmail stops working also :(

@Leppad_7691 

 

If you go under options-> Trust Center, there is a check box to turn this on and off

@insureyoutoo  Which setting in specific turns the yellow bar ads off? I see several items, but not sure exactly which one of those boxes I need to check.

@PammiBB Sorry, been a while since I looked, but I believe it's Policy Tips.

 

insureyoutoo_0-1600875095753.png

 

Thanks! I'll give that a try.

@insureyoutoo Thank you ever so much. This has been driving me crazy for the last few months. Some auto-update enabled it. I've flipped that switch so to speak and am going to keep my fingers crossed that it solves it.

I am using Office 2013 and the policy tips option is not visible for me. Would you happen to know another method of disabling this feature? Thanks in advance!

___AW_1-1628621452474.png

 

I have had the "Show policy tip" check box unchecked for some time now, and I still have this.

 

___AW_0-1628621230357.png

We pay fees and they still spam us? This is very annoying.

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!

 

Muchael_0-1640088428057.png