Some Windows 10 Insiders reporting pre-installed PWA versions of Office apps

2 min. read

Published on October 15, 2020

published on October 15, 2020

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It looks like Microsoft is automatically downloading Office PWAs on some Windows 10 Insider PCs, even without explicitly asking from the users. According to a report from Windows Latest (via ZDNet), the company appears to be testing this approach selectively on some Windows 10 devices that are enrolled in the Windows Insider Program.

As it turns out, the company launched the forced installation process last week. Many users complained about getting dedicated entries for Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Outlook in the Start menu on their machines without requesting so. More specifically, all PWAs appeared under the recently installed section in the Start menu.

Office web apps in Start Menu — *Source: Windows Latest*

As Windows Latest notes, the forced installation is currently being tested as a part of an A/B test effort, with only some users receiving the new PWAs. All PWAs that were installed quietly on Windows 10 machines came from Microsoft Edge. However, it remains to be seen if this also happened on PCs where the new Microsoft Edge isn’t set as the default browser.

It is worth noting that the PWA Builder and Microsoft Edge teams are currently collaborating to launch Edge-based PWAs in the Microsoft Store. So, it remains to be seen if the new collaboration has something to do with these reports.

If you don’t want to use Office web apps, you can easily uninstall the PWAs by heading to the Programs and Features setting page in Microsoft Edge or the Windows 10 control panel. Did you notice this change on your PCs? Sound off in the comments section below.

Radu Tyrsina

Radu Tyrsina has been a Windows fan ever since he got his first PC, a Pentium III (a monster at that time). For most of the kids of his age, the Internet was an amazing way to play and communicate with others, but he was deeply impressed by the flow of information and how easily you can find anything on the web. Prior to founding Windows Report, this particular curiosity about digital content enabled him to grow a number of sites that helped hundreds of millions reach faster the answer they're looking for.