How do I get a copy of my old Excel (windows 10)

Question

How do I get a copy of my old Excel (windows 10)

Roger Cruze 0

I have a Windows 10 computer and a Windows 11 computer.

The windows 10 computer had an old version of Excel (2010 - one time purchase).

The windows 11 computer has a purchased copy of the current 365 Office Excel.

On September 23rd 2026, my copy of Excel on the windows 10 computer was updated to the 365 version.

My windows 10 computer isn't big enough to support the new version of Excel.

The update was done automatically. I did not do it.

How do I get the old version back and how do I make sure it doesn't get updated again?

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2 answers

Your answer

Answer 1

Hendrix-V 19,485 Microsoft External Staff Moderator

Hi Roger Cruze,

Based on the information provided, it is not entirely clear whether the Windows 10 PC originally had only Excel 2010 installed or whether a Microsoft 365 installation was also associated with the device. Confirming the installed Office product can help determine the best way to restore the previous setup.

You can check the installed Office version by:

Open Control Panel > Programs and Features.
Look for entries such as Microsoft Office 2010, Microsoft 365 Apps, or Office 365.
Let us know which Office products are currently listed.

If you still have the original Excel 2010 installation media or product key, you may also be able to uninstall the Microsoft 365 version from the Windows 10 PC and reinstall Excel 2010 instead. Before making changes, consider backing up any important files and settings.

Please share the Office products shown in Programs and Features, and the community can help identify the most appropriate next steps. Hopefully, this will help clarify what changed and get you back to a version that works well on your Windows 10 device.

Roger Cruze 0 Reputation points

2026-09-26T14:12:39.8266667+00:00

Originally, I bought a copy of Microsoft Office Professional 2010.

My computer crashed in early 2021. Lost all programs.

Reinstalled Outlook, PowerPoint, Excel, and Word on 1/25/2021.

Each of these programs are listed as installed on 1/25/2021.

The only option I have for them is to "uninstall." "Repair" is not an option.

Found Microsoft Office Home 2024 installed on 9/25/2026.

Seems like they declared my old (paid for) programs as "dead, ": erased them from my computer and replaced them with a program that doesn't work. In a very real way, they stole my "paid for" program and then expected me to buy a new subscription to replace it.
Hendrix-V 19,485 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator

2026-09-27T00:16:38.8433333+00:00
Hi Roger Cruze,

Based on what you described, it appears that Microsoft Office Home 2024 was installed on September 25, 2026, while your original Office 2010 applications were previously reinstalled in January 2021 after your computer recovery.

Since Office 2010 and Office 2024 are separate products, the key step now is to determine whether Office 2010 is still present on the system or whether only Office 2024 remains installed.

Please check the following:

Open Control Panel > Programs and Features.

Confirm whether Microsoft Office Professional 2010 is still listed.

If Office 2024 is the only Office product listed, and you still have access to your Office 2010 product key or installation media, you may be able to reinstall Office 2010 and remove Office 2024 if it is not needed.

If Office 2010 is listed but the applications will not open, let us know the exact error message you receive.

One important note is that Office 2010 reached end of support in October 2020, so while many users continue to run it successfully, compatibility issues can occur on modern Windows configurations. That said, ownership of a perpetual Office 2010 license does not automatically convert into a Microsoft 365 subscription.
Roger Cruze 0 Reputation points

2026-09-27T16:56:23.51+00:00

What does the "previous Office version number" look like?

Example?
Hendrix-V 19,485 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator

2026-09-30T07:23:08.98+00:00

Hi Roger Cruze,

Thanks for the follow-up question. The "previous Office version number" refers to a Microsoft 365 build number, such as 16.0.19029.20208, and is used when rolling Microsoft 365 back to an earlier release.

If your goal is to restore Office Professional 2010, this rollback method may not apply because Office 2010 is a separate perpetual-license product rather than a Microsoft 365 version. In that case, the key step is determining whether Office 2010 is still installed or whether it needs to be reinstalled using the original product key and installation media.

Answer 2

Roger Cruze 0

The first line of the AI answer says:

**"**Find the previous Office version number from Update history for Microsoft 365 Apps for enterprise (listed by date)"

The name of the previous Office version is not there. My version of Windows 10 Home is from 2009. The above history only goes back to 2017.

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