{"id":100159,"date":"2026-09-02T13:40:46","date_gmt":"2026-09-02T11:40:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/softastrd.com\/?p=100159"},"modified":"2026-09-02T13:40:54","modified_gmt":"2026-09-02T11:40:54","slug":"come-rimuovere-i-vecchi-file-di-licenza-microsoft-da-un-mac-prima-di-installare-microsoft-office","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/softastrd.com\/en_gb\/come-rimuovere-i-vecchi-file-di-licenza-microsoft-da-un-mac-prima-di-installare-microsoft-office\/","title":{"rendered":"How to remove old Microsoft licence files from a Mac before installing Microsoft Office"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Before you begin<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Close all Office apps (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, OneNote) and OneDrive. Also, check which account holds the licence you\u2019ll be using to reactivate by going to office.com\/signin, so that you don\u2019t get locked out later on.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Method 1: Microsoft licence removal tool (recommended)<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

This is the official tool. It deletes licence files without affecting your documents or removing your apps.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \n
  1. Download it from Microsoft: https:\/\/go.microsoft.com\/fwlink\/?linkid=849815<\/a> \u2014 you will get a file called Microsoft_Office_Licence_Removal.pkg<\/code>.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  2. Open the file .pkg<\/code> from the Downloads folder. If macOS displays a \u201cUnidentified developer\u201d warning, hold down Control<\/strong>, click on the file and select Open<\/strong>.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  3. Click on Continue<\/strong> and follow the wizard.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  4. Click on Install<\/strong> to complete the removal. You will probably need to enter your Mac\u2019s administrator password.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  5. When you\u2019ve finished, click Close<\/strong>.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  6. Optionally, drag Microsoft Office Licence Removal<\/code> from the \u2018Downloads\u2019 folder into the Recycle Bin to remove the tool itself.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n

    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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Method 2: Manual removal<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

    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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    The quickest way to remove the main licence file is via Terminal (Applications \u2192 Utilities \u2192 Terminal):<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    sudo rm \/Library\/Preferences\/com.microsoft.office.licensingV2.plist<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\n
    Enter the administrator password when prompted (nothing will appear as you type: this is normal).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    If you prefer to use the Finder, or if you also want to delete the associated support files, go to Go to \u2192 Computer \u2192 Macintosh HD \u2192 Library<\/strong> and move the following files to the Recycle Bin, if they are present:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
      \n
    • In Preferences<\/strong>: com.microsoft.office.licensingV2.plist<\/code><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    • In LaunchDaemons<\/strong>: com.microsoft.office.licensingV2.helper.plist<\/code><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    • In PrivilegedHelperTools<\/strong>: com.microsoft.office.licensingV2.helper<\/code><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
      Delete Keychain entries (both methods)<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
      Old credentials in the Keychain may result in an out-of-date licence being retrieved during activation. Open Keychain Access<\/strong> (Applications \u2192 Utilities), search for Microsoft<\/strong> and delete any Microsoft Office identity\/licence entries you find (for example, \u201cMicrosoft Office Identities Cache\u201d and licence-related items).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
      To conclude<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
      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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
      A note on Method 2: sudo rm<\/code> 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.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-100159","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-blog"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/softastrd.com\/en_gb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/100159","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/softastrd.com\/en_gb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/softastrd.com\/en_gb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/softastrd.com\/en_gb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/9"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/softastrd.com\/en_gb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=100159"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/softastrd.com\/en_gb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/100159\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":100160,"href":"https:\/\/softastrd.com\/en_gb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/100159\/revisions\/100160"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/softastrd.com\/en_gb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=100159"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/softastrd.com\/en_gb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=100159"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/softastrd.com\/en_gb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=100159"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}