M365 Changelog: Microsoft Word, Excel, and PowerPoint: Update to Office Add-ins Store policy for minor users – Sep 21, 2024

MC894579 – Users with Microsoft Word, Excel, and PowerPoint on Windows desktops and the web will soon have access to an updated version of the Office Add-ins Store in these applications. This store will continue to support users in exploring, installing, and managing Office Add-ins provided by Microsoft and third parties.

With this new feature, minor users will no longer be permanently blocked from getting Office Add-ins from the Office Add-ins Store.

Learn more:

• View, manage, and install add-ins for Excel, PowerPoint, and Word – Microsoft Support
• Understand how to configure the Age Group property in Microsoft Entra admin center

When this will happen:

Targeted Release: Microsoft will begin rolling out late October 2024 and expects to complete by late November 2024.

General Availability (Worldwide): Microsoft will communicate timing with a new Message center post in the future.

How this will affect your organization:

Users will experience a new Office Add-ins Store in Word, Excel, and PowerPoint on both Windows desktops and on the web. Minor users not blocked by tenant administrators will be able to get Office Add-ins from the Office Add-ins Store.

This feature will be available by default.

What you need to do to prepare:

Review your current configuration to determine the impact for your organization. You may want to notify your users about this change and update any relevant documentation.

For educational tenant administrators:

• If you wish to continue blocking minor students from getting Office Add-ins from the Office Add-ins Store, please ensure the user’s License Type is set to student, the Age group property is not set to Adult, and go to Microsoft admin center > Org settings > User owned apps and services to ensure the option Non-adult student is unchecked.
• For student users who you want to have access to the Office Add-ins Store, make sure their Age group property is set to Adult.

Educational tenant admins: The last step in Microsoft admin center to blocking minor students from getting Office Add-ins from the Office Add-ins Store: