The recent update to Catalina 10.15.7 has affected Microsoft programs like word and excel. And to download the new version of Microsoft I need OS 12 which I can't download due to having an older MacBook (2012) - I also can't download Pages sinceI don't have a newer Mac as well!!! So frustrated!. What can I do?
MacBook Pro 13″, macOS 10.15
Microsoft Office 2011 for Mac and Microsoft 365 applications from that era are 32-bit, so are early releases of Office 2016 for Mac, and incompatible with Catalina. Your Office documents are unaffected.
One approach is to install the free LibreOffice Suite which is a deliberate clone of MS Office with its own documentation. Another alternative would be the paid (free trial) of Softmaker's Office 2024 for Mac. Either choice should handle your existing Microsoft documents just fine.
If you have installed Pages, Numbers, or Keynote on your Mac after Fall 2013, then you can get the latest versions (11.1) compatible with Catalina. If not, or these applications were pre-installed by someone else (e.g. Apple), or someone with a different Apple ID, then you won't be able to get these applications.
If you did install them per the previous paragraph, you can launch the Mac App Store, sign-in with the same Apple ID, and then press cmd+0 (zero). That will open the Purchases panel and the three Apple applications should have an indication that they can be downloaded with the last compatible version for Catalina.
Since these Apple applications are not clones of Word, Excel, or Powerpoint, you may experience issues when opening them (translating into Apple document formats).
Microsoft Office 2011 for Mac and Microsoft 365 applications from that era are 32-bit, so are early releases of Office 2016 for Mac, and incompatible with Catalina. Your Office documents are unaffected.
One approach is to install the free LibreOffice Suite which is a deliberate clone of MS Office with its own documentation. Another alternative would be the paid (free trial) of Softmaker's Office 2024 for Mac. Either choice should handle your existing Microsoft documents just fine.
If you have installed Pages, Numbers, or Keynote on your Mac after Fall 2013, then you can get the latest versions (11.1) compatible with Catalina. If not, or these applications were pre-installed by someone else (e.g. Apple), or someone with a different Apple ID, then you won't be able to get these applications.
If you did install them per the previous paragraph, you can launch the Mac App Store, sign-in with the same Apple ID, and then press cmd+0 (zero). That will open the Purchases panel and the three Apple applications should have an indication that they can be downloaded with the last compatible version for Catalina.
Since these Apple applications are not clones of Word, Excel, or Powerpoint, you may experience issues when opening them (translating into Apple document formats).
Running OS Catalina and MS Word isn't working; how can I fix it
