Word Gone after system update

If your files open in Pages when you double-click on them, it means that the file associations in macOS have changed, not that Office has disappeared.

You can change a macOS file association with the following steps:

1. Right-click on a Word file and choose Open With>Other. Choose Other even if you see Word in the available applications.
2. In the dialog that opens, check the option Always Open With.
3. Select Microsoft Word in the list of Applications.
4. Click on Open.

You will have to repeat these steps with .dotx template files, to reassociate the .dotx file ending with the Word program.

Hi! Let me help you with this issue.

Is it only Word that is missing?

Please open File Explorer and then go to this path: C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\root\Office16

Look for the WORD application and double-click.

Please let me know if it works.

Word is not actually removed by a macOS or Office update, but the Office apps for Mac can stop launching or be effectively unavailable after changes to the system. In that case, reinstalling Office for Mac and cleaning old app data restores Word so .docx files open in Word instead of Pages.

Use these steps on macOS:

1. Quit all Office apps.
2. Open Finder → Applications.
3. Command+click to select all Microsoft 365 apps (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, OneNote).
4. Ctrl+click the selection and choose “Move to Trash.”
5. In Finder, on the menu bar select Go → Go to Folder… and enter: ~/Library/Containers/
6. In that folder, move to Trash the folders starting with:
   • com.microsoft.Word
   • com.microsoft.Excel
   • com.microsoft.Powerpoint
   • com.microsoft.Outlook
   • com.microsoft.OneNote
7. Go back to ~/Library and open Group Containers.
8. Move to Trash (if present):
   • UBF8T346G9.ms
   • UBF8T346G9.Office
9. Sign in to the Microsoft account that owns the Microsoft 365 subscription and reinstall the Office apps for Mac from there.
10. After reinstall, open Word once so macOS sees it, then:
    • In Finder, right‑click a .docx file → Get Info → “Open with” → choose Microsoft Word → click “Change All…” so Word becomes the default instead of Pages.

This restores Word and makes Word the default app for Word documents again.

References:

• Microsoft Office apps for Mac quit unexpectedly - Microsoft Q&A