Office for Mac: Completely remove Office

On occasion, troubleshooting Office for Mac may require the comprehensive removal of the software so a completely new installation can be performed.

To completely remove Office for Mac, perform the following steps. You will need an Administrator account to perform many of the tasks below. It is also recommended that your documents have been saved to OneDrive or SharePoint locations and that your mail has completed syncing items to your mailbox before starting.

Step 1: Remove Office for Mac apps

1. Open a new Finder window and click Applications.
   
   
2. Locate and command-click the Microsoft Excel, Microsoft OneNote, Microsoft Outlook, Microsoft PowerPoint, Microsoft Word and OneDrive apps to highlight them. Then right-click the selected items and choose Move to Trash.
   
   

   Note: Depending on your Office for Mac subscription/product, you may have a different combination of apps installed to remove.

Step 2: Remove other dependant files from Library folder

1. Open a new Finder window. In the menu bar, click Go, then Computer. Then click View, then as Columns.
   
   
2. In the Finder window, click Macintosh HD, then Library. In the LaunchDaemons folder, select the below files if they are present and choose Move to Trash for each.
   
   - com.microsoft.office.licensingV2.helper.plist)
   - com.microsoft.autoupdate.helper.plist
   - com.microsoft.onedriveupdaterdaemon.plist
   
   
3. In the LaunchAgents folder, select the below files if they are present and choose Move to Trash for each.
   
   - com.microsoft.update.agent.plist
4. In the PrivilegedHelperTools folder, select the below files if they are present and choose Move to Trash for each.
   
   - com.microsoft.office.licensingV2.helper
   - com.microsoft.autoupdate.helper
   
   
5. In the Preferences folder, select the below files if they are present and choose Move to Trash for each.
   
   - com.microsoft.office.licensingV2.plist
   
   

Step 3: Remove other dependant files your user Library folder

1. In Finder, press the Command + Shift + H keyboard shortcut to display your user Library folder.
   
   

2. In the menu bar, click View, then as List. Click View, then Show View Options.
   
   
3. In the View Options window, select Show Library Folder.
   
   
4. Switch back to column view, then click the <UserName>Library folder.
   
   
5. In the Containers folder, select the below files if they are present and choose Move to Trash for each.
   
   - com.microsoft.errorreporting
   - com.microsoft.Excel
   - com.microsoft.netlib.shipassertprocess
   - com.microsoft.Office365ServiceV2
   - com.microsoft.onedrive.findersync
   - com.microsoft.Outlook
   - com.microsoft.Powerpoint
   - com.microsoft.RMS-XPCService
   - com.microsoft.Word
   - com.microsoft.onenote.mac
   
   
6. In the Cookies folder, select the below files if they are present and choose Move to Trash for each.
   
   - com.microsoft.onedrive.binarycookies
   - com.microsoft.onedriveupdater.binarycookies
   
   
7. In the Group Containers folder, select the below files if they are present and choose Move to Trash for each.
   
   - UBF8T346G9.ms
   - UBF8T346G9.Office
   - UBF8T346G9.OfficeOneDriveSyncIntegration
   - UBF8T346G9.OfficeOsfWebHost
   - UBF8T346G9.OneDriveStandaloneSuite
   
   

Step 3: Download and run the license removal tool

1. Download the license removal tool that is attached at the bottom of this page. Its filename is Microsoft_Office_License_Removal_2.7.pkg.
   
   
2. Open the package file that was downloaded. If you get an unknown developer error when opening the package file, control-click the package and choose Open.
   
   
3. Select Continue and follow the prompts in the package installer. Click Install to run the license removal tool. When successfully completed, click Close.
   
   
4. Uninstall the license removal tool by dragging the Microsoft_Office_License_Removal file from the Downloads folder to the Trash.
   
   

Step 4: Remove Office for Mac app icons from Dock

1. Control-click or right-click each Microsoft Office icons in the Dock then click Options and Remove from Dock.
   
   

To ensure no Office for Mac apps or components are running, empty the Trash and then restart your computer.

After restarting, you can then perform a completely new installation of Office for Mac.