Microsoft has paused the rollout of Office update KB5002907 after administrators reported that it deactivated perpetual copies of Office 2016 and Office 2019 and, on some machines, removed Office entirely, BleepingComputer reported Saturday. The company told affected users to reactivate or reinstall their Office versions.

What Happened

KB5002907, published around Sept. 23 under the title "Optional update for out-of-date Microsoft 365 Apps installations," was intended to bring Microsoft 365 Apps installs that had fallen more than 90 days behind back to a current build. Instead, reports began arriving on Sept. 24 from users and IT staff whose non-subscription Office copies suddenly showed as "Unlicensed Product."

Christian Van Hautte, who runs a managed service provider in Belgium, told BleepingComputer that five unrelated customers contacted him within about ten minutes, with dozens of PCs affected between them. He said the update appeared to uninstall and reinstall Office as part of its process. On systems that combined 32-bit Office with 64-bit components, such as the 64-bit Access Runtime, that reinstall failed and left the machine without Office. One user reported that only a Simplified Chinese language pack remained afterward. Similar accounts appeared on Reddit and Microsoft's forums.

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Although the update was labeled optional, some administrators said it installed automatically. Microsoft said it was aware of the reports and had paused the update while it investigated.

Why It Matters

Perpetual Office licenses remain common in small businesses and in organizations that have not moved to Microsoft 365 subscriptions, often because they want a fixed cost and fewer changes. An update designed for subscription installs reaching those machines breaks the basic expectation that a paid-for, one-time license keeps working.

The damage lands on IT teams and managed service providers, who must repair devices one at a time. Users who re-entered their original product keys or signed in to the Microsoft account tied to their license were able to restore activation, according to the report. Where Office had been removed, the only fix was a full reinstall of Office 2016 or 2019, which means locating the original installer and license details for each affected machine.

Context

Office 2016 and Office 2019 both reached the end of extended support in October 2025, which means they no longer receive security fixes. Microsoft has been steering customers toward Microsoft 365 and its newer perpetual releases. That timing makes an update that touches those older installs especially sensitive, since the affected organizations are, by definition, running software Microsoft no longer supports. Microsoft has not said how the update came to target perpetual licenses.

What to Watch

Key questions are whether Microsoft reissues KB5002907 with narrower targeting, whether it publishes a repair tool or script for machines where Office was removed, and whether it explains why an optional update installed without user action on some devices. Administrators who manage mixed Office estates may want to hold optional Office updates until Microsoft clarifies the scope.