MS Office (Word and Excel) missing

I installed MS office on my computer when I first started using this pc. It is running Windows 11 Pro Version 23H2 (OS Build 22631.7584) and up until at least yesterday, 09/23/26 without any issues. I went to open a blank word document a little while ago and my shortcut is gone as well as the entire MS Office suite. I did not do any updates yesterday so it didn't have anything to do with an update and I did not uninstall it. I have no idea what happened to my program.

Any ideas as to what could have happened between yesterday and today when I turned on the computer or suggestions on what to do would be so very much appreciated.

I did do a complete backup with Hasleo on 09/19/26 and I always select full backup as well as a complete image check when done so worst case scenario I guess I could restore my computer using that backup - but I hope that is not the case (and I have no idea how to go about doing that either).

Thank You So Very Much

I had just read an article about what just happened to you. It seems that the September Windows update is the cause of your problem (yet another issue among the many caused by this update). The article mentioned that the September security update affects both Office 2013 and Office 2019 (it doesn’t say whether it affects other versions), either by removing the license or by directly uninstalling the programs. The solutions provided are: re-enter the license, reinstall Office, or uninstall the September update. And if none of those three solutions work, wait to see what Microsoft does or even reinstall Windows!!!! Thank goodness I blocked updates back in August.

Same problem reported in
Has MS wiped Office 2010 Home and Student off our PC? - ElevenForum


Denis