Why can' t I get rid of Office 2019

There is a lot of stuff being thrown at you. Try not to stress, just one thing at a time

there seems to be a problem with MS Office licensing which affects perpetual licenses
unknown if its also affecting other MS Office licenses

here is the link to the post on this forum.

best luck, Steve ..

antspants said:

There is a lot of stuff being thrown at you. Try not to stress, just one thing at a time

Click to expand...

Yeah, it seems that there are a number of different otions that people have used, sometimes they have worked, sometimes not.

I had no need to 'upgrade' to 2024 and only chose to try it on my Laptop because it was valid for 3 Com[uters.
As I've said, it installed on one laptop which only had an unlicensed version of 365 on it with no problem.
However, I now have two other laptops that I can try it on so I'll do that and see what happens.

I did contact the seller and they suggested a couple of things (which I had already tried including SaRa) and then they eventually gave up and suggested I re-install Windows 11.

I take the point about buying cheap software, but I work with a 'Voluntary' organisation and the money we spend is 'public' money, and unlike some other organisations we work with we have limited funds and what we do have is 'public' money, so I have to try and get the best value I can for what we spend. I did wonder if the £25 was going to be wasted, but took the view that if it was, I would personally foot the bill and it wouldn't be hitting the pocket too hard. Having said that, I did first check that the supplier was indeed registered with MS - which they are - and thought they may be a safer bet than some.

From some of the posts I've seen, like the last one from @XxXxX it appears that MS have adopted a practice which in other walks of life would be deemed 'Restictive' - and they get away with it simply because the authorities don't have the will, power or incentive to hold such a wide spread organisation to account.

@pewe
just a thought nothing more. if you have the full install download or disk.
uninstall and delete any reference/data on the system for office 2019 and this will include a reg cleaner
revo uninstaller and ccleaner have very good registry cleaners.

disconnect the computer from the internet both WiFi and Ethernet (if cabled)
restart the computer with no internet.

then try the install of office 2024 .
this way it cant connect with any MS servers during install then check to see if office 2024 works before reconnecting back on to the internet.
as stated, just a thought.

best of luck, Steve ..

@XxXxX - Thanks for the thought.
I was expecting an offline instal package as this was the practice with previous MS software I've used, and I think it was the case with 2019.
If they supplied one it would not have been such a problem I'm sure and I can't find a source to download one either.
I may go back to the seller and ask if they can supply one.

@pewe
Can you not access your purchase directly from your MS account?

Edwin said:

@pewe
Can you not access your purchase directly from your MS account?

Click to expand...

The only one listed is 2019 - 2024 has not installed successfully yet. (it was not purchased from MS so probably wouldn't appear there anyway???)

pewe said:

The only one listed is 2019 - 2024 has not installed successfully yet. (it was not purchased from MS so probably wouldn't appear there anyway???)

Click to expand...

Okay, I wasn't sure if you had the option to verify the key with your MS account.

pewe said:

As I've said, it installed on one laptop which only had an unlicensed version of 365 on it with no problem.

Click to expand...

On those other computers, do those offices update to the newer versions, when you hit the update button. Or do they also say there up to date. If there not updating that would suggest there is a problem. Because the build your on, is 3updates behind.

Tester said:

On those other computers, do those offices update to the newer versions, when you hit the update button. Or do they also say there up to date. If there not updating that would suggest there is a problem. Because the build your on, is 3updates behind.

Click to expand...

I'm not sure. I will get them out later and try.

Software download links are generally supplied by the business you purchase your product key from, especially as it’s 2024 LTSC and not purchased via Microsoft.

Recheck the emails received from Nerdused and also check your junk folder

antspants said:

Software download links are generally supplied by the business you purchase your product key from, especially as it’s 2024 LTSC and not purchased via Microsoft.

Recheck the emails received from Nerdused and also check your junk folder

Click to expand...

What they supplied was a download link for a small 'installer' file which when excecuted puts a configuration.xml file in the directory along with a small setup.exe which seems to run the installation from MS site.

