Disruptive Microsoft Auto Update

Question

On my macOS computer, Microsoft Auto Update automatically launches at random intervals. It appears in my interface rather than running in the background. It operates regularly, despite my infrequent use of these tools. How can I prevent this disruptive tool from interrupting my workflow?

The application has a checkbox
Automatically keep Microsoft Apps up to date
but this seems to have no influence on the disruptive behavior. I would be fine with something running in the background, or when I launch an application. However, the current behavior is unacceptable and if there is no solution I will abandon this as Google Docs meets my needs.

Answer 1

Hi, Rorden, Chris

This usually happens when Microsoft AutoUpdate is being woken up by old helper files or a path/permission problem, not by the simple auto-update checkbox itself. Microsoft’s own docs say MAU can surface if its app folder permissions are wrong, and its launch agents can keep pointing to an older app path.

Solution: Here are some suggestions you can try:

If your Office apps were ever moved out of the normal Applications folder, put them back there. MAU creates aliases and launch agents that may keep using an old app path after moves/updates.

If you want the pop-up behavior gone completely, it is recommended that you remove the updater helper items, not just change the checkbox. Some can be listed as com.microsoft.autoupdate.helper.plist in/Library/LaunchDaemons, com.microsoft.update.agent.plist in/Library/LaunchAgents, and com.microsoft.autoupdate.helper in/Library/PrivilegedHelperTools.

Also check permissions on/Library/Application Support/Microsoft/MAU2.0/Microsoft AutoUpdate.app. If that folder is not writable, MAU may show prompts when it runs.

One last thing, make sure MAU is on the Current Channel, not Beta/Preview. Beta can keep surfacing if a newer build exists there.

Thank you for your patience in reading, I hope this information has been helpful to you. 

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