Why can' t I get rid of Office 2019

pewe · Thursday at 9:42 AM

I want to install Office 2024 on my laptop which has Office 2019 on it.
I purchased a license valid for 3 computers and was supplied an installation programme.
On my first laptop which did not have Office on it - just a trial of 365 - I installed Office 2024 using the installed program opened Word entered the supplied registration key and proceeded to use it with no issues.

On the second laptop I have Office 2019 - so I uninstalled it and proceeded to install 2024 which was now listed in my Settings as Office 2024 BUT when I ran word to register it iI found that 2019 had been re-installed and was already registered.

I have tried uninstalling and re-installing a couple of times after signing out of my MS account - but still Office 2019 is installed.

I guess there is something somewhere in the registry causing the problem, but I can't figure out where.

Can anyone offer any help?

XxXxX · Thursday at 9:57 AM

have you tried Revo Uninstaller free.

Revo Uninstaller Free

Download Revo Uninstaller Free helps you to uninstall software and remove unwanted programs easily. Remove all uninstall leftovers and traces

www.revouninstaller.com

it will remove the program and then clean up the registry and other left overs.

you may also have to unlink office 2019 from your microsoft account.
not to sure about that but its worth checking.
best of luck, Steve ..

pewe · Thursday at 10:32 AM

XxXxX said:
have you tried Revo Uninstaller free.

Revo Uninstaller Free

Download Revo Uninstaller Free helps you to uninstall software and remove unwanted programs easily. Remove all uninstall leftovers and traces

www.revouninstaller.com

it will remove the program and then clean up the registry and other left overs.

you may also have to unlink office 2019 from your microsoft account.
not to sure about that but its worth checking.
best of luck, Steve ..

Thanks XxXxX. I ran Revo and uninstalled everything related to Microsof Office then ran the Office 2024 installer again.
Same result - Office 2019 was back.

How do I unlink Office 2019 from my account. The only place it appears in my account is in 'Order History'. and there is no mention in my account about unlinking.

Anibor_11 · Thursday at 10:41 AM

pewe said:
Thanks XxXxX. I ran Revo and uninstalled everything related to Microsof Office then ran the Office 2024 installer again.
Same result - Office 2019 was back.

How do I unlink Office 2019 from my account. The only place it appears in my account is in 'Order History'. and there is no mention in my account about unlinking.

How do you know Office 2019 is back?

Check Office version in Installed Applications.

OAT · Thursday at 11:05 AM

pewe said:
Thanks XxXxX. I ran Revo and uninstalled everything related to Microsof Office then ran the Office 2024 installer again.
Same result - Office 2019 was back.

How do I unlink Office 2019 from my account. The only place it appears in my account is in 'Order History'. and there is no mention in my account about unlinking.

Delete or rename directory under :

Code:

C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Office\Licenses

Then re-enter your MSO 2024 LTSC license code in any of the programs if needed.
MS missed that one or didn't expect people to update so soon.
2024 will then show.

pewe · Thursday at 11:27 AM

Anibor_11 said:
How do you know Office 2019 is back?

Check Office version in Installed Applications.

In the Installed Apps it shows it as Office 2024. But when I open Word or Excel it clearly staes it is 2019 and all of the file history is still shwoing. I would expect it to show 2024, and show the programs as 'Not Activated' asking for a Registration key.

OAT said:
Delete or rename directory under :

Code:

C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Office\Licenses

Then re-enter your MSO 2024 LTSC license code in any of the programs if needed.
MS missed that one or didn't expect people to update so soon.
2024 will then show.

View attachment 123748

I tried as you suggested, I renamed the directory 'license', and was signed out of MS when I re-installed.
When I started a program (Excel) I was for a licence which then 'Activated - but once again it is 2019..

Why is this so complicated - MS need shooting.

Anibor_11 · Thursday at 3:14 PM

If Office 2024 is installed, Office 2019 is uninstalled, and Office 2024 appears *activated* when you click in "Show information of additional licenses" in the "Account" screen, it doesn´t matter if Office 2019 also shows. This just means Office 2019 was not uninstalled completely, but you are actually using Office 2024.

dacrone · Thursday at 3:16 PM

where are you seeing 2019? the File > Account screen? or the Splash screen that shows when first clicking an application shortcut to open an Office Application?

IanMosley · Thursday at 3:23 PM

pewe said:
Can anyone offer any help?

The official MS method - Uninstall Office from a PC

RFS · Thursday at 4:32 PM

I have a similar problem. I bought Office 2021 Professional Plus a couple of years ago via one of those cheap offers. A couple of months ago, my duaghter and son-in-law took out a MS 365 Office subscription, but as they only needed a maximum of 4 licences, they kindly gifted me one. I carefully uninstalled Office 2021 first, as the licence was going to be used on the wife's PC, and then installed Office 365. But now I see this all the time.

