Office makes an annoying clicking sound all the time now

Anonymous
2016-08-07T19:14:49+00:00

Hi, I have a weird issue.  Recently, every time I open a Word, Excel, or other Office document, it persistently makes a "click" sound periodically in the background.  The sound is the same sound that Windows makes when you open a folder when browsing My Documents, for example.  Despite the fact that the click sound happens all the time, nothing appears to be happening in Word.

One surefire way to get it to happen: open the File tab.  When I open the File tab from the Home tab, it always makes a "click" sound as if it's doing something, but I don't know what it's doing.  This happens in Word, Excel, and every other app I've tried.  Also, if I open a Word document and then ALT-TAB to an internet browser, and then come back to the Word document in a few minutes, it makes that click sound again.  

I recently upgraded my Office suite.  Is that the reason?  Does anyone know how to get rid of it?  It's just really annoying.

Microsoft 365 and Office | Word | For home | Windows

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Anonymous
2018-10-12T14:13:12+00:00

Just a suggestion, try signing out and back in to your Microsoft Office account.  I was having the same incessant clicking sound issue and after I signed out and back in, the clicking went away.  It had to deal with the fact that my user wasn't properly signed in and I had an exclamation mark next to my name in the top right area of MS Word/Excel/etc.  After I signed in again, the exclamation mark went away, and so did the clicking.

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HansV 462.7K Reputation points MVP Volunteer Moderator
2016-08-07T19:53:59+00:00

Select File > Options.

Click on Advanced in the navigation pane on the left hand side.

Scroll down to the General section.

Make sure that the check box "Provide feedback with sound" is clear (not ticked).

Click OK.

Does that help?

Moderator edit: Note that this option is now located at File | Options | Ease of Access.

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  1. Anonymous
    2017-09-01T23:35:05+00:00

    Hahaha - I'm glad it helped.  I was sure frustrated, and I'm glad that the sound is gone!!

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  2. Anonymous
    2017-09-01T23:15:18+00:00

    You! You saved me from deleting One Note all together! Thank you a MILLION TIMES! I am dissapointed as well because I tried reaching out and recieved no reply from Microsoft :/ I was beginning to lose hope. Again, thank you! Now I can continue my work in peace. Someone at Microsoft needs to give this person free Microsoft products for life.

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  3. Stefan Blom 352.6K Reputation points MVP Volunteer Moderator
    2017-08-23T07:56:39+00:00

    For what it is worth, the "Provide feedback with sound" option was originally in the Advanced category, but it has moved (as you have noticed). If I remember correctly, the Ease of Access category didn't even exist when this thread was created over a year ago.

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