can't install office even though I have deleted the previous version

Question

can't install office even though I have deleted the previous version

Anca Belu 0

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I have run it as admin and I have deleted the previous office

Anca Belu 0 Reputation points

2026-10-17T10:04:21.34+00:00

But I have deleted the Microsoft Office package already from the computer so so how can I access the troubleshooter?

2 answers

Your answer

Anca Belu 0 Reputation points

2026-10-17T10:04:21.34+00:00

But I have deleted the Microsoft Office package already from the computer so so how can I access the troubleshooter?

Answer 1

That error occurs because there was previously a volume licence version of Office installed on your PC and the entry for that needs to be removed from the registry.

1

Please follow these steps carefully.

Click your Start Button, type regedit and hit Enter to open the Registry Editor.

Click View and make sure 'Address Bar' is turned on.

Paste this into the Address Bar at the top and hit Enter.

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Office\16.0\Common

In left pane of the registry editor, expand the Common folder, there should be a sub folder named OfficeUpdate

Right click and delete the OfficeUpdate Key

Close the registry editor and restart (not shut down) your PC to apply the change.

2

If that does not resolve the problem, please follow these steps carefully.

Open the Registry Editor again.

Paste this into the Address Bar at the top and hit Enter.

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Office\ClickToRun

In the left pane of the Registry Editor, is there a sub-folder of ClickToRun named Configuration?

If there is, right click that Configuration key (folder) and delete it

Then, restart (not shut down) your PC and try running the installation again

Answer 2

Use Microsoft’s uninstall troubleshooter rather than deleting Office folders or running the installer as administrator, because the displayed update-channel error can persist when configuration from the previous Office installation remains.

Completely remove the previous installation

Since ordinary deletion and running as administrator did not help:

On the affected PC, open Microsoft’s Office uninstall page and select the button that starts the uninstall troubleshooter.
When prompted that the site is trying to open Get Help, select Open.
Remove all detected Office installations.
Restart Windows when prompted—choose Restart, not Shut down.
If separately listed, remove old copies of Visio or Project only where they belong to the incompatible previous Office installation. Click-to-Run and Windows Installer (MSI) editions of the same Office version cannot coexist.^1^

The troubleshooter supports Microsoft 365, Office 2021, Office 2019, and Office 2016 on Windows 10 or later. It currently cannot remove Office 2024.^2^

Reinstall from the licensed account

After restarting:

Go to https://m365.cloud.microsoft/apps.
Sign in with the Microsoft account used to purchase, redeem, or subscribe to Office.
Select Install apps.
Select Install or Microsoft 365 apps, as applicable.
Run the newly downloaded installer and accept the User Account Control prompt.

Downloading a fresh installer from the licensed account avoids reusing an installer intended for a different Office product or update channel.^3^

If the same update-channel error remains

A closely matching case—after removing Office 2021, LTSC, Visio, and Project—was resolved by removing residual OfficeUpdate configuration and, if necessary, the Configuration subkey under ClickToRun, followed by a restart.^4^

Registry editing is risky; an incorrect deletion can damage Office or Windows configuration. The available procedure does not expose the complete registry paths, so do not search for and delete similarly named keys indiscriminately. Instead:

First use Microsoft’s supported manual-uninstall instructions, which provide installation-type-specific cleanup steps and require backing up the registry before changing it.^5^
If this is a work- or school-managed PC, contact its Microsoft 365 administrator instead; an organization policy may control the Office update channel.
If it is a personal PC and cleanup still fails, open Get Help, search for Microsoft 365 setup troubleshooter, and submit the exact message: “This product can't be installed on the selected update channel.”

References