Issue with Office Apps After Reinstalling

Question

Hello,

I accidentally deleted the Office package from my computer. After this happened, I tried to reinstall it. However, every time I open one of the Office apps, I receive an Apple problem report with a long message containing problem details and technical information.

The apps work when I use them online, but I would like them to work directly on my computer as well.

Could you please help me resolve this issue?

Kind regards,

Endrit

Answer 1

Since the Office web apps work but the Mac desktop apps crash with an Apple problem report, the installation on the Mac is likely corrupted and needs a full removal and clean reinstall.

Follow these steps on the Mac:

1. Quit all Office apps

• Make sure Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, and OneNote are all closed.

2. Remove the Office apps

• Open Finder > Applications.
• Use Command + click to select all Microsoft 365/Office apps (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, OneNote).
• Ctrl+click the selection and choose Move to Trash.
• Empty the Trash.

3. Remove Office data folders

• In Finder, on the menu bar select Go > Go to Folder….
• Go to: ~/Library/Containers/
• In this folder, move to Trash the folders that start with:
  • com.microsoft.Word
  • com.microsoft.Excel
  • com.microsoft.Powerpoint
  • com.microsoft.Outlook
  • com.microsoft.OneNote
• Go back to ~/Library/ and open Group Containers.
• If present, move these to Trash:
  • UBF8T346G9.ms
  • UBF8T346G9.Office
• Empty the Trash again.

4. Reinstall Office for Mac

• Open a browser and sign in to the Microsoft account that owns the Microsoft 365/Office subscription.
• Go to the Services & subscriptions page of that account.
• Download Office for Mac from there and run the installer.
• After installation, open one Office app (for example Word) and sign in with the same Microsoft account when prompted.

If, after this full removal and reinstall, the apps still quit unexpectedly, run through the additional Mac troubleshooting steps for Office crashes, including the clean restart and (if applicable) disk permission repair as described in the Excel for Mac crash article.

---

References:

• Microsoft Office apps for Mac quit unexpectedly - Microsoft Q&A
• Excel for Mac error: "The application Microsoft Excel quit unexpectedly"
• What to try if you can't install or activate Office for Mac