Office 365 keeps reinstalling itself every time I restart my computer

Question

_{Tuesday, September 12, 2017 11:54 AM | 1 vote}

I brought a new laptop and it came with office 365. I signed in with office to access onedrive. I then brought office 2016 and installed it on my computer. Now every time I restart my computer, Office 365 is back again. I have to uninstall the application and reinstall my office 2016. How do I stop it from reinstall itself all time time, it is really frustrating having to do this every time I install updates

All replies (4)

_{Wednesday, September 13, 2017 6:26 AM}

Hi GK22,

This problem may be related to Office programs are not completely removed. I suggest you uninstall as the following article:
https://support.office.com/en-us/article/Uninstall-Office-from-a-PC-9dd49b83-264a-477a-8fcc-2fdf5dbf61d8

This problem also related to Office activate information has not be deleted.

After an Office 365 user activates there are four locations that must be cleared to reset the activation/install to a clean state. I suggest you delete activate information as following:

1.  Remove Office 365 license for Subscription based installs (not Shared Computer Licensing scenarios):
   To remove the Office 365 license, you must run two cscript command lines. The command lines are:
           A. Run C:\program files <x86>\Microsoft office\office15>cscript ospp.vbs /dstatus
   The above command line will generate a report of the currently installed/activated license.

NOTE: You might see multiple licenses in the /dstatus report.
        B. Make note of value for “Last 5 characters of installed product key”
        C.  Run C:\program files <x86>\Microsoft office\office15>cscript ospp.vbs /unpkey:“Last 5 of installed product key” For example: C:\program files <x86>\Microsoft office\office15>cscript ospp.vbs /unpkey:WB222 (See Below) Repeat the step above if necessary until all keys are removed.

After running the /unpkey: command line you will see a “Product Key uninstall successful” message. You can now close the Command Prompt and move onto Step 2.

2. Remove cached identities in HKCU registry:
           A. In the Registry Editor navigate to HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Office\15.0 or 16.0\Common\Identity\Identities and remove all of the identities under \Identities.
   NOTE: If using Shared Computer Licensing remove the above Identities from HKEYUsers\SID.

3. Remove the stored Credentials in the Credential Manager:
   A. Open Control Panel > Credential Manager.  Remove all Windows credentials listed for Office15 or Office16.
          B. To remove the Credential Click on the Drop down arrow and choose Remove from Vault.(See Below)
   

Shared Computer Licensing scenarios you must remove the Token and identities listed below.
File Location  Appdata\local\Microsoft\Office\15.0 or 16.0\Licensing

4. Persisted locations that must be cleared
   Credential Manager:
   Appdata\Roaming\Microsoft\Credentials
   Appdata\Local\Microsoft\Credentials
   Appdata\Roaming\Microsoft\Protect
   HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Protected Storage System Provider
   Office 365 activation Tokens and Identity
   Appdata\local\Microsoft\Office\15.0 or 16.0\Licensing
   HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Office\15.0 or 16.0\Common\Identity
   HKEYU\The Users SID)\Software\Microsoft\Office\15.0 or 16.0\Common\Identity

The above steps will be reset to the activation state for Office 365(2013/2016). The activation flow after the locations are cleared will represent an initial activation scenario.

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_{Tuesday, October 2, 2018 1:52 AM | 4 votes}

Microsoft is an absolute c*** for implementing this. As an IT support officer, it's a total f****** headache.

_{Monday, February 17, 2020 9:08 PM}

I just bought a new computer because I was having this problem on my old computer and guess what? THE STUPID THING KEEPS UNINSTALLING ITSELF and it even deletes the CORRECT INSTALL (EXE FILE) in my downloads folder. 

_{Friday, July 31, 2020 4:03 PM}

Same here, I get tired of getting calls about it popping up and trying to get people to login, buy office etc.  I remove it and it just comes right back.  Ugh!