How to remove old Microsoft licence files from a Mac before installing Microsoft Office

Before you begin

Close all Office apps (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, OneNote) and OneDrive. Also, check which account holds the licence you’ll be using to reactivate by going to office.com/signin, so that you don’t get locked out later on.

Method 1: Microsoft licence removal tool (recommended)

This is the official tool. It deletes licence files without affecting your documents or removing your apps.

1. Download it from Microsoft: https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?linkid=849815 — you will get a file called Microsoft_Office_Licence_Removal.pkg.
2. Open the file .pkg from the Downloads folder. If macOS displays a “Unidentified developer” warning, hold down Control, click on the file and select Open.
3. Click on Continue and follow the wizard.
4. Click on Install to complete the removal. You will probably need to enter your Mac’s administrator password.
5. When you’ve finished, click Close.
6. Optionally, drag Microsoft Office Licence Removal from the ‘Downloads’ folder into the Recycle Bin to remove the tool itself.

This removes Office 365/2016/2019/2021 licences for Mac. Once you have done this, you can install (or reinstall) Office, open any app and sign in to reactivate it.

Method 2: Manual removal

Use this method if you want to delete everything manually or if the tool has not fully resolved the activation issue. There are two licence files and some related support files.

The quickest way to remove the main licence file is via Terminal (Applications → Utilities → Terminal):

sudo rm /Library/Preferences/com.microsoft.office.licensingV2.plist

Enter the administrator password when prompted (nothing will appear as you type: this is normal).

If you prefer to use the Finder, or if you also want to delete the associated support files, go to Go to → Computer → Macintosh HD → Library and move the following files to the Recycle Bin, if they are present:

• In Preferences: com.microsoft.office.licensingV2.plist
• In LaunchDaemons: com.microsoft.office.licensingV2.helper.plist
• In PrivilegedHelperTools: com.microsoft.office.licensingV2.helper

Delete Keychain entries (both methods)

Old credentials in the Keychain may result in an out-of-date licence being retrieved during activation. Open Keychain Access (Applications → Utilities), search for Microsoft and delete any Microsoft Office identity/licence entries you find (for example, “Microsoft Office Identities Cache” and licence-related items).

To conclude

Restart your Mac, then install Office and follow the activation steps to activate it. Restarting is important: it completely clears the old licence status before the new one is written.

A note on Method 2: sudo rm It does not allow for mistakes and deletes the item immediately, so please double-check the path before pressing Enter. If you are not comfortable using the Terminal, the licence removal tool performs the same task safely.