How to revert to an earlier version of Office

Step 1: Set a reminder to enable automatic updates at a future date

Before you revert an Office installation, you should disable automatic updates. To make sure that you don't miss future updates, set a reminder to manually check for future versions. When a new version becomes available, and if the new version doesn't exhibit the same issue that you experienced earlier, then you can re-enable automatic updates.

Create a reminder to re-enable automatic updates. You can do this in Microsoft Outlook, on Outlook.com, or by using another application that has a calendar.

For more information about Office updates, see the following article:

Update history for Microsoft 365 Apps for enterprise (listed by date)

Step 2: Install the previous version of Office

To install the previous version of Office, follow these steps:

1. Determine and note the previous version number. Use the following Microsoft website to find the update version that is previous to the current version:
   
   Update history for Microsoft 365 Apps for enterprise (listed by date)

2. Download and run the self-extracting executable file from the following Download Center link. This file contains the Office Deployment Tool executable (Setup.exe) and a sample configuration file (Configuration.xml):
   
   Office Deployment Tool

3. Start Notepad and copy the following XML. Then, save the file as Config.xml in the same file location as the Setup.exe file from Step 2.

   <Configuration>
   <Updates Enabled="TRUE" TargetVersion="16.0.xxxxx.yyyyy" />
   </Configuration>

   
   Note In the XML, 16.0.xxxxx.yyyyy represents the full version number that you noted in step 1.

4. Open an elevated Command Prompt window. To do this, click Start, type cmd in the Start Search box, right-click cmd.exe, and then click Run as administrator. Switch to the file location for the Setup.exe and Config.xml files.

5. Run the following command:

   setup.exe /configure config.xml
   

6. Start an Office application (such as Excel), and then select File > Account.

7. In the Product Information section, select Update Options > Update Now. 
   
   Note If you are prompted to activate Office again, enter your Microsoft account and password. This step does not add your computer to your account a second time.

Step 3: Disable automatic updates for Office

This step is very important. Office automatically checks for updates on a regular basis. To prevent Office from automatically installing new updates, follow these steps:

1. Start Outlook.

2. Click File, and then click Office Account.

3. In the Product Information column, click Update Options, and then click Disable Updates.