Office Home and Student 2019 for Mac not functioning anymore as of today: Forced to buy a new license??? Unethical!!!

Anonymous
2023-11-20T15:39:33+00:00

Hi,

As of this morning I have found my legal/registered Microsoft Office Home and Student 2019 (1 Mac) applications (Excel, Word, Powerpoint) do not function properly...

I have searched for similar problems on Microsoft community (found some & then applied all!). Also called "microsoft support" 3 times to look for an answer/solution.

As recommended, after all "Office app removals" (@Apple and Microsoft web sites)+ "license removal tool running" + "Re-installing of Office 2019", they still do not work/function. After the Office package re-install when I try to open an app it says "No license found for my account", although my purchase of Office 2019 can be seen in Microsoft Account (i.e. MS knows that I have legally bought it several years ago)...

Last support center guy told me that "Office 2019 support of MS ended as of Oct'23 -p.s. I confirmed it later-" recommended me "to buy a new license"!... I had bought my license for "LIFETIME". Now, they say "BUY A NEW ONE, just after 3 years!", adding that there is no other address that I can tell about this problem/my complaint (p.s. Live Chat did not work either today)...

Don't want to say bad words to Microsoft after such an ETHICALLY INCORRECT response; so any help of community much appreciated... Thanks.

Biltor Ulucay

Microsoft 365 and Office | Install, redeem, activate | For home | MacOS

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Jim G 134.1K Reputation points MVP
2023-11-22T19:06:30+00:00

I think the problem results from AutoUpdate installing a wrong version of Office for your license. You would have to remove the wrong version first:

Uninstall Office for Mac - Microsoft Support

Then, install the correct version, which is 16.78.3 which you can download from this link

Office suite (with Teams)

Please use the Help menu and choose Check for Updates. In AutoUpdate uncheck the box to automatically keep office up to date. 16.78.3 is the final version of Office 2019.

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  1. Anonymous
    2023-12-04T03:01:08+00:00

    Outlook's version is 16.81 as part of Office 2019

    Mac OS's version is 13.6.3 (22G433)

    More importantly, Office 2019 worked fine on my Mac until 3 Nov 2023 when suddenly it insisted I buy Office 365 which I will never do. I have already started to use Apple's Mail, Numbers and Pages. I want to use the Office 2019 which I purchased without being hounded to buy Office 365.

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  2. Jim G 134.1K Reputation points MVP
    2023-12-03T19:30:36+00:00

    Hi

    Version 13.6.3 would mean you installed Office 2008. Is that really what you have?

    To find out what version of Office you installed, in Finder, go to the Applications folder. Right-click on one of the Microsoft Office applications (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook) and choose Get Info from the Menu. The version will display in the resulting dialog.

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  3. Anonymous
    2023-12-02T18:37:39+00:00

    Michael, please read the reply you quoted.

    It says the newest build you can use with your 2019 license is 16.78.3

    You installed 16.81 which is newer, so your 2019 license won't work with that version. Remove it following the instructions I provided and install 16.78.3.

    Your reply would be more interesting if my Mac was really on 16.81. The Mac thinks it is on 13.6.3 though. I am not sure where you got 16.81.

    I am familiar with what happens when an app will no longer work on my Mac too. I see that once in a while when somebody does not upgrade their app to the latest release of Mac OS. This situation with Microsoft is very different. The apps still work but Microsoft has disabled them by requiring me to "upgrade" to Office 365. I know the apps still work because my wife is still using them on her Mac which is running the same version I am.

    I do want to know how to get rid of Office 365 on this Mac and continue to use Office 2019.

    Regards,

    ..michael..

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  4. Jim G 134.1K Reputation points MVP
    2023-12-02T05:37:13+00:00

    Michael, please read the reply you quoted.

    It says the newest build you can use with your 2019 license is 16.78.3

    You installed 16.81 which is newer, so your 2019 license won't work with that version. Remove it following the instructions I provided and install 16.78.3.

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