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Q: How to go back to Office 2016 for Mac 15.xx versions from 16.xx

Answer

  • There are several reasons why you would need to revert back to 15.xx versions on Mac (mostly it's for compatibility with third party software).

If you need to revert the entire Office suite, please visit: http://ist.mit.edu/office/license and download the entire Office suite from out site.

If you need to revert a single specific app (Word, Powerpoint, Excel) please go to https://support.office.com/en-us/article/how-to-go-back-to-office-2016-for-mac-15-xx-versions-from-16-xx-e88ed6c8-6fb4-40a1-9540-529000d3d20f to get the specific app you need.

  • In order to revert a specific app (for this example I'll user Word) you will first need to delete the app from your computer.# Navigate to the Applications folder.
  1. Delete Word by either moving it to the trash can or selecting it and using the keyboard press CMD + DELETE.
  2. Once you have deleted Word, download the installer from https://support.office.com/en-us/article/how-to-go-back-to-office-2016-for-mac-15-xx-versions-from-16-xx-e88ed6c8-6fb4-40a1-9540-529000d3d20f
  3. Run the installer pkg.
  4. Once the installer package is complete, attempt to open Word.
  5. If it opens, then you're all set.
  6. If you receive the following error then continue with the instructions below
  7. Open a new Finder window.
  8. Bring up the 'Go To a Folder' prompt by clicking Go (top menu) and going down to 'Go To a Folder'. Or using the keyboard shortcut CMD + SHIFT + G.
  9. Type '~/Library/'
  10. Then search for 'OfficeFileCache' (make sure you search in ~/Library/ not 'This Mac')
  11. Then delete the word cache folder (there is a cache folder for Word, Powerpoint, and Excel). The easiest way to figure out which of the three folders is Word is to check the folder path at the bottom of the Window. Start from the bottom left and move to the right slowly until you see Word, Powerpoint, Excel.
  12. Once you delete the folder you can start Word and it should start clearing out the cache and then open.

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Last Modified:

May 23, 2018

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