How can I remove all traces of old versions of MS Office from a windows 11 computer

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How can I remove all traces of old versions of MS Office from a windows 11 computer

Donna Lauer 20

I have a Windows 11 computer. I had a very old version of Office (2013) on my computer, and decided to upgrade. I tried to remove all traces of Office, but somehow I still have Office 2003 (how? why? what the heck?) on my computer, not that any of the icons will run Office 2003, just that they'll keep me from installing a newer version. How do I get rid of all traces of Office so I can install my new software?

I tried one solution I found that said to run the DOS shell as an administrator with this command:

Get-AppxPackage -name "Microsoft.Office.Desktop" | Remove-AppxPackage

This did not help. It didn't do anything when I ran it at the prompt in the directory it was in or when I ran it at the root directory (C:).

So now I have no Office 2013, no Office 2021, but solid enough traces of Office 2003 that my Windows 11 computer won't install anything else. I'm even lucky that I knew that old versions was probably my problem when I couldn't install the new Office.

I'd like to remove 2003, but if I can't do that I want at least 2013 back; I could use that.

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Answer 1

To remove all traces of old versions of Microsoft Office from your Windows 11 computer, you can follow these steps:

Uninstall Office via Control Panel:
- Go to Settings > Apps > Apps & features.
- Look for any versions of Microsoft Office (including Office 2003) and uninstall them.
Use the Microsoft Support and Recovery Assistant: This tool can help you remove Office completely. You can download it from the Microsoft website and run it to clean up any remnants of Office installations.
- Example command to run in the command prompt:
```
   SaRAcmd.exe -S OfficeScrubScenario -AcceptEula -OfficeVersion All
```
Remove MSI versions using Office Deployment Tool: If you have older versions installed via Windows Installer (MSI), you can use the Office Deployment Tool to specify the RemoveMSI element in your configuration.xml file to uninstall them. This is particularly useful for versions like Office 2003.
Check for leftover files: After uninstalling, check the following directories for any leftover files and folders:
- C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office
- C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Office
- C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Office
- Delete any remaining folders related to Office.
Registry Cleanup: If you're comfortable with it, you can also check the Windows Registry for any leftover entries related to Office. Be cautious when editing the registry, as incorrect changes can affect your system. Look for keys under:
- HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Office
- HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Office
- Delete any keys related to the old Office versions.
Reboot your computer: After performing these steps, restart your computer to ensure all changes take effect.

After completing these steps, you should be able to install the new version of Office without any issues.

Answer 2

Hi Donna,

Thank you for reaching out about the issue with removing old versions of Microsoft Office from your Windows 11 computer I understand how frustrating it can be when remnants of older Office installations prevent you from installing a newer version, especially after trying commands that didn’t resolve the problem. This usually happens because older versions like Office 2003 leave behind registry entries or installation files that aren’t removed by standard uninstall methods.

To fully remove all traces of previous Office versions I recommend using the Microsoft Support and Recovery Assistant (SaRA) tool. This tool is designed to clean up leftover components from older Office installations including registry entries and hidden files. You can download it from the official Microsoft website, run the Office removal scenario and select the option to remove all versions. This process ensures that your system is ready for a fresh installation of the latest Office version. After running the tool restart your computer to apply the changes

I hope this answer is helpful if you have further questions feel free to reply back

Regards,

Marcelo

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