How to roll back Microsoft Office to the previous version

You can restore Microsoft Office to a previous version by following the steps described in this post. Updates enhance the security of the Office suite and fix issues reported by users, so Microsoft recommends that customers always use the latest version of Microsoft Office. Some users have complained that some Office applications malfunction after they installed the latest version of Microsoft Office.

How to revert to the previous version of Microsoft Office on Windows 11/2010

In the event of an update causing issues, Windows can be restored to an earlier version by removing the update that causes the problem. Microsoft Office also makes this possible. However, the process involved in rolling back an Office update is a bit different from that used in rolling back a Windows update.

To roll back Microsoft Office to an earlier version, you need to:

Install Office Deployment Tool

Choose your Office version from the settings

Perform the required process

Force Office to download and install the update manually.

Each of these steps is explained in detail below. Note that you can only uninstall those applications that are installed using the Click-to-run feature of Microsoft Office.

Get the version of Microsoft Office that you are running on paper before proceeding further. To do so, follow the instructions given below:

Open any of the Microsoft Office applications.

The option of Account should appear to your left.

Under the section of "About", check for Office Version and build number

Take a note of Office Current Version.

Step: Installing the Office Deployment Tool.

Download the Office Deployment Tool from Microsoft's website using your browser. Run the setup program. It will ask you to select a location on your computer to save an extracted file. Once selected, click OK. Shortly after, a message will appear that says "Files extracted successfully."

2.State what version of Office you're targeting in the configuration file.

The next step is to specify the required version of Office in the configuration file. For the initial step, open a Web browser and navigate to Microsoft's website to find out the update history for Office. Check your computer to find out what version is currently installed by finding out the build number. Now look for the version installed on your computer and copy any build number lower than it.

This command needs to be copied and placed into Notepad, in its own file:

Replace the version number that you copied earlier for aaaaa.bbbbb in the previous command. For example, to roll back Office to an earlier build, you'd use the following command:

Save the Notepad file in the same location from where you ran the Office Deployment Tool. When saving the file, you need to add the file extension "config.xml".

3. Run one of the commands.

Perform the actual command execution. Note: Make sure all Microsoft Office applications are closed. Open the command prompt in administrator mode, copy the below command, and press Enter.

executable file "setup.exe" with the desired configuration file "config.xml"

You need to relocate the Notepad configuration file and Office Deployment Tool to the latest destination before running the earlier command. Otherwise, this following error will pop up:

.setup.exe is not recognized as an internal or external command,

Operable program or batch file.

You only have to provide the full path in the command cd and, therefore, change the working directories: for example,

To finish the path

This will move the configuration file and Office Deployment Tool to another drive, hence the above command will be of no use. In such cases, just write the drive letter and press Enter. Then, you need to provide the actual command. I have used D drive and placed the files in the following path:

D:Images from the Windows ClubFollowing are the commands which I ran to change the directory:

C: cd D:Images from the Windows ClubI entered each of the above commands and pressed Enter. After you type the following command, press Enter.

setup.exe" executable file with "config.xml" configuration file

A Microsoft Office pop-up window will appear and immediately shut once the command has been run successfully. To access the update mechanism, open Office and go to Account > Update Options > Update Now. You will be asked to save your unsaved work. Do as you please and click on the Continue button. The office will download and install the required version.

Launch any Office app once the update finishes, then click to Account. In the About area, you should be able to see the version or build number. I have reverted to the old version of Office, as shown in the screenshot above.

You have successfully rolled back the Office version to the version you chose. But if you enable Automatic Update, Office will automatically download and install the latest update. If you experience some issues with the latest version of Office, you can disable the Automatic Updates feature to avoid updating it automatically. You can manually update your Office suite to the latest version in case of any future upgrade published by Microsoft.

Weigh these options carefully, with the advice of experts in such matters, and decide what serves best to alleviate your Office-related concerns.