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If you’re still using Microsoft Office 2019 on your Mac, it’s about to become a read-only document viewer.
Starting July 13, Office 2019 apps for Mac — including Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, and OneNote — will enter a “reduced functionality mode” that disables editing, saving, or creating new files, allowing only viewing and printing. This restriction also affects older iPhone and iPad apps, according to Microsoft.
This is because Microsoft Office 2019 officially stopped support in October 2023, and the version no longer receives software or security updates.
Microsoft 365 subscribers on newer supported versions of Office on MacOS, as well as Office 2021 customers without a subscription, will need to update their software before July to avoid the same fate.
The heart of the issue is The security certificate has expired Which verifies the validity of Office licenses. Microsoft has renewed the certificate and updated other versions of Office to recognize it correctly, but not the 2019 version for Mac. Versions of Microsoft Office for Windows are not affected by this security certificate.
Pull the plug on Office 2019
Microsoft End of support notice For Office 2019 it cites a five-year support life cycle for the software package. Office 2019 was released in September 2018, almost 8 years old.
With software updates, this isn’t unreasonable. But this certificate issue does not appear to be caused by broken code that would pull resources from other newer projects to fix it. Office 2019, which was sold as a one-time purchase, still works fine.
The problem is that Microsoft will not provide an update that will activate the renewed certificate. Expiring security certificates is a standard industry practice designed to reduce the risk of cryptographic keys being compromised.
But some critics say Microsoft’s deadline was self-imposed. Adding to the backlash, Microsoft quietly removed an earlier online promise that the program would “continue to work.”
When reached for comment via email, a Microsoft spokesperson responded: “Microsoft does not intentionally limit or change Office 2019; the product cannot receive the renewed certification because there is no update path for an out-of-support product.”
The last full purchase version of Office for Mac is Office 2024, which will continue to be supported. The previous version, Office 2021, will also continue to work but will enter end-of-support mode in October 2026.
Office 2019 was around in the not-so-distant past, before Microsoft started incorporating AI features into all of its products. It’s safe to assume that some customers are holding on to their apps because they want basic word processing, spreadsheets, and presentation features without today’s distractions.
If you decide to upgrade to a newer version of Office 2019, you’ll need to download and run License removal toolopen the Office app, and then go to Helps > Check for updates To activate it.
Alternatively, you can use Microsoft 365 on the web Free.
