Microsoft is turning off ActiveX by default in Office 2024

Microsoft Office 2024, the latest version of the company's productivity apps, will be released later this year. In addition to new features, the suite will include various changes, improvements, and security updates. One such update will directly affect customers whose workflows involve documents with ActiveX objects. With Office 2024, ActiveX controls in Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Visio will be turned off by default, and users will not receive any warnings.

Microsoft published a warning about the upcoming change in the Microsoft 365 Admin Center (MC884011, via @teroalhonen on X):

Starting in new Office 2024, the default configuration setting for ActiveX objects will change from Prompt me before enabling all controls with minimal restrictions to Disable all controls without notification. This change applies to the Win32 desktop versions of Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Visio.

Users will no longer be able to create or interact with ActiveX objects in Office documents when this change is implemented. Some existing ActiveX objects will still be visible as a static image, but it will not be possible to interact with them. In non-commercial SKUs of Office, users will see this notification when an ActiveX object is blocked by the new default behavior:

The new default setting is equivalent to the existing DisableAllActiveX group policy setting.

The change will be implemented in October, alongside the release of Office 2024. Microsoft 365 apps will receive the same treatment in April 2025.

Microsoft understands that some companies would still need access to ActiveX objects, so it provided three methods to enable them:

• In the Trust Center Settings dialog, under ActiveX Settings, select the Prompt me before enabling all controls with minimal restrictions option.
• In the registry, set HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\Common\Security\DisableAllActiveX to 0 (REG_DWORD).
• Set the Disable All ActiveX group policy setting to 0.

Turning off ActiveX in Office 2024 marks another step in the years-long process of phasing out the framework, which is known for its security issues and poor user experience. However, Microsoft still allows enabling ActiveX for compatibility reasons in Office apps and Microsoft Edge via Internet Explorer mode.