Disabling “Updates for Office are ready to be installed” notificatons

Some users are annoyed by the number of notifications that they get in MS Office 2013 and 2016. Luckily, there is a way to stop MS Office update notifications from popping up. In this article, we will show you how to turn off Updates for Office are ready to be installed alerts.

Be mindful that if you are using the click-to-run version of Office 2016, then the Office updates are not controlled by Windows Update. Instead you need to control them through the settings of Office. In most cases, the updates will apply automatically in the background if the user is not using Office. However, if you are using Office when the updates need to be applied, this process will stall until you have finished using the Office application. When and if after several days the updates still haven’t found a way to install themselves, the user will get a notification.

When you want to disable “Updates for Office are ready to be installed” notifications, you can use one of the following options:

• you can switch off Office updates,
• you can edit your registry,
• you can remove Upgrade notifications in Office 2013 and Office 2016 by using Auslogics BoostSpeed to make sure your computer is not wasting valuable RAM on unnecessary notifications and such.

Now, let’s see the proposed fixes in a little more detail

Solution 1

Switching off Office Updates is a viable option, but you should be aware that this action will also mean that you will be missing out on Office updates. You don’t want to do this unless you have found another way of keeping track of the Office updates. Here are the instructions if you are sure you want to proceed with this course of action:

• Step 1. Open your Office application.
• Step 2. Navigate to the File tab and select Account.
• Step 3. Then scroll to the Update Options button and select Disable Updates on the menu.
• Step 4. Confirm your action.
• Step 5. Occasionally, you need to switch the updates back on and check if there are available updates that you need to install, but you will not be bothered by the notification alerts anymore.

Solution 2

Editing your Registry can be a daunting task, especially if you are not proficient in working with the Registry of your device. We advise to employ the help of someone who knows what to do or follow the instructions very carefully:

• Step 1. Use the Win key + R shortcut and type ‘regedit’, hit Enter.
• Step 2. Go to this key:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\software\microsoft\office\16.0\common\officeupdate

• Step 3. On the left pane of the window, click office update and then right-click an empty space on the right pane. Select New>DWORD.
• Step 4. As the DWORD name, copy and paste this command: hideupdatenotifications
• Step 5. Double-click hideupdatenotifications and open Edit DWORD window.
• Step 6. In the Value data text box, input 1.
• Step 7. Click OK to save the changes. You should not experience any alerts from now on.

Solution 3. Remove Upgrade Notifications

If you are using Office 2013, then you have definitely experienced the popping up of the “Get the new Office” notification. If you go through with this upgrade, you will get Office 2016. Unfortunately, if you click ‘Later’, the notification will not stop reminding you of the option to upgrade, which can be very frustrating. Use the Auslogics BoostSpeed tool to become aware where your computer is using the available resources and how you can manage that. Through this tool, you will have a choice of when to install the updates. Also, they will not ruin your day by randomly installing themselves in the background and stalling your work in the process.

Hopefully, this guide helped you to resolve the issue with the Office upgrade alert and you are using your computer with fewer distractions.