Microsoft desktop apps will not open.

Question

I cannot open desktop versions of Outlook, Word, Excel or OneNote.

Answer 1

If this is affecting all Office apps, the best option is to perform a full repair of your Office installation.

Open the Settings App (gear icon on your Start Menu)

Go to Apps, then scroll down to find Microsoft Office

Select that and choose Modify - Online Repair

That should fix any issues with your Office Installation.

Answer 2

The instructions are for a Mac. I have a machine with Windows 11 installed and not a Mac.

Answer 3

If you are unable to open the desktop versions of Outlook, Word, Excel, or OneNote, you can try the following steps to resolve the issue:

1. Quit all Office applications: Make sure that all instances of Office applications are closed.
2. Remove Office applications: Open Finder, go to Applications, and use Command + click to select all Microsoft 365 for Mac applications. Then, Ctrl + click the selected applications and choose "Move to Trash".
3. Delete related folders: In Finder, click on "GO" in the menu bar and go to the folder ~/Library/Containers/. Delete the folders starting with:
   • com.microsoft.Word
   • com.microsoft.Excel
   • com.microsoft.Powerpoint
   • com.microsoft.Outlook
   • com.microsoft.OneNote
4. Check Group Containers: Go back to the Library folder and open "Group Containers". If present, move the following to Trash:
   • UBF8T346G9.ms
   • UBF8T346G9.Office
5. Reinstall Office: After completing the above steps, sign in with your Microsoft account to reinstall the Office apps from your subscription.

These steps should help in resolving the issue with the desktop apps not opening.