Microsoft Office 365 - App Store v Microsoft Installation

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Microsoft Office 365 - App Store v Microsoft Installation

Hello Apple Community,

I currently have the Microsoft Office 365 suite of apps installed on one iMac which I installed using the Microsoft installation method. This method also installs the very annoying Microsoft Updater application.

I have only just learned that Microsoft now supports installing the Office apps via the App Store and have successfully managed to do this on another iMac that has a fresh install of macOS Big Sur.

However, on my first iMac (also running macOS Big Sur) I'd now like to remove the Microsoft apps and reinstall them via the App Store and get rid of the Microsoft Updater application altogether. I like to maintain a lean and clean macOS at all times, and I'm not a fan of installing and deleting apps without good reason. Hence the questions to follow.

Looking at the Applications folder on my iMac where the Office apps were installed using the Microsoft Installation method, the apps appear just as individual apps (MS Word, Excel, PowerPoint, etc) and there does not appear to be an uninstall application associated with them. Naturally I would logout of the apps beforehand, but

Can I simply just delete these apps by sending them to the trash?
Does this leave any other related files that need to be removed...and what are they?
Does this then cause any problems reinstalling the Microsoft Office apps via the App Store?

Whilst, logically this should all work, I'd like to hear from someone with more experience in this arena, and preferably someone who has done this and knows of any issues that I may need to consider.

Looking forward to your reply.

Regards

Murray

Posted on Sep 15, 2021 11:17 PM

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Answer 1

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steve626

Level 6

11,075 points

Sep 16, 2021 3:41 PM in response to murray_qeq

murray_qeq wrote:

Can I simply just delete these apps by sending them to the trash?

• Does this leave any other related files that need to be removed...and what are they?

• Does this then cause any problems reinstalling the Microsoft Office apps via the App Store?

You can certainly uninstall your current MS-Office package:

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/uninstall-office-for-mac-eefa1199-5b58-43af-8a3d-b73dc1a8cae3

Then instructions are a bit involved, you have to read the link and follow them.

But as to your other questions about whether you can then simply install from the App Store at no additional charge ... that is really a question for Microsoft to answer, as typically software that is available both through the App Store as well as external/direct have different keys to activate. Or in some cases, people with the standalone app who want to use the App Store version need to make a new purchase from the App Store to do that. It depends on how Microsoft has set this up in the App Store.

Sometimes App Store versions do not have the full functionality of the standalone version. See a discussion of that here that pertains to Daisy Disk: https://daisydiskapp.com/manual/4/en/Topics/Editions.html . This link also explains that if you have made an App Store purchase you can obtain a standalone license for DaisyDisk free, but not the other way around.

Finally, the Microsoft AutoUpdater is no reason to go to the trouble of uninstalling what you have. You can set that Updater to only run manually, when you want it to. But since it provides important security updates, I agree with Bob's earlier post, you should keep using the Updater. Just use it in manual mode, maybe checking once per month, to keep your version updated and with all the security updates.

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Answer 2

Sep 16, 2021 7:57 AM in response to murray_qeq

IMHO, you are overthinking this. An installation of Microsoft Office is an installation of Microsoft Office, regardless where you got it from. Microsoft Office still needs Microsoft activation and Microsoft updates.

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Answer 3

murray_qeq Author

Level 1

10 points

Sep 16, 2021 5:51 PM in response to BobTheFisherman

Hello Bob,

Thanks very much for your reply. You are correct that an installation of Microsoft Office is essentially the same regardless, however the licensing and activation process is far simpler IMO when the apps are installed via the App Store. My goal is to rid my system of the annoying Microsoft Updater. As Steve626 has posted in this thread, the updater has the option to switch to manual updates, but from my experience this setting is sometimes overridden reverting it to automatic and the constant niggling notifications from Microsoft. In contrast, just yesterday the same updates on my other iMac were far easier to update via the App Store. This all comes down to personal choice of course. But thanks again for your contribution which may provide assistance to others who don't have a preference for the method of which apps are updated. But for me I'd rather keep them all under the same channel.

Regards,

Murray

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Answer 4

murray_qeq Author

Level 1

10 points

Sep 16, 2021 6:19 PM in response to steve626

Hello Steve,

Thanks very much for your reply. The link you provided is exactly what I needed.

You are correct that not all licenses of Microsoft products are equal, but in my case I'm referring to Microsoft Office 365 family subscription which provides access to use the latest office apps for up to 5 users. I only found an article the other day claiming the same apps can be downloaded and updated via the App Store as opposed to the standard install and update process via Microsoft.

Your point about the Microsoft AutoUpdater is also correct in that it can be set to manual mode. From my experience over a number of years the AutoUpdater frequently gets set back to Auto, triggering the niggling update notifications. I have tried to trouble shoot why this happens but cannot find a cause or if it's just an isolated case. The only thing I can think of is that Microsoft has some code in there that switches it back to Auto every time there is an update, thinking somehow that it's doing me a favour, rather than respecting my decision to leave it on manual. The result is that when the AutoUpdater notifies me there's updates pending might not be a convenient time for me to run the updates, so I turn it off. The notifications (in my case anyway) constantly reappear until the updates have been done. This is why I'd prefer to have my Microsoft apps managed via the App Store which I find is a far simpler and less intruding process.

I'm not posting this for any reason other than it may help other users in a similar position to me, but this is my current setup.

My primary Mac running macOS Big Sur has Microsoft Office 365 installed using the Microsoft process and gives me the rather frustrating experience as I described above. My secondary Mac has just had a fresh install of macOS Big Sur and when installing Microsoft Office 365 on this Mac I decided to avoid the Microsoft method of installation and instead install each of the apps individually via the App Store. I think there is an option to install the entire Office Suite with one click, but I don't need or want all the apps since I don't use the entire suite. The install process was easy just like any other Mac experience. Then to activate the licence for the apps you simply open one of the Office apps and sign in to your Microsoft Account and registration is as simple as that. Subsequent apps don't even require you to sign in. Furthermore, I did this signing in as an invited Microsoft Office family member, not even as the primary account holder. As a added bonus I have a number of user accounts on this Mac and the Office apps are available for each user. I simply set it up so that each user login has the Office apps signed in as their own Microsoft account which then gives them access to their own personal OneDrive folder.

Coincidentally updates on this Mac were available yesterday and the process was simple and less intrusive than the Microsoft Updater, from my experience anyway. So for me the installation and updating is much simpler using the Apple ecosystem and removes the issues I had with the Microsoft AutoUpdater.

Thank you again for your contribution and the link providing an answer to my question.

Regards,

Murray

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Microsoft Office 365 - App Store v Microsoft Installation

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