Can not found "Security settings for Dynamic Data Exchange (DDE)" options of the external content settings for Excel in the Trust Center

Question

Hi all,

In my Excel 2016 (Home Office 2016  version, Win 10 pro version), the settings of  "Security settings for Dynamic Data Exchange (DDE)" in Trust Center/External Content is invisible.

Can someone help me to solve this problem?

I need to find it and change the DDE settings.

Thank you very much

Answer 1

Hi Joseph, 

Thank you for providing the answer to your question. The Security settings for Dynamic Data Exchange (DDE) option in Excel is only applicable or available to those Office suites under private domain or administrator. This can be a reason why this option in your Excel is unavailable or invisible.

If you would like me to provide additional advice, simply respond to this thread. I will get notified and I’ll reply to you as soon as I can.

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Answer 2

Hi Joseph,

Settings that are missing in Microsoft Excel could be due to version differences or data files got corrupted. We attempted to replicate your issue on our end and we did not find the "Security settings for Dynamic Data Exchange (DDE)" in Trust Center > External Content. What we found though is that under File > Options > Advanced > General you will see the option to enable or disable the option labeled "Ignore other applications that use Dynamic Data Exchange (DDE)". (See image below for reference)

Whilst under Trust Center > Trust Center Settings > External Content the only options we saw is shown in the image below:

If you were able to see this setting previously, kindly answer the questions below that will assist us in resolving your issue:

• When did the issue start to occur?
• Were there any changes made or updates installed prior to the issue occurring?
• What troubleshooting steps have you completed?
• Are there any pending updates that need to be installed on your device?

To notify us and have us get back to you, simply reply to this post.

Answer 3

Yes, my friend's computer is part of a domain in a company but not mine. My office 2016 version is Home & Business.

Thank you very much.

Answer 4

Thanks for the update. The steps in the article: "Disabling Dynamic Data Exchange (DDE) with group policy" that you mentioned is usually only used by administrators or IT personnel in a company environment. This requires that you have a business subscription of Microsoft Office so that these steps can be applicable. Since you were able to see the options in your friend’s computer, we'd like to verify if your friend’s computer is part of a domain or is that a work computer managed by a company?

To notify us and have us get back to you, simply reply to this post.

Answer 5

Hi Jordan,

Thank you for your kind and quick answer.

As you mentioned, I try to answer

• When did the issue start to occur?

-> Since I installed Office 2016 it occurred.  (No matter in Office 365 Education version or in Home version )

Were there any changes made or updates installed prior to the issue occurring?-> No.

• What troubleshooting steps have you completed?

-> I try using gpedit.msc program to tune group policy. But I still can not see the item  "Security settings for Dynamic Data Exchange (DDE)" in Trust Center > External Content.

ref. article: 

https://support.office.com/en-us/article/Disabling-Dynamic-Data-Exchange-DDE-with-group-policy-1cad6409-5c06-485d-bbed-614b3195b091

It's very strange that I can see the item "Security settings for Dynamic Data Exchange (DDE)" in Trust Center > External Content in other friend's computer. See below image in Chinese Version.

The selected area is  "Security settings for Dynamic Data Exchange (DDE)". 

• Are there any pending updates that need to be installed on your device?

-> Actually I don't know which kbXXXXX updates I need to update. Would you please tell and I will check it.

Thank you very much.

Joseph