Microsoft Word Will Not Update On Mac

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Note

Office 365 ProPlus is being renamed to Microsoft 365 Apps for enterprise. For more information about this change, read this blog post.

Summary

Existing Office 2016 for Mac customers will be seamlessly upgraded to 64-bit versions of Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, and OneNote as part of the August product release (version 15.25). This affects customers of all license types: Retail, Office 365 Consumer, Office 365 Commercial, and Volume License installations.

Deployment options for the 64-bit update

AutoUpdate (MAU)

Customers who use Microsoft AutoUpdate (MAU) to keep their Office applications up-to-date will see a 'regular' monthly update notification when their selected channel is upgraded to 64-bit builds. Depending on which version is installed on the local computer, MAU will offer either a delta or full update. The update package size does not change between 32-bit and 64-bit versions. Also, MAU can deliver a delta update when applicable to update a user from 32-bit to 64-bit applications. Therefore, customers won't experience a sharp increase in download activity. For the release to the Production channel, customers will see '(64-bit)' in the update title to make them aware that this is a 64-bit update.

For information about how to use the MAU, see Check for Office for Mac updates automatically.

For example, if you set AutoRecover to save every 5 minutes, you may recover more information in the event of unexpected shutdown — such as from a power outage — than if it's set to save every 10 or 15 minutes.If you manually save your file, the previous AutoRecover files are removed because you've just saved your changes.AutoSave is a different feature which automatically saves your file as you work - just like if you save the file manually - so that you don't have to worry about saving on the go. If you want to keep the recovered file, you should immediately save it before closing or editing it.If you want to find any AutoRecovered files on your computer, switch to Finder,then click Go Go To Folder (or press SHIFT + COMMAND + G) and enter the appropriate folder path from the table below. Save as microsoft word mac. Recover a file saved by AutoRecoverNormally, the application will automatically recover your work the next time that you open the app following a power failure or other unexpected shutdown by detecting that an AutoRecover file exists and automatically opening it. When AutoSave is turned on AutoRecover files are rarely needed.For more information see. On the Mac, AutoSave is available in Excel, Word, and PowerPoint for Office 365 for Mac subscribers.

Manual updates

The August release of Office for Mac is available for manual download. The following file provides a 64-bit package to replace existing 32-bit applications with 64-bit variants during installation:

Download the Microsoft Office 2016 for Mac August update package now.

Virus-scan claim

Microsoft scanned this file for viruses, using the most current virus-detection software that was available on the date that the file was posted. The file is stored on security-enhanced servers that help prevent any unauthorized changes to it.

Volume License Service Center

Volume License customers typically get their Office 2016 software from the Volume License Service Center (VLSC). These builds are refreshed infrequently and are typically aligned with new language editions. The VLSC will continue to offer 32-bit installers (15.23) until November 2016. However, all updater packages that are released after August will be based on 64-bit builds. Therefore, a VLSC customer who updates either manually or through AutoUpdate will be transitioned to 64-bit builds.

Word

More Information

64-bit only

The Mac operating system has been 64-bit for several years. Unlike for Windows, there's no choice between running a 32-bit or 64-bit version of the Mac operating system. Similarly, we won't offer a choice between 32-bit and 64-bit versions of Office 2016 for Mac. After each 'channel' is transitioned per the rollout schedule, only 64-bit builds will be available.

Effect on third-party applications and add-ins

The transition to 64-bit Office for Mac was announced on the Office developer blog in April 2016. This website is the primary reference for third-party vendors to understand the change and the effect on their products. IT Pros will want to understand which compiled add-ins are deployed to the users whom they manage so that they can assess the effect of the upgrade. The following Microsoft Office website summarizes the issues that affect the more common add-ins that are used together with Office 2016 for Mac:

Tools for inspecting product architecture

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To verify the architecture of an Office application (that is, to understand whether you have a 32-bit or 64-bit build), start the application, open the Activity Monitor, and then enable the Kind column.

You can also use the file command in a terminal session to inspect the binary. For this use, type file -N <path of binary>.This method can be used with for any binary file, including third-party add-ins.

Microsoft Word For Mac

The file command returns one of three values.

Return valueMeaning
Mach-O 64-bit executable x86_6464-bit binary
Mach-O executable i38632-bit binary
Mach-O 64-bit executable x86_64FAT binary (compatible with both 32-bit and 64-bit processes)
Mach-O executable i386FAT binary (compatible with both 32-bit and 64-bit processes)

Options for reverting to 32-bit installations

There may be situations in which the customer has to change code that's not 64-bit ready. If customers can't immediately move forward to 64-bit builds, we will make available a one-time 32-bit update for the 15.25 release in addition to the default 64-bit updates. The 32-bit updates will be available only for manual download from the Office CDN.

The latest 32-bit release of Office 2016 for Mac (15.25.160818) can be downloaded from https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=823192.

Customers who manually install the 32-bit release won't be offered the 64-bit version of 15.25 through MAU. However, MAU will offer the 64-bit version of 15.26 in September 2016. Therefore, customers have a limited time to remain on 32-bit builds.

If a customer has already upgraded to the 64-bit update of Office for Mac 15.25 and wants to revert to the 32-bit version, follow these steps:

  1. Exit all open Office 2016 applications.
  2. Start Safari, and then browse to https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=823192 to start the download of the 32-bit installer.
  3. Double-click the downloaded package, and then follow the instructions.

The 64-bit installation has a build date of 160817. The 32-bit version has a build date of 160818.