How do I disable "Microsoft Word Security Notice" pop-up

Anonymous
2021-07-07T17:12:32+00:00

I am extremely frustrated, to the point that I want to just switch over to Apple products the way everyone tells me to.

For no reason - (at least nothing I did), Microsoft appears to have installed some type of software on my computer that whenever I copy and paste into a MS Word document, I get an annoying pop-up:

Microsoft Word Security Notice

Microsoft Office has identified a potential security concern.

This document contains fields that can share data with external files and websites. It is important that this file is from a trustworthy source.

Choosing Yes will enable updating all fields in this file until you close it.

And I say --- duh! This is what I was trying to do. But why do I have to be annoyed each and every time I do anything with MS Word products??? Oh.. I'm using Windows 10 Professional and a Microsoft 365 account through my school

How can I fix it? Or should I just throw this Dell Latitude Laptop out the window and start over with an iBook?

Arrrrrgh.

****@*****.***.edu

Microsoft 365 and Office | Word | For home | Windows

Locked Question. This question was migrated from the Microsoft Support Community. You can vote on whether it's helpful, but you can't add comments or replies or follow the question.

0 comments
Answer accepted by question author
Jay Freedman 208.2K Reputation points Volunteer Moderator
2021-07-08T15:04:48+00:00

I'm not sure if this is a bug or a security feature which was enabled after the last update. Is there a way to disable this warning when doing mail merges?

It is a bug in the last update, and it is what Microsoft's team is working to resolve. When the fix is released, the security notice should not pop up when it isn't appropriate, i.e., during a merge or after pasting a benign object from another location. Until that fix arrives, though, the rollback that you did is the only way to avoid the notices.

Was this answer helpful?

10+ people found this answer helpful.
0 comments
Answer accepted by question author
Anonymous
2021-07-16T06:16:21+00:00

I just updated my MS Office and this problem has been solved.

Was this answer helpful?

3 people found this answer helpful.
0 comments

101 additional answers

Sort by: Newest
Most helpful Newest Oldest
  1. Doug Robbins - MVP - Office Apps and Services 323.6K Reputation points MVP Volunteer Moderator
    2022-03-17T00:57:50+00:00

    The issue has been raised again with the Microsoft Word Product Group.

    Was this answer helpful?

    2 people found this answer helpful.
    0 comments
  2. Anonymous
    2022-03-16T11:17:18+00:00

    Neil,

    Thank you for this thoughtful reply, I greatly appreciate it. When I spoke to Microsoft Tech Support, who rolled back my PC to a working version, way back when, they (I spoke to several) all agreed that tweaking the registry was not a good idea, and not the best solution (at the time). Perhaps they too thought Microsoft would resolve the problem sooner.

    You're right about missing out on features in the updated versions. I will reconsider this option.

    Best wishes,

    Scott

    Was this answer helpful?

    0 comments
  3. Anonymous
    2022-03-16T09:04:36+00:00

    Scott,

    You have been working with a rolled back version for six months now.

    Tonisa offered a solution on 16-Sep-21 (page 6) based on a registry fix and I confirmed that it worked for me on 24-Sep-21.

    Since this workaround is available, I think it unlikely that Microsoft are working feverishly behind the scenes to fix this long standing and ongoing issue. Indeed this might well be the long term fix that you are hoping for.

    You previously replied that tweaking the registry was beyond your pay grade. But perhaps you should give it a try. In my opinion, it is better than losing the important functionality that INCLUDETEXT provides.

    The registry setting is in the HKCU hive for user settings, so does not need admin privileges to change it. Here is how it's done:

    1. Use Notepad to create a text file on your desktop called FixWordIncludeFields.reg.
    2. Insert the following text:

    -- start of text--

    Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

    [HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Office\16.0\Word\Security]

    "DisableWarningOnIncludeFieldsUpdate"=dword:00000001

    -- end of text--

    1. Save the file and double-click it. Your will be prompted by UAC to allow changes to your computer and then asked to confirm that you want to change the registry. Don't worry - we are only adding a setting, not changing or deleting any existing settings. The worst that could happen would be if Word were to ignore it so that it doesn't work.

    You won't be able to run the file if it s saved in a network folder. If you want to run it for other users, copy it to their desktop, run it from there and then delete it.

    Good luck!

    Kind regards

    Neil Sargent

    Was this answer helpful?

    0 comments