How to uninstall Microsoft Office on Mac completely
Microsoft Office on a Mac is several apps — Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook and often OneNote — that share folders, sign-in data and an updater. Microsoft has its own steps for removing them. Here they are, with what to back up first and what to leave if you keep another Microsoft app.
- Open MacWashing and choose Uninstaller in the sidebar.
- Click Show Apps and check Microsoft Word, Microsoft Excel, Microsoft PowerPoint, Microsoft Outlook in the list.
- Click Remove and confirm. Files that may be yours are listed as Possible and stay unchecked.
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Uninstall Office the way Microsoft describes
Office has no uninstaller app. Microsoft’s support article “Uninstall Office for Mac” removes the apps in Finder and then their folders in your Library folder. You need an administrator account on the Mac.
- Quit all Office apps.
- Open Finder › Applications and Command-click to select Microsoft Word, Microsoft Excel, Microsoft PowerPoint, Microsoft Outlook and Microsoft OneNote, whichever you have.
- Control-click the selection and choose Move to Trash. Enter your administrator password if macOS asks for it.
- Remove the folders listed in the next section, as described below.
- If an Office app is still in the Dock, Control-click it and choose Options › Remove from Dock.
What Office leaves behind
These folders are in the Library folder inside your home folder. Some may be missing if you never used that app:
~/Library/Containers/com.microsoft.Word— Word’s data. Excel, PowerPoint and Outlook have their own:~/Library/Containers/com.microsoft.Excel,~/Library/Containers/com.microsoft.Powerpointand~/Library/Containers/com.microsoft.Outlook. Finder shows them as Microsoft Word, Microsoft Excel and so on.~/Library/Group Containers/UBF8T346G9.Office— data shared by all Office apps, Outlook’s mail database included.~/Library/Group Containers/UBF8T346G9.OfficeOsfWebHost— data of Office add-ins.~/Library/Preferences/com.microsoft.Word.plist— Word’s settings. Excel and PowerPoint have the same files with their own names.
Outlook keeps your local mail, calendars and contacts in ~/Library/Group Containers/UBF8T346G9.Office/Outlook/Outlook 15 Profiles. Microsoft warns that removing these folders removes Outlook data: copy that folder somewhere safe first if anything is stored only on this Mac. Mail on a server account stays on the server.
Microsoft’s steps also remove ~/Library/Group Containers/UBF8T346G9.ms. It holds Microsoft sign-in data shared by all Microsoft apps, so if you keep Teams, OneDrive or Edge, they may ask you to sign in again.
Remove the leftovers by hand
- In Finder, choose Go › Go to Folder (Shift-Command-G), type a path from the list above and press Return.
- Move the folder or file to the Trash.
- Repeat for the other paths.
- Restart your Mac, then empty the Trash.
Office isn’t the only app that leaves files behind: see how to uninstall apps on Mac completely.
Microsoft AutoUpdate, OneDrive and Teams
Microsoft AutoUpdate updates Office and other Microsoft apps, such as OneDrive. Microsoft’s uninstall steps leave it in place. If you keep any Microsoft app, keep AutoUpdate too, so that app still gets updates.
OneDrive and Teams are separate apps and stay after you remove Office. To remove them too, see how to uninstall OneDrive and how to uninstall Microsoft Teams.
With MacWashing, it’s one click
The Uninstaller in MacWashing knows the files each Office app creates and removes them together with the app. Folders that may hold your own files, like Outlook’s mail, are listed as Possible and stay unchecked until you check them yourself.
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Questions and answers
Will MacWashing delete my own files when it removes Microsoft Office?
No. The Uninstaller checks only what belongs to the app: its settings, caches, logs and background items. Folders that may hold your own files are listed as Possible and stay unchecked until you check them yourself, and apps go to the Trash by default, so you can put them back.
What if Microsoft Office is still running?
MacWashing waits for it to quit, or quits it at your request, and only then removes its files.
Is it free to uninstall Microsoft Office with MacWashing?
Yes, within the free trial: System Junk and the Uninstaller free up to 25 GB in total, with no account or card needed.
Does uninstalling Office delete my documents?
No. Documents you saved in Documents, on the desktop or in OneDrive stay where they are. Only Outlook keeps your data inside the Library folders, so back it up first.
Will I lose my Office license?
No. Microsoft 365 and Office bought for home use are tied to the Microsoft account you activated them with. After reinstalling, sign in with the same account to activate Office again. If activation picks up the wrong license, Microsoft has a License Removal Tool, described in its article “How to remove Office license files on a Mac”.
Can I remove just one Office app, like Outlook?
Yes. Move only that app to the Trash and remove only its own folders, such as ~/Library/Containers/com.microsoft.Outlook. Leave UBF8T346G9.Office and the other shared folders, because the remaining Office apps use them.