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Microsoft Office

My daughter has Microsoft Office ver 2011 on her iMac. Her iMac is late 2015 and her OS is High Sierra 10.13.6. She has purchased the 2021 Home and Student version. My question is, how do I properly and completely remove the old version before installing the 2021 version?

Posted on Dec 14, 2021 10:44 AM

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Posted on Dec 14, 2021 10:49 AM

Microsoft has detailed instructions posted on their web site for removal of old versions of office.

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/troubleshoot-office-for-mac-2011-issues-by-completely-uninstalling-before-you-reinstall-ba8d8d13-0015-4eea-b60b-7719c2cedd17#:~:text=Use%20the%20Remove2011%20tool%20to%20completely%20remove%20Office,dock%2C%20right%20click%20and%20hold%20the%20icon.%20


You will need to upgrade macOS on her iMac to at least macOS 10.15 Catalina in order to install Office 2021.

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Dec 14, 2021 11:42 AM in response to KiltedTim

Thank you very much for your reply.


Well, I didn't expect that little problem that her OS is too old. I am not sure if she can update to Catalina. I have 2019 Office on my computer. Would I be able to remove it from mine and install it on hers and would the 2019 work on High Sierra. Then I could install 2021 Office on my computer which is running Monterey 12.0.1 I have the installation code for the 2019 version

Dec 14, 2021 11:57 AM in response to mrmal67

A 2011 iMac is a VERY old machine, the last verrsion of Mac OS that can it can run is 10.13.6. You may want to consider replacing it for many reasons including parts availability is nill as it was classed vintage serveral years ago now. You will also continue to have problems with software compatibility. You may want to consider a M1 based Mac Mini, for less than $1500 you can have a new M1 based MM and an external display and you are in business. Those machine far out perform a 2011 machine and can run current versions of Mac OS. A M1 MM is $1299 with 16GB of RAM and a 1TB SSD, all you need is an external display and you are done. External display begin at $100 so less than $1500 you have a very nice solution.


Your 2019 iMac cannot be backdated to High Sierra, you cannot install a version of Mac OS earlier than what the machine originally shipped with. For example a 2021 iMac that shipped with Big Sur, cannot run Catalina or earlier.


When it comes to technology it pays to keep your software and OS up-to-date. Also, consider replacing hardware every 6-8 years otherwise you will continue having issues. Sorry, not exactly what you wanted to read but by following these general rules of thumb it avoids issues.

Microsoft Office

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