MAC Office 2011 Removal/Re-Install

Koyangie · Jul 26, 2011

Lion install required a "restore" and as a results Office 2011 had issues. I followed the "Complete Removal of Office " (How to completely remove Office for Mac 2011) and did a reinstall. Still have issues.

Same procedures worked for my MacBook Pro (issues not generated by Lion) but not the MacPro desktop. I've did the removal procedure several times with the same results. As an example, if I paste a photo into a document it crashes, ditto if I attempt to change the formatting, inserting para numbering etc. Have the same issues with Excel. I have searched and removed any and all MS files on my computer to no avail. Any ideas???

Thanks

Koyangie

EvenStranger · Jul 26, 2011

First thing I'd try is creating a new user account and seeing if the issue persists. If not, then you know the issue is with a preference in either your ~/Library/Preferences or your ~/Documents/Microsoft User Data folder. It could also be a bad font in ~/Library/Fonts.

If the issue persists, then the issue is most likely a System level preference and is probably hiding in your /Library folder.

harryb2448 · Jul 26, 2011

Removing Office 2011 which did not come with an unistaller can be the very devil. Here is one way you may wish to check out:-

http://www.officeformachelp.com/office/install/remove-office/

At the foot of the page there is a link to download a complete uninstaller if you are reluctant to go the Terminal way.

Koyangie · Jul 27, 2011

Thanks EvenStranger after creating a new user account it worked. Should I delete the original user account or leave it and just work around it?

EvenStranger · Jul 29, 2011

Deleting the old user account can be troublesome, especially if you still have files there you need. However, it does help narrow down your target.

Log into your original account.
Microsoft stores user files and preferences in several locations - remove them and you should be back in business:
~/Documents/Microsoft User Data (I wouldn't throw this away, necessarily - if you use Outlook, your email is in here. Just move it somewhere else.)
~/Library/Application Support/Microsoft
~/Library/Caches/com.microsoft.* and the Microsoft Office folder. Outlook too, if you use it.
~/Library/Preferences/com.microsoft.* and the Microsoft folder.

Once all of these files have been moved to the trash, reboot, log back in and test.

Flat Eric · Jul 29, 2011

I bought my iMac 18 months ago with Office for mac 2008 and upgraded to Office 11 when it came out. Now I see I have duplicate apps for everything - presumably taking up space: Excel 2008 and 11, powerpoint 2008 and 11, word 2008 and 11, etc.
Am I safe removing all the original 2008 office apps? Just by simply moving the app icons to the trash can?

schweb · Jul 29, 2011

Flat Eric said:
I bought my iMac 18 months ago with Office for mac 2008 and upgraded to Office 11 when it came out. Now I see I have duplicate apps for everything - presumably taking up space: Excel 2008 and 11, powerpoint 2008 and 11, word 2008 and 11, etc.
Am I safe removing all the original 2008 office apps? Just by simply moving the app icons to the trash can?

No, you should use the Office 2008 uninstaller just to be safe. It should be in the Office 2008 folder.

Koyangie · Aug 1, 2011

Success !

EvenStranger said:
Deleting the old user account can be troublesome, especially if you still have files there you need. However, it does help narrow down your target.

Log into your original account.
Microsoft stores user files and preferences in several locations - remove them and you should be back in business:
~/Documents/Microsoft User Data (I wouldn't throw this away, necessarily - if you use Outlook, your email is in here. Just move it somewhere else.)
~/Library/Application Support/Microsoft
~/Library/Caches/com.microsoft.* and the Microsoft Office folder. Outlook too, if you use it.
~/Library/Preferences/com.microsoft.* and the Microsoft folder.

Once all of these files have been moved to the trash, reboot, log back in and test.

Thanks everstrange I got it fixes, at last! The last piece I needed showed up in MACWorld Weekly article (18 ways to view the ~/Library folder in Lion) guiding me to find the hidden files in my Library. Once I located and removed the files you listed above "all" components of MAC OFFICE 2011 are working.

Thanks again