Recently installed MacOS BigSur (64-bit app) and currently have Microsoft Office365 app what worked on old MacOS Mohave(32-bit) but now those Microsoft app icons have the prohibitory symbol over them and I'm directed to upgrade.

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Level 1

8 points

Recently installed MacOS BigSur (64-bit app) and currently have Microsoft Office365 app what worked on old MacOS Mohave(32-bit) but now those Microsoft app icons have the prohibitory symbol over them and I'm directed to upgrade.

Because I recently had my hard drive replaced on my MId 2013 MacBook Air and a new 64-bit MacOS Big Sur operating system installed at the same time as the repair, my current MS Office apps won't launch and I am directed to upgrade which means download and subscribe, which I don't have a problem doing, the newer version of MS Office365 that will run on the 64-bit technology. FYI my old operating system was MacOS Mohave 32-bit technology.

I was told by someone at Microsoft that I need to uninstall or trash my current version of MS Office 365 which is a free education suite of apps and then download MS Office365 again to get MS Apps that will work on 64-bit operating system MacOS Big Sur version 11.6

If this is true then how do I uninstall my current version of the MS Apps that need upgrading? Do I merely drag them from dock and launchpad to trash?

Also I have some data saved on my Excel app that I don't want to lose and have it available when I launch the 'newer" Excel that I'll download and install.

Please advise

MacBook Air 13″, macOS 11.6

Posted on Jan 16, 2022 4:49 AM

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Answer 1

Top-ranking reply

PRP_53

Level 10

91,807 points

Jan 17, 2022 3:18 AM in response to Tom Patrick

Do you have a Rescue Plan In-Place. This comprises having 3 Backups using 2 methods and 1 Off Site incase of Theft, Loss or Natural Disasters. A Time Machine Backup is very useful and can be used to Revert to Previous Working macOS.

For addition purposes - two Tested Bootable Clones each to separate external drives. This is insurance incase the upgrades goes sideways. At least one Tested Clone and / or Time Machine Backup should be Off - Site

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Answer 2

Jan 16, 2022 4:56 AM in response to Tom Patrick

OK, so with the old, crossed out versions of Office, you’ll want to navigate the Applications folder in Finder, and drag them all to trash.

Empty the trash.

Now for the newer Office apps, you’ll want to grab them from the Mac App Store. It should let you subscribe to Microsoft 365 once you have downloaded them. You’ll need to make a Microsoft account when prompted (make sure you write down the information of it and store it in a safe place). I’m sure if you call Microsoft, they could guide you through this too.

You can still open files created with an older version of Office, no problem.

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Answer 3

Tom Patrick Author

Level 1

8 points

Jan 16, 2022 5:03 AM in response to GreeniusGenius

Thanks for the quick reply and much easier solution than what was sent to me by a MS person; that procedure had me going into different locations (library, Group containers, ) and trashing as many Identifiable MS files.

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Answer 4

Jan 16, 2022 5:06 AM in response to Tom Patrick

It probably isn’t worth the effort… I never bothered. I have just dragged it to the trash before and Office works perfectly.

Of course then if it causes issues, then it may be worth trying, but it is a bit of a pain.

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Answer 5

Tom Patrick Author

Level 1

8 points

Jan 16, 2022 9:42 PM in response to PRP_53

so if I follow those instructions from MS support on how to uninstall Office for a mac, then when I download and install the newer version of MS Office I will still be able to recover pwoer points that are on my laptop as well as data in the old Excel?

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Answer 6

Jan 17, 2022 2:26 AM in response to Tom Patrick

Well you aren’t deleting your old powerpoint files. You are removing the supporting files for the (old) office apps if you follow the uninstallation guide.

You can even open Office files from the late 90s in the latest version of Office. As long as you don’t specifically delete your Excel or Powerpoint files there is nothing to fear.

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