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Need to uninstall Office 2011 first?

I'm interested in upgrading to Office 365 for Mac. Do I need to uninstall Office for Mac 2011 first? Also is Office 365 a true Mac App that resides on your hard drive?

iMac 27", macOS 10.14

Posted on Mar 7, 2020 6:59 AM

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9 replies

Mar 7, 2020 8:20 AM in response to TrexoRT

Either Office 365 (Mac App Store applications) or Office 2019 for Mac provide their own applications that reside on the Mac. You will need a new subscription/license for either. Each application is self-contained, including fonts.


I believe that Office 2011 for Mac can be co-resident with the new applications, though having not received any updates since Oct 2017 when it was retired by Microsoft, I have my doubts that Office 2011 for Mac will remain compatible with Mojave. Certainly no fixes coming if something breaks in it.

Mar 7, 2020 9:48 AM in response to TrexoRT

They can both be on the drive, though there isn't much reason to have 2011 once 365 or 2019 is installed.


For whatever reason, MS did not include an uninstaller for 2011. It all has to be removed manually. Microsoft's site says to simply put the main folder of apps in the trash. That leaves a lot of smaller junk behind. Much more thorough instructions here:


https://www.howtogeek.com/212650/how-to-completely-uninstall-office-2011-for-mac/


Be careful on the last step, Moving or Deleting Your Microsoft User Data. DO NOT delete the Main Identity folder until you have imported your Outlook 2011 data into the 2019 or 365 version. Once the import is done, then you can delete it as Outlook 365/2019 will never look at the Main Identity folder again. The new location for Outlook's data will be:


/Users/your-home-account/Library/Group Containers/UBF8T346G9.Office

Mar 7, 2020 10:14 AM in response to BobTheFisherman

Thanks BobTheFisherman. So the software is the same, but only the method of purchase is different? Do you know what the best practice is with regard to an installation of MO 365 on a Mac that already has Office 2011 installed? Should MO 365 be installed first, then uninstall Office 2011? The question is not addressed on the Microsoft support site.

Need to uninstall Office 2011 first?

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