Do I need to uninstall Office 2010 before installing 2022?

After installing the suite of Microsoft Office apps on Windows 10, you may have many reasons to uninstall them. Perhaps, you are trying to free up a license of Office from Microsoft 365 (formerly Office 365), Office 2021, Office 2019, or Office 2016 for another device. The apps are not working correctly, and you are trying to reinstall the software to fix problems. You do not like the product and want to permanently downgrade to a previous version or uninstall the suite.

Whatever the reason, there are at least a couple of ways to uninstall Microsoft Office from your computer.

This guide will teach you the steps to uninstall Office from your Windows 10 installation, including Office from Microsoft 365, Office 2021, Office 2019, and Office 2016.

• Uninstall Office from Windows 10 using Settings
• Completely uninstall Office using Recovery Assistant

Uninstall Office from Windows 10 using Settings

To uninstall Microsoft Office from Windows 10 with Settings, use these steps:

1. Open Settings on Windows 10.

2. Click on Apps & features.

3. Select the Microsoft Office 365 installation or the name of the suite you purchased, like “Microsoft Office 365 Home,” “Microsoft Office Home and Student 2021,” or “Microsoft Office Home and Student 2019.”

4. Click the Uninstall button.

5. Click the Uninstall button again.

   
   

6. Continue with the on-screen directions.

Once you complete the steps, the Office apps will remove from the computer.

Alternatively, and on previous operating system versions, you can open Control Panel and uninstall the suite from the “Programs and Features” page.

Completely uninstall Office using Recovery Assistant

Microsoft provides an easy fix tool to help you quickly uninstall Microsoft 365 (Office 365), Office 2021, 2019, 2016, or 2013 entirely from your computer.

To use the “Microsoft Support and Recovery Assistant” tool to remove the suite of apps, use these steps:

1. Download Microsoft Support and Recovery Assistant tool. 

2. Double-click the file to launch the uninstaller.

3. Click the Install button.

   
   

4. Click the Agree button to confirm the terms.

5. Select the version of Office to remove from Windows 10.

   
   

6. Click the Next button.

7. Check the option to confirm that you have saved your work.

   
   

8. Click the Next button to uninstall Microsoft 365 Office from the computer.

9. Click the Restart button.

10. Click the No button.

11. Submit the required survey to complete the process.

After you complete the steps, the Office apps available with your Microsoft 365 subscription will no longer be available on the computer.

Microsoft Office should be completely gone from Windows 10, and now you can move on or reinstall Office 365 from your Office online account or manually use the standalone installation for Office 2021.

You cannot uninstall individual apps anymore, such as Word or Excel, using Microsoft 365 (Office 365). However, you can still remove individual apps when you purchase the standalone version of the suite.

Now that Microsoft has ended support for Office 2010 as of October 13, upgrading to Office 365 is one of your primary options.

We know that switching from owning software outright to paying a subscription is a big change that many people dread. You can actually still buy Office 2019 as a standalone product if you want to stick to tradition.

If you want Office without a sub

Office 2019 Home & Business

Best Prices Today: $ at Microsoft

The subscription model has its upsides, though. You don’t have to fiddle with downloads, discs, or product keys. You get constant updates, including bug fixes, security patches, and new features. Microsoft’s subscriptions also offer flexibility on how many users and machines can access a product, so you don’t have to juggle a bunch of different copies of the same software. 

Here’s how it works. 

How to update Office 2010 to Office 365 from the current software on your system

A straightforward upgrade is actually quite simple. If you have a single standalone PC, it can be accomplished through any of your current Office suite programs.

Open Word, Excel, Outlook, or PowerPoint and select File > Account > Update Options, then select Update Now from the drop-down menu. In Outlook, it’s File > Office Account > Update Options > Update Now. Then just follow the online prompts.

Select updates from Update Options, Update Now

Important: Be absolutely certain you’re ready to update your software before you click that Update Now button, because it jumps directly to the Internet and launches the update, and it’s really difficult to cancel it. If you’re uncertain, choose View Updates first and review your options before proceeding.

Once installed, you can customize the desktop icons and launch the programs. Office will prompt for the new product key when you access the first program. This key has 25 letters and numbers (aka, alphanumeric) and pairs your license to your machine.

How to update from Office 2010 to Office 365 from the Office website

If you prefer, you can upgrade directly from Microsoft; just go to https://www.office.com/. On the main Welcome to Office menu, click Sign In to begin. Microsoft locates your account, recognizes the current versions on your system, and then provides alternatives for you to select (to purchase or rent).

Get Office product screens

Or, you can click Get OfficeRemove non-product link.  A product sales screen opens and displays your options under the For HOME tab. Click the For BUSINESS tab to see the business options.

Because it’s “not really an upgrade,” but another purchase, the previous versions of software on your system are irrelevant to Microsoft except for determining whether to allow or disallow multiple versions to run simultaneously on your system.

Microsoft counsels against running multiple versions for a number of reasons. There are compatibility issues between system files (especially with Outlook): Some features are disabled, and some files are overwritten by the newer version leaving the older version without those files. Some commands are either obsolete or changed, which means one or both versions could fail.

How to update from Office 2010 to Office 365 from the Microsoft Store

Update from the Microsoft store

Access the Microsoft Store app from the task bar on your system. Sign in first, and the Microsoft – Official Home Page appears. On the bottom left side, click Choose Your Microsoft 365, and, once again, the product sales screen opens and displays the For HOME and For BUSINESS tabs with pricing for all the different combinations of products.

Important note: Updating or upgrading the Office products will not affect your files, documents, spreadsheets, and other data. Even if they did, all of the Microsoft programs provide backward-compatible options. However, you should back up your Microsoft Outlook .pst file before you make any changes to your Outlook program. This file is located in one of the following locations:

C:Users<username>AppDataLocalMicrosoftOutlook

C:Users<username>RoamingLocalMicrosoftOutlook

You can also back up the .pst file to a CSV file (Comma Separated Values) file, which is compatible with Excel and all databases.

Once the new update is installed, use File > Open & Export > Import/Export, then choose an action from the Import & Export Wizard dialog, such as Import from another Program or File.

Click Next, then select Comma Separated Values or Outlook Data File (.pst), and follow the prompts to restore your Outlook files. 

Related stories:

• Microsoft ends support for Office 2010: What you can do
• Office 2019 vs. Microsoft 365: Microsoft Office plans compared
• How to get Microsoft Office for cheap

Author: jsartain, tech journalist

JD Sartain is a technology journalist from Boston. She writes for PCWorld, Network World, CIO, & several other tech magazines.

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