Every time the user starts a product from the Microsoft Office suite on a Windows device, it asks to sign in to the Microsoft 365 account to license the Office suite or enter a key. However, this company bought Microsoft Office LTSC. So, they should not sign in to license the product and can use a product key license instead. But it’s not working. In this article, you will learn how to uninstall Microsoft Office from Windows completely.
Introduction
For every Office application that we start on the Windows client, a window appears to license the Office Suite. However, entering the key doesn’t work, and we don’t want to sign in with an account to license it because we don’t have a Microsoft license attached to the user.
The problem is that reinstalling Microsoft Office didn’t help, and it keeps giving this “Sign in to get started” window.
Let’s look at how to completely uninstall Microsoft Office or how to remove all the licenses to prevent issues with licensing when entering the product key.
The Office Scrubber is an automated script to uninstall, remove, and scrub Microsoft Office (MSI or Click-to-Run) and works for the versions below:
- All Office
- Office C2R (365, LTSC, 2024, 2021, 2019, 2016, 2013)
- Office 2016 (MSI)
- Office 2013 (MSI)
- Office 2010 (MSI or C2R)
- Office 2007
- Office 2003
- Office UWP (Office Store Apps on Windows 11/10)
To download the Office Scrubber tool on the system, follow these steps:
- Download the Office Scrubber tool that contains all the files in a ZIP file
- Extract the ZIP files to C:\temp so it looks like the image below
To uninstall the Microsoft Office version on the system using the Office Scrubber, follow the steps below:
- Right-click on OfficeScrubber.cmd and run it as administrator
The Office Scrubber tool detects and displays the installed Office version on your system. You can identify it using the {*} wildcard at the end. For instance, in this case, Office C2R is installed.
- Choose the number to uninstall Office (in this example, number 2)
- Microsoft Office and all the licenses will be uninstalled from the machine
- Restart the system
Verify your work
Install a fresh copy of Microsoft Office on the system and activate it without worrying about any leftovers that can cause issues.
That’s it!
Read more: How to Disable access to install Office add-ins »
Conclusion
You learned how to uninstall Microsoft Office from Windows completely. While you can remove Microsoft Office from the Programs and Features section, some leftovers may remain. For example, old licenses that prevent the Office application from starting or interfere with activating it using a new key.
It’s best to download and run the Office Scrubber tool. After that, use the menu and uninstall everything where the wildcard is present. Reboot when finished and install the Microsoft Office software you need on Windows. If you only want to uninstall the Office licenses, there is an option for that too.
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