How To Block Microsoft Office From Internet?

Microsoft Office is a powerful program. However, sometimes, it is used for malicious purposes and can bring damages to our computers or cause being infected with a lot of viruses. Here I will introduce some methods that you can use to temporarily block Microsoft Office from Internet.

When Microsoft Office programs like Word or Excel continuously show pop-ups to sign in, this can be annoying for many users. To prevent this from happening, you can block MS Office from the internet. There are several ways to do that. You can learn about the processes of securing an MS office from the internet from this article.

Using The Office Apps

You can use any MS Office program to block internet access directly. For this:

1. Launch any Office program and open a blank file (i.e., Word, PowerPoint, Excel, etc.).
2. Open the “File” tab (on the top left corner) and go to “Options.”
3. On the left side, find and click on the “Trust Center” option from the list.
4. Click and open the “Trust Center Settings…”.
5. Again from the left-side-list, open “Privacy Options.”
6. Under the “Privacy Options” section, uncheck any box that says connect to the internet. Different versions may have additional quotes written.
7. After unchecking, click “Ok” to apply the changes.

After this, your Microsoft Office program will be blocked from the internet.

Note: When you apply it to one Office Program like Excel, it will be automatically used for the other programs like Word, PowerPoint, etc. You can later follow these same steps to unblock the program again if necessary.

Using Windows Defender Firewall

You can use the windows defender firewall to block MS Office from the internet. To enable this:

1. Go to “Control Panel > Windows Defender Firewall.”
2. Open the “Advanced settings > Inbound Rules.”
3. Click on “New Rule…” and choose “Program” on the new pop-up window.
4. Click “Next >” and then choose the path of the Office Program (i.e., Excel or Word) that you want to block.
5. On the “Next >” tab, choose “Block the connection” and again hit “Next >.”
6. Check all the boxes (Domain, Private, and Public) and click “Next >.”
7. Fill up the “Name” field using a proper name that you can recognize later and Click “Finish >.”

It will block the Office program that you have chosen from the internet.

Note: You have to choose different Office programs individually in this process. You can permanently disable this blocking by deleting the file if you want. Choose the file and click the “Delete” button on the right side to delete this blocking.

Using a Firewall App Blocker Software

You can also use an app blocker software to block an Office program from the internet by following these steps:

1. Click here to download the zip file of the Firewall App Blocker (FAB).
2. Unzip the file and launch either “Fab.exe” or “Fab_x64.exe” based on your system.
3. At the bottom, choose “Inbound Rules.”
4. Click the “+” icon and choose the path of the Office program you want to block.
5. Alternatively, you can drag the .exe file of the program (i.e., EXCEL.exe or WORD.exe) and drop it in the FAB Window.

The file will be blocked automatically. You can now close the FAB window. At any time, if you wish to unblock it:

1. Relaunch Fab.exe or Fab_x64.exe.
2. Choose the Office program that you have blocked.
3. Click on the “Allow Selected” button to unblock it.
4. You can also use the “-” button to delete the selected program, which will also unblock it.

Summary: Block Microsoft Office from Internet

• Open Microsoft Word.
• Go to File and click Options.
• Choose Trust Center.
• Click Trust Center Settings.
• Click on Protected View tab.
• Uncheck all 3 options within the Protected View section.