Use preferences to manage privacy controls for Office on iOS devices

Note

For a list of Office products covered by this privacy information, see Privacy controls available for Office products.

There are new preference settings for Office on iOS devices that allow you to control settings related to the following:

  • Diagnostic data that is collected and sent to Microsoft about Office client software being used.

  • Connected experiences that use cloud-based functionality to provide enhanced Office features to you and your users.

For more information about diagnostic data and connected experiences, see Overview of privacy controls.

Note

For information about similar settings for Office on computers running macOS, see Use preferences to manage privacy controls for Office for Mac

Setting device preferences

These new preference settings can also be set at the device level by a Mobile Device Management (MDM) server when the Office application is installed. Many MDM servers allow IT administrators to add an optional configuration dictionary when the server sends the InstallApplication MDM command to an iOS device. Refer to your MDM server documentation for more details.

The dictionary is represented as a set of key/value pairs in XML format. For example:

<dict>
	<key>DiagnosticDataTypePreference</key>
	<string>BasicDiagnosticData</string>
</dict>

Once sent to the device, the configuration dictionary will reside under the com.apple.managed.configuration key, where it will be read when the Office application is launched.

Note

You can also use Cloud Policy and these 4 policy settings:

  • Configure the level of client software diagnostic data sent by Office to Microsoft
  • Allow the use of connected experiences in Office that analyze content
  • Allow the use of connected experiences in Office that download online content
  • Allow the use of additional optional connected experiences in Office

Privacy settings for Outlook for iOS and OneDrive for iOS can only be configured by using Cloud Policy.

For more information on using Cloud Policy, see Overview of Cloud Policy service for Microsoft 365.

Preference setting for diagnostic data

Diagnostic data is used to keep Office secure and up-to-date, detect, diagnose and remediate problems, and also make product improvements. For more information, see Diagnostic data sent from Microsoft 365 Apps for enterprise to Microsoft.

Category Details
Key DiagnosticDataTypePreference
Data Type String
Possible values BasicDiagnosticData (this value sets the level to Required)
FullDiagnosticData (this value sets the level to Optional)
ZeroDiagnosticData (this value sets the level to Neither)

If you don't set this preference, both required and optional diagnostic data are sent to Microsoft if users with an Office 365 (or Microsoft 365) subscription are signed in with a work or school account. Also, these users can't change the level of diagnostic data regardless of how you set this preference.

For other users, such as home users with an Office 365 (or Microsoft 365) subscription, only required diagnostic data is sent, unless the user chooses to also send optional diagnostic data by going to Settings > Privacy Settings.

Preference setting for connected experiences that analyze your content

Connected experiences that analyze your content are experiences that use your Office content to provide you with design recommendations, editing suggestions, data insights, and similar features. For example, Design Ideas in PowerPoint. For a list of these connected experiences, see Connected experiences in Office.

Category Details
Key OfficeExperiencesAnalyzingContentPreference
Data Type Boolean
Possible values TRUE (enabled)
FALSE (disabled)

If you don't set this preference, connected experiences that analyze content are available to users.

If the user has an Office 365 (or Microsoft 365) subscription and is signed in with a work or school account, then the user can't turn off connected experiences that analyze content.

For other users, such as home users with an Office 365 (or Microsoft 365) subscription, the user can choose to turn off connected experiences that analyze content by going to Settings > Privacy Settings.

Preference setting for connected experiences that download online content

Connected experiences that download online content are experiences that allow you to search and download online content including templates, images, videos, and reference materials to enhance your documents. For example, Office templates or inserting an online icon. For a list of these connected experiences, see Connected experiences in Office.

Category Details
Key OfficeExperiencesDownloadingContentPreference
Data Type Boolean
Possible values TRUE (enabled)
FALSE (disabled)

If you don't set this preference, connected experiences that download online content are available to users.

If the user has an Office 365 (or Microsoft 365) subscription and is signed in with a work or school account, then the user can't turn off connected experiences that download online content.

For other users, such as home users with an Office 365 (or Microsoft 365) subscription, the user can choose to turn off connected experiences that download online content by going to Settings > Privacy Settings.

Preference setting for optional connected experiences

In addition to the connected experiences mentioned above, there are some optional connected experiences that you may choose to allow your users to access with their organization account, which is sometimes referred to as a work or school account. For example, Office add-ins that are downloaded through the Office Store to your device. For more examples, see Overview of optional connected experiences in Office.

Category Details
Key OptionalConnectedExperiencesPreference
Data Type Boolean
Possible values TRUE (enabled)
FALSE (disabled)

If you don't set this preference, optional connected experiences are available to users with an Office 365 (or Microsoft 365) subscription that are signed in with a work or school account. Unless you have set this preference to FALSE, these users can choose to turn off optional connected experiences by going to Settings > Privacy Settings.

For other users, such as home users with an Office 365 (or Microsoft 365) subscription, there isn't an option to turn off optional connected experiences.