When Microsoft tries to fix Office and completely disappears

If you turned on your computer this week and found that Microsoft Office decided to take a lifetime license, don't worry, you're not alone. Microsoft has struck again with a new update that, in its attempt to fix things, managed to wipe out entire applications and cancel legitimate licenses.

The new fiasco concerns an optional update released this week and distributed via Windows Update. Instead of improving system stability, it caused serious problems for many users worldwide.

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After its installation, many began reporting that their perfectly valid and paid licenses for the office suite suddenly stopped being valid.

The icing on the cake? In several cases, the update didn't just lock the programs, but completely removed Word, Excel, and PowerPoint from the affected computers, as if they never existed!

This particular problem mainly affects owners of Office 2021, 2019 , and 2016 versions.

Microsoft was forced to confirm the bug and hastily withdrew further distribution of update KB5002907.

In an official statement, the company stated in its familiar, diplomatic manner:

“Microsoft is investigating reports of unexpected results on some devices running Office 2016 or Office 2019 after installing this update. The update was intended to resolve issues on devices that were not receiving updates for Microsoft 365 apps. As a result of the patching process included in the update, some devices were left without working versions of Microsoft 365 apps or Office. To prevent issues on more devices, we have paused the rollout of this update.”

What to do if you are a victim of the update:

If you're one of the unlucky ones, Microsoft is throwing up its hands and letting you dig yourself out of the hole. You'll need to reactivate your Office license manually. And if your apps are broken, you'll have to go through the process of downloading and reinstalling them from scratch.

The only positive thing about this whole thing? This particular update was optional. So, if you're one of those users who always hits "Snooze" on updates, congratulations, your procrastination just saved you a lot of trouble.

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Although the press releases will range from very select to rare, I said I'd pass...because sometimes the editors hide.