Office Settings & Configuration

How to Hide the Microsoft 365 Free Trial Pop-Up via GPO or Registry

Emma Brown Oct 15, 2026 871 views

Question details

IT administrators need a method to deploy a network-wide setting that suppresses the Microsoft 365 trial notification for end-users.

How to Hide the Microsoft 365 Free Trial Pop-Up via GPO or Registry

Product: Microsoft Office
Device & OS: Windows
Scenario: Managing enterprise or multi-user environments where unexpected Office upgrade prompts interrupt daily workflow.
Observed behavior: Users repeatedly encounter a 'Not ready to buy? Try Microsoft 365 for free' pop-up when launching Office applications.

Before you start

Before modifying the Windows Registry or deploying Group Policy Preferences, ensure you back up the registry and test the configuration on a single machine to prevent unintended software behavior.

Solution 1Recommended

Capture and Deploy the Registry Key

Since official GPOs may lack this specific setting, you can capture the registry change made by the UI checkbox and deploy it across your network.

The standard Office Administrative Templates do not always include a dedicated policy to disable this specific trial prompt. However, selecting the 'Don't show this again' option in the prompt creates a specific registry value that can be distributed to other machines.

Trigger the UI suppression

Open the affected Microsoft Office application, wait for the trial pop-up to appear, check the 'Don't show this again' box, and close the prompt.

Identify the registry key

Open the Windows Registry Editor (regedit) and navigate to the current user's Office software hive (typically under HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Office\16.0) to locate the newly created suppression DWORD value.

Deploy via Group Policy Preferences

Open Group Policy Management Editor, navigate to User Configuration > Preferences > Windows Settings > Registry, and create a new Registry Item that mirrors the exact key and value you found.

Test the deployment

Apply the GPO to a small test organizational unit (OU), run 'gpupdate /force' on a test machine, and verify that the Microsoft 365 pop-up no longer appears.

Controlled Testing Required: Always test registry modifications in a controlled environment before deploying them broadly to all enterprise workstations.

Solution 2

Update Office Administrative Templates

Check if newer Group Policy templates have introduced a direct toggle for trial notifications.

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Frequently Asked Questions

Why does the Microsoft 365 trial pop-up keep appearing?

Microsoft pushes this notification to users on older standalone Office versions or unregistered products to encourage them to upgrade to their subscription-based Microsoft 365 service.

Is there a dedicated Group Policy to hide the Microsoft 365 trial prompt?

As of the March 2023 administrative templates, there is no official, dedicated GPO policy specifically named for this prompt. Administrators must usually rely on registry edits captured from the user interface.

How do I deploy a registry fix to multiple computers?

You can deploy registry modifications across an Active Directory environment by using Group Policy Preferences (GPP). Navigate to User Configuration > Preferences > Windows Settings > Registry to push the targeted key to your users' machines.

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