Why does the "Restart Office to apply privacy settings" not go away

With respect Tracy, I recently had two MS support staff do all that you suggest and the problem still exists across all my computers. MS has a problem and for some reason will not acknowledge the problem. Restarting the computer, deleting registry keys, and reinstalling Windows 11 Pro does not make any difference. You need to put down AI searches and refer the problem to a manager, or go around them to the next manager.

Hi Tracy,

Contributing to the above, I also have the same problem, tried the same solutions above (except reinstalling office) and still have the same issue.

It seems to be a bulk issue, so I will wait for the proper resolution from Microsoft instead of reinstalling the entire office package.

Two technicians have reinstalled office my computer and it did not solve the problem. I also changed the resolutions and the security settings without success. I will also add that I reinstalled Windows 11 and the problem remained. It is time to stop experimenting and find a fix.

Dear RennieSchmid

We received a response from a user who was able to get back to normal after rolling back Office to version 16.0.17328.20142. We are currently testing this method, but we have received feedback from a user that it resolved the issue, so we suggest you try it.

1. Close all Office software, search for "Command Prompt" (or "cmd") in the "Start Menu", and right-click the mouse and select "Run as administrator";
2. In the command prompt enter the following code: cd %programfiles% \Common Files\microsoft shared\ClickToRun, and then press Enter;
3. And then enter: Officec2rclient.exe /update user updatetoversion=16.0.17328.20142

17328.20142 is the internal version number of the version you want to install, you can also choose an earlier version. Please refer to this link for the specific version number:

Update history for Microsoft 365 Apps (listed by date) - Office release notes | Microsoft Learn (In English)

We hope you find the above information helpful. Whether or not it works, please let us know by replying. Thank you for your understanding.

Best Regards,

Tracy | Microsoft Community Support Specialist

Hi Tracy,

I uninstalled MS 365 and then rebooted the computer.

After rebooting, I opened WORD. The same "Restart" message appeared.

I opened the privacy setting and the associated window launched. This was unusual. I checked that everything was enabled and then closed the window.

I launched WORD. This time it launched without the error message!

So this proved that the problem is associated with the privacy settings.

I re-enrolled in the Insider Program. After the latest Insider version was installed, I again launched WORD, and the "Restart" error returned. I attempted to open open the privacy setting and the error appeared again. The privacy window did not open. The error remains.

To summarize, I have completely uninstalled MS Office 365 on two separate computers. I have installed via the downloaded full Desktop installer. The error remains.

The error fully manifests in the Insider editions.

Rennie