Microsoft AutoUpdate hangs with current version

Question

Microsoft AutoUpdate hangs with current version

JONK857 10

AutoUpdate loads & hangs while executing update package. Trouble message is update error

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Answer recommended by moderator

Arlene D 36,235 Independent Advisor

Hi, thanks for reaching out.

Do you know if the update starts downloading before it gets stuck?

Try this:

Open any Office app, go to Help > Check for Updates.

Make sure “Automatically keep Microsoft Apps up to date” is checked.

If it hangs, close AutoUpdate and restart your Mac.

Open AutoUpdate again and try updating.

If it still hangs, download the latest Office update package directly from Microsoft and install it.

JONK857 10 Reputation points

2026-01-22T23:05:25.4366667+00:00

Thanks for your response. The update process has been working flawlessly for several years. With the current version update the app completes the download then hangs with seconds to go on the install step. Same for all the Office suite. I've deleted & reinstalled the MS autoupdater with no effect.
Arlene D 36,235 Reputation points Independent Advisor

2026-01-23T08:09:35.1066667+00:00

I see, thanks for the update.

Microsoft AutoUpdate sometimes stalls at the final install phase after a successful download. Since reinstalling Microsoft AutoUpdate did not resolve the issue, try to install the latest Microsoft 365 for Mac package from the official Microsoft website.

This installer refreshes all Office apps in one process and completes updates when AutoUpdate stops during installation.

Regards,
ashish chopra 0 Reputation points

2026-01-23T13:51:55.0833333+00:00

i have the same issue since morning.. i reinstalled ms office 5-6 times... and every time the ms auto updater shows there is an update to all the ms apps. however the update fails . have reinstalled auto updater.. but same issue.
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This comment has been deleted due to a violation of our Code of Conduct. The comment was manually reported or identified through automated detection before action was taken. Please refer to our Code of Conduct for more information.
Rob H 0 Reputation points

2026-01-26T12:26:56.2766667+00:00

Yeah I did the same thing - only Outlook (which I never use) and Word (which I do) have this problem, everything else updated ok. Doing a full download and reinstall did not fix the problem. Current versions of both are 16.105.1 (26011816)
JONK857 10 Reputation points

2026-02-11T22:56:17.5133333+00:00

After a few more download/install attempts the process executed flawlessly. Have not caught any announcement of an update by Microsoft but this issue appears to be corrected. Wonder if MS installed a patch to correct this problem. Several other updates since have also executed perfectly. With todays download now running v. 16.106.26020821. Thanks for your advice!

1 additional answer

JONK857 10 Reputation points

2026-01-22T23:05:25.4366667+00:00

Thanks for your response. The update process has been working flawlessly for several years. With the current version update the app completes the download then hangs with seconds to go on the install step. Same for all the Office suite. I've deleted & reinstalled the MS autoupdater with no effect.
Arlene D 36,235 Reputation points Independent Advisor

2026-01-23T08:09:35.1066667+00:00

I see, thanks for the update.

Microsoft AutoUpdate sometimes stalls at the final install phase after a successful download. Since reinstalling Microsoft AutoUpdate did not resolve the issue, try to install the latest Microsoft 365 for Mac package from the official Microsoft website.

This installer refreshes all Office apps in one process and completes updates when AutoUpdate stops during installation.

Regards,
ashish chopra 0 Reputation points

2026-01-23T13:51:55.0833333+00:00

i have the same issue since morning.. i reinstalled ms office 5-6 times... and every time the ms auto updater shows there is an update to all the ms apps. however the update fails . have reinstalled auto updater.. but same issue.
Deleted

This comment has been deleted due to a violation of our Code of Conduct. The comment was manually reported or identified through automated detection before action was taken. Please refer to our Code of Conduct for more information.
Rob H 0 Reputation points

2026-01-26T12:26:56.2766667+00:00

Yeah I did the same thing - only Outlook (which I never use) and Word (which I do) have this problem, everything else updated ok. Doing a full download and reinstall did not fix the problem. Current versions of both are 16.105.1 (26011816)
JONK857 10 Reputation points

2026-02-11T22:56:17.5133333+00:00

After a few more download/install attempts the process executed flawlessly. Have not caught any announcement of an update by Microsoft but this issue appears to be corrected. Wonder if MS installed a patch to correct this problem. Several other updates since have also executed perfectly. With todays download now running v. 16.106.26020821. Thanks for your advice!

Answer 1

My tech guy gave me a very simple workaround that solved this problem for me. I tried many other things people suggested until this worked. What a hero.

In Microsoft AutoUpdate, select an item and click the 'Update' button (not 'Update All'). While this item is downloading and you see the progress bar, hit the pause button before it downloads entirely, wait just a second, then unpause. My tech person did this once or twice during each individual download, then let the item finish downloading. It should then update without the error—at least it did, miraculously, for me.

After doing this with all the current updates in the queue, he had me close Microsoft AutoUpdate before refreshing it to check again for each new set of missed updates. He then had me click on those missed ones individually (I think I stopped hitting pause at that point). Each time we ran out of new updates, we closed Autoupdate again, then reopened it, before refreshing the next set of updates. Not sure whether that was necessary, but it worked.

This error drove me nuts, so I thought I'd record it for posterity here.