Privacy controls available for Office products

Microsoft is committed to providing you with the information and controls you need to make informed choices about how your data is collected and used when you’re using Office products. This includes when you use the Office products on Windows, Mac, iOS, and Android devices as well as when you use the Office apps on the web.

Starting in April 2019, we began providing new, updated, and improved privacy controls for diagnostic data and connected experiences to our most current Office products. For more information, see Overview of privacy controls for Microsoft 365 Apps for enterprise.

The sections in this article contain the following information:

  • Which Office products and versions provide our most recent privacy controls
  • Which of those privacy controls are available in those Office products and versions
  • Links to articles with more information about managing these privacy controls

The sections are organized by where Office is being run, such as on a Windows or Mac device or from a web browser.

Office on Windows devices

Our most recent privacy controls are available for the following Office products when using Office on Windows devices:

  • Desktop versions of the Office applications that come with Microsoft 365 or Office 365 subscription plans. For example, the Office apps that come with the Microsoft 365 Personal plan (for home), the Microsoft 365 Business Standard plan (for businesses), or the Microsoft 365 E5 plan (for enterprises).
  • Retail versions of Office 2021, Office 2019, and Office 2016, which are available as a one-time purchase. For example, Office Professional 2021 or Office Home & Student 2019.
  • Desktop versions of Project and Visio that come with some subscription plans, such as Project Plan 5 or Visio Plan 2.
  • Retail versions of Project 2021, Project 2019, and Project 2016, all of which are available as a one-time purchase.
  • Retail versions of Visio 2021, Visio 2019, and Visio 2016, all of which are available as a one-time purchase.
  • Volume licensed versions of Office LTSC 2021, Project 2021, and Visio LTSC 2021.

For Windows devices, the following table lists the apps and the minimum version of those apps that have our most recent privacy controls.

App Minimum version
Access 1904
Excel 1904
OneDrive 20.084.0426.0007
OneNote 1904
Outlook 1904
PowerPoint 1904
Project 1904
Publisher 1904
Skype for Business 16.0.11629
Teams 1.3.00.13565
Visio 1904
Word 1904

For those versions of Office apps on Windows devices, the following privacy controls are available:

  • Configure the level of client software diagnostic data sent by Office to Microsoft
  • Allow the use of connected experiences in Office that analyze content
  • Allow the use of connected experiences in Office that download online content
  • Allow the use of additional optional connected experiences in Office
  • Allow the use of connected experiences in Office

Some Office products might not have certain types of connected experiences, so some privacy controls won’t be relevant.

To configure these privacy controls for your users that are using Office on Windows devices in your organization, you can use Group Policy or Cloud Policy. For more information, see Use policy settings to manage privacy controls for Microsoft 365 Apps for enterprise.

Note

The following volume licensed versions of Office, Project, and Visio only support the "Allow the use of additional optional connected experiences in Office" privacy control.

  • Office 2019, Project 2019, and Visio 2019, when they're configured to use the PerpetualVL2019 update channel. In that case, you must be using at least Version 1808 (Build 10367.20048), which was released on October 13, 2020.
  • Project 2019 and Visio 2019, when they're configured to use an update channel other than PerpetualVL2019. For example, if they're configured to use Current Channel, Monthly Enterprise Channel, or Semi-Annual Enterprise Channel. In that case, you must be using at least Version 1904.
  • Project 2016 and Visio 2016 that are installed by using Click-to-Run instead of being installed by using Windows Installer (MSI). In that case, you must be using at least Version 1904.

Office on Mac devices

Our most recent privacy controls are available for the following Office products when using Office on Mac devices:

  • Office for Mac, which is available with any Office 365 or Microsoft 365 subscription plan that includes the desktop versions of the Office apps. For example, the Office apps that come with the Microsoft 365 Family plan (for home), the Microsoft 365 Business Premium plan (for businesses), or the Microsoft 365 E3 plan (for enterprises).
  • Office 2019 for Mac, which is available as a one-time purchase from a retail store or through a volume licensing agreement.
  • Office LTSC Standard for Mac 2021, which is available as a one-time purchase through a volume licensing agreement.
  • Office 2021 for Mac, which is available as a one-time purchase from a retail store.

