Microsoft announced it is disabling ActiveX by default in Microsoft Office 2024, impacting Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Visio.

ActiveX has a long history of posing a security risk within Windows and Office. In its ongoing effort to improve the security of its products, Microsoft is disabling ActiveX controls by default, as described in the Microsoft 365 Message Center.

ActiveX will be disabled by default in Office 2024, affecting Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Visio. This change occurs in October 2024 for Office 2024 and begins in April 2025 for Microsoft 365 apps. Users can re-enable ActiveX by adjusting Trust Center Settings, the registry, or group policy settings.

The company describes how the change will impact organizations.

Users will no longer be able to create or interact with ActiveX objects in Office documents when this change is implemented. Some existing ActiveX objects will still be visible as a static image, but it will not be possible to interact with them.

Microsoft outlines how to change the setting back, for those companies that need ActiveX controls.

In the Trust Center Settings dialog, under ActiveX Settings, select the Prompt me before enabling all controls with minimal restrictions* option.

In the registry, set HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\Common\Security\DisableAllActiveX to 0 (REG_DWORD).

Set the Disable All ActiveX group policy setting to 0.