Unable to install legacy Excell 2019

Jonny Turpie 0 Reputation points
2025-07-08T15:14:34.5566667+00:00

Several years back I purchased a copy of Microsoft Office Home and Student 2019. I recently had to wipe my mac and start again, creating a need to reinstall the 2019 suite.

I have logged into my microsoft account and the 2019 download link is there. Microsoft Word and PowerPoint seem to work without issue. Microsoft Excel will not work as it states the license isn't for Microsoft 365. I cannot seem to find a link for the Excel 2019 for mac download. Frustratingly the link by the old purchase seems to be for the 365 product.

Any help on how to resolve this would be incredibly welcome.

Microsoft 365 and Office | Install, redeem, activate | For business | MacOS
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  1. Jim From Buffalo 90 Reputation points MVP
    2025-07-08T15:39:36.88+00:00

    Office 2019 licenses work only with the corresponding software which runs only in specific versions of Mac OSX.

    To find out which software is currently installed, in Finder, go to the Applications folder. Right-click on Microsoft Excel.app and choose Get Info from the menu. The version is displayed near the top of the resulting dialog.

    16.78.3 is the software for 2019 licenses

    Anything 16.79 or higher can not be activated with a 2019 license.

    If you have the wrong version of the software installed, here's how to remove it:

    Uninstall Office for Mac - Microsoft Support

    You might also remove all previous sign-ins using this tool. Restart your Mac after using this tool:

    How to remove Office license files on a Mac - Microsoft Support

    For Office 2019 licenses here is the installer for 16.78.3

    Office suite (with Teams) or Office suite (without Teams)

    1 person found this answer helpful.

  2. Stefan Blom 3,416 Reputation points MVP Volunteer Moderator
    2025-07-09T12:48:28.5566667+00:00

    You should be able to download older versions of Office from the version history page at https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/officeupdates/update-history-office-for-mac. User's image

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