Complete guide: removing Microsoft Office cleanly and installing Microsoft 365 the right way
Part 2 – Removing Microsoft Office with Microsoft's official tool
Applies to:
- Microsoft 365
- Office 2024
- Office LTSC 2024
- Office 2021
- Office LTSC 2021
- Office 2019
- Office 2016
- Office 2013
- Office 2010
- Office 2007
- Windows 10
- Windows 11
Table of contents
- Why use Microsoft's own tool?
- Check which Office edition is installed
- Uninstall Office via Settings
- Uninstall Office using Control Panel
- Uninstall Office using Microsoft Get Help
- Remove Office with GetHelpCmd (command line)
- Uninstall Office from Microsoft Store
- Restart the machine
- Check the result
- Common errors
1. Why use Microsoft's official tool?
Many people just click Uninstall in Control Panel and assume Office has been removed completely.
In reality, that is not the case.
Office leaves behind:
- Registry
- Office Licensing
- Click-to-Run Service
- AppData
- ProgramData
- Office Cache
- Scheduled Tasks
- Activation Cache
- Windows Installer Database
These components can cause:
- Unable to install Microsoft 365
- Reports that Office already exists
- Error 30015
- Error 30029
- Error 30088
- Error 30125
- Office misidentifies the license type
- Cannot sign in to the Microsoft account
Microsoft recommends using Get Help to remove Office before carrying out the manual steps.
2. Check which installation type Office is using
Open any Office application.
Example:
Word
→ File
→ Account
Look at the item About.
If this appears:
Version
Build
Click-to-Run
=> This is Office Click-to-Run.
If only:
Microsoft Office Professional Plus 2010
no build number
=> This is Office MSI.
If you see:
Microsoft Store
=> This is an Office installation from the Microsoft Store.
Microsoft also explains how to tell these three installation types apart in its official documentation.
3. Uninstall via Windows Settings
This is the simplest method.
Windows 11
Settings
↓
Apps
↓
Installed Apps
Windows 10
Settings
↓
Apps
↓
Apps & Features
Find:
- Microsoft 365
- Microsoft Office
- Office Professional
- Office LTSC
- Office Home
- Office Standard
Press
Uninstall
Follow the instructions.
Restart the machine.
4. Uninstall via Control Panel
If Settings doesn't work.
Open
Control Panel
↓
Programs
↓
Programs and Features
Select Office.
Press
Uninstall
Wait for it to finish.
Restart the machine.
5. Remove with Microsoft Get Help (recommended)
This is the method Microsoft recommends for most Windows 10 and Windows 11 users. The tool automatically detects the Office version and installation type (Click-to-Run, MSI or Microsoft Store) and runs the appropriate removal process.
Open the Office uninstaller
Use Microsoft's official guide:
Uninstall Microsoft 365 or Office from a PC
On this page:
Select
Uninstall Troubleshooter
Windows will ask:
Open Get Help?
Select
Open
Get started
Get Help will:
✔ Check Office
✔ Check the registry
✔ Check Click-to-Run
✔ Check Windows Installer
✔ Check the license
✔ Check the service
Then ask:
Do you want to uninstall Office?
Select
Yes
The process
The tool will:
- Stop Office services
- Remove all Office installations
- Remove Click-to-Run
- Remove Windows Installer
- Delete the related registry entries
- Clean up leftover components that a standard uninstaller may miss
The process usually takes 5–20 minutes, depending on the machine's configuration and the Office version.
Restart
When finished.
Get Help will ask for
Restart
Always restart the machine.
This step is mandatory.
6. Remove with GetHelpCmd (for administrators)
For system administrators and advanced users, Microsoft provides a command-line version GetHelpCmd.exe, which can remove Office by version or remove all versions.
Example:
Remove all Office installations
GetHelpCmd.exe -S OfficeScrubScenario -AcceptEula -OfficeVersion All
Uninstall Microsoft 365 only
GetHelpCmd.exe -S OfficeScrubScenario -AcceptEula -OfficeVersion M365
Remove only Office 2021
GetHelpCmd.exe -S OfficeScrubScenario -AcceptEula -OfficeVersion 2021
The same approach applies to the 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019 and 2024 versions.
7. Uninstall Office installed from the Microsoft Store
If Office was installed from the Microsoft Store:
Open
Settings
↓
Apps
↓
Installed Apps
If it cannot be removed:
Open PowerShell as Administrator
Run:
Get-AppxPackage -Name "Microsoft.Office.Desktop" | Remove-AppxPackage
Then check:
Get-AppxPackage -Name "Microsoft.Office.Desktop"
If nothing is returned, the Microsoft Store Office package has been removed successfully.
8. After removal
Always:
- Restart Windows.
- Do not install Microsoft 365 before restarting.
- Check whether Word, Excel and PowerPoint still appear in the Start menu.
9. Check whether Office has been uninstalled
Open
Control Panel
↓
Programs and Features
No longer:
- Microsoft Office
- Microsoft 365
- Visio
- Project
- Office Language Pack
Continue checking:
Settings
↓
Apps
If Office no longer appears, the basic removal is complete.
10. Common errors
Office cannot be removed
Try:
- Restart.
- Run Get Help.
- Run with Administrator privileges.
Uninstall hangs
Close:
- Word
- Excel
- Outlook
- OneNote
- Teams
- Visio
- Project
Then try again.
Reports that Office is running
Open:
Task Manager
↓
End Task
for the entire Office process.
Office remains after uninstalling
Don't install Microsoft 365 right away.
Trong Part 3, we will carry out the process a full manual uninstall, including removing folders, registry entries, services, scheduled tasks and leftover components, to get the system as clean as possible before reinstalling.