For Mac devices, the following table lists the apps and the minimum version of those apps that have our most recent privacy controls.

App Minimum version
Excel 16.28
OneDrive 20.169.0823.0003
OneNote 16.28
Outlook 16.28
PowerPoint 16.28
Skype for Business 16.28.0.192
Teams 1.3.00.9221
Word 16.28

For those versions of Office apps on Mac devices, the following privacy controls are available:

  • Configure the level of client software diagnostic data sent by Office to Microsoft
  • Allow the use of connected experiences in Office that analyze content
  • Allow the use of connected experiences in Office that download online content
  • Allow the use of additional optional connected experiences in Office
  • Allow the use of connected experiences in Office

Some Office products might not have certain types of connected experiences, so some privacy controls won’t be relevant.

To configure these privacy controls for your users that are using Office on Mac devices in your organization, you can use preferences or Cloud Policy. For more information, see Use preferences to manage privacy controls for Office for Mac.

Office on iOS devices

Our most recent privacy controls are available for the following Office products when using Office on iOS devices:

App Minimum version
Excel 2.30
Lens 2.38
Loop 1.0.0
Microsoft 365 app 2.34
OneDrive 11.19.11
OneNote 16.30
Outlook 4.30.0
Planner 1.9.4
PowerPoint 2.30
Skype for Business 6.26.2
Teams 1417/2.0.18(2020072902)
Visio Viewer 1.17
Word 2.30

For those versions of Office apps on iOS devices, the following privacy controls are available:

  • Configure the level of client software diagnostic data sent by Office to Microsoft
  • Allow the use of connected experiences in Office that analyze content
  • Allow the use of connected experiences in Office that download online content
  • Allow the use of additional optional connected experiences in Office

Some Office products might not have certain types of connected experiences, so some privacy controls won’t be relevant.

To configure these privacy controls for your users that are using Office on iOS devices in your organization, you can use preferences or Cloud Policy. For more information, see Use preferences to manage privacy controls for Office on iOS devices.

Office on Android devices

Our most recent privacy controls are available for the following Office products when using Office on Android devices:

App Minimum version
Excel 16.0.12228.20260
Lens 16.0.12730.20080
Loop 1.0.0
Microsoft 365 app 16.0.12430.20254
OneDrive 5.47
OneNote 16.0.12228.20004
Outlook 4.1.71
Planner 1.12.0
PowerPoint 16.0.12228.20260
Skype for Business 6.27.0.12
Teams 1416/1.0.0.2020080601
Word 16.0.12228.20260

For those versions of Office apps on Android devices, the following privacy controls are available:

  • Configure the level of client software diagnostic data sent by Office to Microsoft
  • Allow the use of connected experiences in Office that analyze content
  • Allow the use of connected experiences in Office that download online content
  • Allow the use of additional optional connected experiences in Office

Some Office products might not have certain types of connected experiences, so some privacy controls won’t be relevant.

To configure these privacy controls for your users that are using Office on Android devices in your organization, you need to use Cloud Policy. For more information, see Use policy settings to manage privacy controls for Office on Android devices.

Office for the web

Our most recent privacy controls are available for the following Office products when using Office from a web browser:

  • Excel
  • Loop
  • OneNote
  • PowerPoint
  • Visio
  • Word

There's no minimum version listed for these Office apps because Microsoft manages which version is available.

For Office on the web, the following privacy controls are available:

  • Allow the use of additional optional connected experiences in Office

To configure this privacy control for your users that are using Office on the web, you need to use Cloud Policy. For more information, see Use policy settings to manage privacy controls for Office for the web applications.