Any ideas how to get rid? I have also installed on a new laptop and it doesn't show Office 2021.

Marcus Vinicus · Thursday at 4:51 PM

There is this from Microsoft. I used an earlier version of this a long time ago.
DISCLAIMER: I haven't tried anything on this page. It may be helpful or worth a try.

Office uninstall with Microsoft Support and Recovery Assistant - Microsoft 365

Describes available switches and conditions when using the Enterprise version of Microsoft Support and Recovery Assistant to uninstall Office.

learn.microsoft.com

pewe · Thursday at 4:52 PM

IanMosley said:
The official MS method - Uninstall Office from a PC

Done that - didn't solve the problem

Anibor_11 said:
If Office 2024 is installed, Office 2019 is uninstalled, and Office 2024 appears *activated* when you click in "Show information of additional licenses" in the "Account" screen, it doesn´t matter if Office 2019 also shows. This just means Office 2019 was not uninstalled completely, but you are actually using Office 2024.

I don't see an option 'Show information of additional licenses' in my 'Account screen in a programme - are talking about finding it somewhere else.
,.

dacrone said:
where are you seeing 2019? the File > Account screen? or the Splash screen that shows when first clicking an application shortcut to open an Office Application?

In the intial opening splash screen and in the 'Account' information screen.

But in the Apps it shows

Tester · Thursday at 6:32 PM

@pewe it says your running version v2408 17932.20222 at the About Excel screen.

If you look here, you see that it is version 2024, from 15jan 2025

Update history for Office LTSC 2024 and Office 2024 - Office release notes

Provides IT Pros with an update history for perpetual versions of Office LTSC 2024 (volume licensed) and Office 2024 (retail).

learn.microsoft.com

Perhaps the 2019 was not legal? Activated with MAS activator? And that install some DLLs, maybe those are still present. Run MAS activator again and unactive/uninstall that, and reactive with real licence.

And did you install it with your own account, or with there account? And are you still logged in into the right account that has that license.

idainc · Thursday at 7:18 PM

You need to take off all of your Office data files and run Office Scrubber. Google it. Works like a charm.

Marcus Vinicus · Thursday at 7:26 PM

idainc said:
You need to take off all of your Office data files and run Office Scrubber. Google it. Works like a charm.

I agree, I mentioned this in my post #11 above. It can be done from the elevated command prompt.

UPDATE: The office scrub tool can be downloaded here.

https://aka.ms/SaRA-officeUninstallFromPC

pewe · Thursday at 7:42 PM

Tester said:
@pewe it says your running version v2408 17932.20222 at the About Excel screen.

If you look here, you see that it is version 2024, from 15jan 2025

Update history for Office LTSC 2024 and Office 2024 - Office release notes

Provides IT Pros with an update history for perpetual versions of Office LTSC 2024 (volume licensed) and Office 2024 (retail).

learn.microsoft.com

Perhaps the 2019 was not legal? Activated with MAS activator? And that install some DLLs, maybe those are still present. Run MAS activator again and unactive/uninstall that, and reactive with real licence.

And did you install it with your own account, or with there account? And are you still logged in into the right account that has that license.

2019 was legal, and it shows up in Previous Purchases in my MS account, under which I installed it.

Marcus Vinicus said:
I agree, I mentioned this in my post #4 above. It can be done from the elevated command prompt.

UPDATE: The office scrub tool can be downloaded here.

https://aka.ms/SaRA-officeUninstallFromPC

I had already tried that - with no success.

Marcus Vinicus · Thursday at 7:48 PM

@pewe

Have you tried the command line solution from MS mentioned in my post #11 above?

XxXxX · Thursday at 8:08 PM

found this with a solution ..

This is due to remaining license files of the old Office. The new Office has been installed but identifies itself incorrectly.

I had this problem too and found it extremely annoying.

Here's the solution:

Close all Office applications.

Use explorer to go to c:\program data\Microsoft\office\licences and delete all files in this directory.

(The \program data folder may be hidden. If so, click on “show” at the top of explorer and then on “show hidden items”.)

Restart Word. You will be asked to log in or you can choose to enter the product key. Do not log in, but then enter the key again and the identification will normally be correct as Office 2024.

link to article ..

Redirecting

best of luck, Steve ..

pewe · Friday at 4:00 AM

XxXxX said:
found this with a solution ..

link to article ..

Redirecting

best of luck, Steve ..

I had tried renaming the 'Licenses' directory - to no avail.
However I will try again following the details in the link you provided and see what comes of it.
I'll report back on the outcome later today.
Thanks

RFS · Friday at 4:39 AM

Deleting the licences directory fixed the problem for me and I no longer see Office 2021 listed. When I restarted Outlook, I was merely asked to accept the licence key and that was that.

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