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(This feature has been disabled by your administrator) error in Microsoft Office

  • Article
  • Applies to:
    Word for Microsoft 365, Excel for Microsoft 365, Outlook for Microsoft 365, PowerPoint for Microsoft 365, Publisher for Microsoft 365, Word LTSC 2021, Excel LTSC 2021, Outlook LTSC 2021, PowerPoint LTSC 2021, Publisher LTSC 2021, Word 2019, Excel 2019, Outlook 2019, PowerPoint 2019, Publisher 2019, Word 2016, Excel 2016, Outlook 2016, PowerPoint 2016, Publisher 2016, Microsoft Office 2013 Service Pack 1, Word 2013, Excel 2013, Outlook 2013, PowerPoint 2013, Publisher 2013

Symptoms

When you try to perform certain actions in Microsoft 365 Apps, Office LTSC 2021, Office 2019, Office 2016, or Office 2013 applications, you receive the following error message:

This feature has been disabled by your administrator.

The actions that trigger this error message may include the following:

  • On the File menu, you click Account or Office Account, and then you click Sign In.
  • On the File menu, you click Share, and then you click Present Online.
  • On Microsoft SharePoint Server or in OneDrive for Business, you click Sync Now.

In Office 2013, Office 2016, Office 2019, and Office LTSC 2021, this error affects connected experience. In Microsoft 365 Apps, this error affects Office licensing and connected experience.

Cause

This issue occurs if one of the following registry values is configured as specified:

Note

The xx placeholder in the following registry entry is 15 for Office 2013 and 16 for Office 2016, Office 2019, Office LTSC 2021 and Microsoft 365 Apps.

  • HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\xx.0\Common\Internet

    Name: UseOnlineContent
    Type: DWORD
    Value: 0

  • HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Office\xx.0\Common\Internet

    Name: UseOnlineContent
    Type: DWORD
    Value: 0

  • HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\xx.0\Common\SignIn

    Name: SignInOptions
    Type: DWORD
    Value: 3

  • HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Office\xx.0\Common\SignIn

    Name: SignInOptions
    Type: DWORD
    Value: 3

Resolution

Important

Follow the steps in this section carefully. Serious problems might occur if you modify the registry incorrectly. Before you modify it, back up the registry for restoration in case problems occur.

To resolve this issue, follow these steps to modify the registry:

  1. Exit Microsoft Outlook.

  2. Start Registry Editor. To do this, use one of the following procedures, as appropriate for your version of Windows:

    • Windows 10: In the search box on the taskbar, type regedit, then select Registry Editor (Desktop app) from the results.
    • Windows 8: Press Windows Key+R to open a Run dialog box. Then, type regedit.exe,and then press OK.
    • Windows 7: Click Start, type regedit.exe in the search box, and then press Enter.

  3. In Registry Editor, locate and then click the following subkey:

    HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\xx.0\Common\Internet

    Note

    The xx placeholder is 15 for Office 2013, and 16 for Office 2016, Office 2019, Office LTSC 2021, and Microsoft 365 Apps.

  4. Locate and then double-click the following value: UseOnlineContent.

  5. In the Value Data box, type 2, and then click OK.

  6. Locate and then click the following subkey:

    HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\xx.0\Common\SignIn

    Note

    The xx placeholder is 15 for Office 2013 and 16 for Office 2016, Office 2019, Office LTSC 2021, and Microsoft 365 Apps.

    For Microsoft 365 Apps, you also locate and select this subkey:

    HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Cloud\Office\16.0\Common\SignIn

  7. Locate and then double-click the following value: SignInOptions.

  8. In the Value Data box, type 0, and then click OK.

  9. Exit Registry Editor.

Note

If the UseOnlineContent or SignInOptions value is located under the Policies hive, it may have been created by Group Policy. In this situation, your administrator must modify the policy to change this setting if the administrator set the value.

More Information

The UseOnlineContent setting controls users' access to the Office online features. This setting can be configured by using the following values:

  • 0 = Don't allow Office to connect to the Internet. Office applications don't connect to the Internet to access online services or to download the latest online content from Office.com. Connected features of Office are disabled.
  • 2 = Allow Office to connect to the Internet. Office applications use online services and download the latest online content from Office.com when users' computers are connected to the Internet. Connected features of Office are enabled. This option enforces the default configuration.

The SignInOptions setting controls whether users can provide credentials to Office by using either their Windows Live ID or the user ID that was assigned by their organization (Org ID) for accessing Microsoft 365. This setting can be configured by using the following values:

  • 0 = Both IDs allowed
  • 1 = Microsoft Account only (see the note below)
  • 2 = Org ID only
  • 3 = Users can't sign in by using either ID (see the note below)

Note

Based on the recent license improvements, users are required to sign in to activate Office on their devices. We don't recommend using options 1 and 3 for SignInOptions in Microsoft 365 Apps. Either of these options will block sign-ins that use work accounts or Microsoft Entra accounts and users won't be able to access Office clients.