Office Settings & Configuration

How to Hide Buttons in Office Online File Preview Embedded Viewer

Nimra Malik Sep 27, 2026 868 views

Question details

The user wants to know if it is possible to hide the control buttons displayed in the lower-right corner of the Office Online embedded viewer.

How to Hide Buttons in the Office Online File Preview

Product: Office Online
Device & OS: not provided
Scenario: Embedding an Office document into a website or application and attempting to customize the UI by removing default viewer controls.
Observed behavior: The Office Online embedded viewer displays default control buttons in the lower-right corner, and users need to know how to hide them.

Before you start

Ensure you have access to your website's HTML source code and the specific iframe URL being used for the Office Online embed.

Solution 1Recommended

Modify the Embed URL Parameters

Check the official Office viewer documentation to append supported parameters to your embed URL for customizing the UI.

The ability to hide control buttons in the Office Online file preview relies entirely on the URL parameters supported by Microsoft's embedding service. If a specific parameter is not officially documented, the buttons cannot be removed natively.

Locate your embed code

Open the HTML source of your webpage and find the iframe tag containing the 'view.office.live.com/op/embed.aspx' source URL.

Check official documentation

Visit the official Office viewer documentation to review the currently supported URL parameters and embedding options.

Append URL parameters

If a parameter for hiding controls is supported, append it to your iframe's src URL using an ampersand (e.g., &parameter=value).

Test the embedded viewer

Save your HTML changes and refresh your webpage to see if the buttons in the lower-right corner have been successfully hidden.

Limitation Warning: If no parameter is provided by Microsoft for hiding the controls in the current version, they cannot be removed through standard embedding settings.

Free Microsoft Office alternative

Use WPS Office to Export PDFs for Cleaner Web Embedding

Since Office Online restricts how much you can customize its embedded viewer, consider exporting your documents to PDF using WPS Office. PDFs can be embedded directly into web browsers natively, allowing you to bypass third-party branding and mandatory control buttons.

1. Open document in WPS Office: Launch WPS Office and open the Word, Excel, or PowerPoint file you intend to embed on your website.
2. Export to PDF: Click on 'Menu' in the top left corner, select 'Export to PDF', and save the file to your computer.
3. Embed the PDF natively: Upload the PDF to your server and use standard HTML <embed> or <object> tags to display it cleanly without Office Online UI constraints.

Export documents to PDF easily for seamless and clean web embeddingFully compatible with Microsoft Word, Excel, and PowerPoint formatsLightweight, fast, and completely free to useAvoid unremovable third-party UI controls on your website

microsoft office alternative - wps office

Frequently Asked Questions

Why can't I hide the download and print buttons in the Office Online viewer?

Microsoft locks certain UI elements for security, accessibility, and sharing purposes. If an official URL parameter is not provided to disable these buttons, they are hardcoded into the embed viewer and cannot be altered.

Is there a third-party tool to force-hide the Office Online embed buttons?

No. Because the viewer is loaded via a cross-origin iframe from Microsoft's servers, standard CSS or JavaScript on your website cannot target or hide elements inside the iframe due to browser security policies.

What is the best alternative to embedding Office documents if I need a custom UI?

Converting your document to a PDF and using a standard web-based PDF viewer (like PDF.js or native browser rendering) provides full control over which buttons and controls are displayed to your users.

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