Office LTSC 2024 will not update

Question

I keep getting an 'Updates Available' message from Office LTSC 2024 (see attached). When I click on 'Update Now' the pop up disappears but no update seems to happen. Windows Update service shows I am up to date. This has been going on for a couple of weeks. Does anyone know why this is happening?

Answer 1

Dear Del,

Thank you for your update, that is a very helpful detail. Since you are on the Beta (pre-release) Channel, which is the more likely source of the issue, since these builds are still being tested and can contain problems that do not appear in the stable channels. You have two options: wait for a Microsoft update with a fix, or switch to the Current Channel for a stable build.

If you prefer to stay on the Beta Channel and wait, I would recommend reporting this issue to Microsoft so it can be investigated. You can do this in any Office app by going to Help > Feedback > Report a problem.

If this is affecting your workflow and you prefer a stable version, here is how to switch from the Beta Channel to the Current Channel:

• Close all Office apps (Word, Excel, Outlook, etc.).
• Press Windows key + R, type cmd
• Navigate to the Click-to-Run folder by typing the following and pressing Enter: cd "C:\Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\ClickToRun"
• Set the channel to Current by running: OfficeC2RClient.exe /changesetting Channel=Current
• Then start the update by running: OfficeC2RClient.exe /update user
• An Office update window will appear. Please allow it to complete, this may take several minutes.

Once the update finishes, open Word > File > Account and confirm that it no longer shows "Beta Channel" under the version information, then check whether the issue is resolved.

Important note:

Because the Beta Channel runs a higher version number than the Current Channel, the switch is effectively a "downgrade" to a more stable build. In some cases, the change may take a little time to fully apply, or you may need to run the update command once more if it does not switch on the first attempt. If it does not switch cleanly, an uninstall and reinstall of Office (which installs the default Current Channel) is the fallback option.

I hope this helps clarify the situation and provides you with a workable solution. If you have any further questions or need additional assistance, please do not hesitate to reach out, I'm always happy to help.

If the answer was helpful, please consider clicking "Yes" and giving it an upvote. This small action can make a big difference by helping others with similar questions find this solution more easily.

Answer 2

Thank you very much Kai-L for your answer.

1. I haven't run that command as I would like to research it before I run it.
2. Nothing mentioned about being run by admin or policy
3. Click to run service is running
4. Repair office - I've had bad experience with this. I ran it on my wife's pc as she was having problems with another office 2024 app and it removed office from her machine even though I told it to run the repair. Had to order a new office suite for that machine so a 'repair' is out of the question for me.
5. I'll look to see if it is current.

Thanks again for your help and I'll keep looking at the other items 1 and 5.

Answer 3

Dear Del,

Good day, and thank you for reaching out to the Q&A Forum. As a forum moderator, I genuinely wish I could directly access your account or delve into the backend systems to diagnose and fix this for you. However, my role here is limited to providing general guidance and solutions that can be applied by users. Please try the following steps to see if they help:

1.Update from the command line

Office LTSC 2024 uses Click-to-Run rather than Windows Update, so the update engine is separate from the Windows Update status you're seeing. Press Windows key + R, type cmd, and run:

"C:\Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\ClickToRun\OfficeC2RClient.exe" /update user

(If you have 32-bit Office on 64-bit Windows, use the Program Files (x86) path instead.) Watch for any error message that appears.

2.Check whether updates are managed by policy

In Word, go to File > Account and look for messages such as "Updates are managed by your administrator" or "This product will not be updated." If present, updates may be controlled by Group Policy, Intune, Configuration Manager, or an Office Deployment Tool configuration, in which case the Update Now button appears but won't install anything.

3.Check the Click-to-Run service

Press Windows key + R, type services.msc, and confirm that Microsoft Office Click-to-Run Service is Running. If it's stopped, start it and retry the update.

4.Repair Office

If the update engine appears damaged:

• Open Settings > Apps > Installed apps.
• Select Microsoft Office LTSC 2024 and choose Modify.
• Run Quick Repair first, then Online Repair if needed.

Then test the update again.

5.Confirm you're not already current

Since this has persisted for a couple of weeks, it's quite possible the UI is reporting an available update while your build is already up to date. Check File > Account > About and compare your build against the latest published build. If yours matches, the prompt is simply a stale notification. You can verify here: Update history for Office LTSC 2024 and Office 2024 - Office release notes | Microsoft Learn. 

I hope this information is helpful. Please follow these steps and let me know how it goes. If you have any questions or need further assistance, please feel free to share them in the comments so I can continue to support you. Thank you for your patience and understanding. I'm looking forward to your reply. 

---

If the answer is helpful, please click "Yes" and kindly upvote it. If you have extra questions about this answer, please click "Comment".  

Note: Please follow the steps in our documentation to enable e-mail notifications if you want to receive the related email notification for this thread.