Yeah right. Because officially for Office 2024 LTSC, I believe a computer administrator must use the Office Deployment Tool (ODT) to install Office LTSC 2024 and any stand-alone Office applications. Hence the configuration.xml, most likely.

I suppose you could try fiddling around with this, I’ve never used it.

antspants said:

I suppose you could try fiddling around with this, I’ve never used it.

https://config.office.com/deploymentsettings

Click to expand...

Thanks agsain @antspants
I had seen that before, but not sure if it would make a difference. The install package from the supplien included an xml file, but it was not as detailed as one that can be created on the link you sent - for example it did not include the license key. I'll have a look at creating one and try using it to see what happens.

Hi, pewe

I scrolled down the page after selecting Pro Plus LTSC at the top and there was a license key section. The KMS holds a generic key that should be able to be changed after install. The MAK allows you to enter a key.
But as mentioned I have never used this It seems as though you just keep working down the page until you have completed all options, then get the .xml. Which I realise you already have. I wish I nw more about it.

Just be careful if trying to find a full install on the net. Be careful what you download. Hopefully Nerdused can help.

Well if worse comes to worse (and you've tried everything else), then a fresh install of Windows 11 might be your only way out.

Then the first thing to do after reimaging would be to install the version of Office in question here, that you want. Like a brand new install.

Make sure you back up all your personal files beforehand.

And I'd agree, I'd be the solution of last resort....

For those that still have this problem the soultion has been found and updated in MS guide:


Important highlight is to also delete the following registry entry:

• HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\16.0\Common\Licensing

I know this post is old, but I figured this out with the previous post from user valas. I had the exact same problem as user pewe, no matter what I did and how I uninstalled Office, I kept getting 2019 back. This issue occurred on a new installation of Windows 11, so performing a reset likely wouldn't have resolved it. I even created a local account that wasn't logged into Microsoft and I still got Office 2019 after installing 2024. A key part of the "official method" that helped me was checking for installed licenses.

So what I did:

1. Installed Office 2024 LTSC
2. Did not open or run Word or any other office program.
3. Went into CMD as admin
4. Changed the directory - cd "program files\microsoft office\Office16"
5. ran this script - "cscript ospp.vbs /dstatus"

From there it showed me I had two installations. The phantom 2019 installation and the 2024 installation. I never installed 2019, yet it was there. Both had the last 5 digits of the license key.



I ran the command - cscript ospp.vbs /unpkey:KW4W6 (replace this key with whatever key is shown for 2019). After that it said:

Uninstalling product key for: Office 19, Office19ProPlus2019MSDNR_Retail edition
<Product key uninstall successful>

I ran "cscript ospp.vbs /dstatus" again, and only 2024 was showing as active. I then opened Word, and there it was, 2024, not 2019 anymore.

Therefore, I did not need to perform all the other tasks related to uninstalling, removing directories, and deleting registry keys. I did that earlier per other users' instructions, and it didn't help. I just had to remove 2019's license via the ospp.vbs script and that was it. It allowed 2024 to open up. Also, yes, it is true the build # and version shown in 2019 is that of 2024, but it's not fully 2024. I noticed that when I put in the key for phone activation, the resulting 56 number installation ID code was different in 2019 vs. 2024 for activation with the identical key. It won't activate it when it says 2019. It has to say 2024 in the title header.

Also note, you can't run the vbs script unless you install Office 2024. If you uninstall Office, then it won't find any licenses. They only show up after installation.

The only thing I can think of is that it has to do with Microsoft accounts in some way. When I opened the 2024 application, it showed that I was logged in with two Microsoft accounts; however, I never logged into the second account after performing a fresh install. It must have been somehow linked to the first one. It's some weird glitch I've never encountered. One must have a very specific set of circumstances going on to get this and also have had 2019 at one time before. For me, it is now solved. I hope the information helps someone else later searching for this issue.