Microsoft apps won't open for the past 48 hours?

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Oddly enough, for the past two days, Microsoft Word, Powerpoint, or Excel (always glitchy) has refused to open (just keeps bouncing and bouncing). I have not (to my recent memory) completed any upgrades or updates on either my OSX or Microsoft this week. However, it's possible that Microsoft did an auto-update I wasn't aware of.

OSX: Catalina 10.15.4, Late 2015 desktop

Microsoft: I don't know the current version of my Microsoft bundle because none of the programs will open.

Any help? Apparently I didn't realize how much I used Word until I don't have it anymore.
 
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If you open Applications a Finder window and select a Microsoft app, it should show which version number is installed and the last date it was accessed.

Have you restarted since this issue started?

And just as an FYI, macOS Catalina is up to 10.15.5 as of this week.
 

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What Bob forgot to mention above is that you must select "Get Info" before the version number will appear.

And yes, depending on the version of MS Office you have installed, Microsoft updated its Office 365 apps last week. Word for example is now at version 16.37.
 
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What Bob forgot to mention above is that you must select "Get Info" before the version number will appear.

And yes, depending on the version of MS Office you have installed, Microsoft updated its Office 365 apps last week. Word for example is now at version 16.37.
No, you don't need to Get Info. But I should have mentioned Column View. That's my default view for Finder.
 
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So, I'm now using:

Catalina 10.15.5
Microsoft Word 16.16.22 (c) 2018

It says that I "last opened" Word today, but it doesn't *actually* open, it just bounces around for eternity.

Is there a way I can update my Microsoft products without them actually being open?
 
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Search your Mac for Office Auto Update app, or Microsoft Auto Update app. The standalone versions used to have a separate auto updaters, so I'm not sure if the Office 365 uses the same parameters.
 
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How did you install the MS products in the first place? Can you not repeat that process?
 

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Search your Mac for Office Auto Update app, or Microsoft Auto Update app. The standalone versions used to have a separate auto updaters, so I'm not sure if the Office 365 uses the same parameters.

Office 365 also uses an updater but if Office was purchased (subscribed) thru the Mac App store the updates are downloaded and installed automatically from there.
 
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Is the OP using MS365? He did not say that, and if he is, he is way behind on updates. My Word is at release 16.37.

For the OP, does the Word icon appear on the Dock after it bounces around and is there a little dot below it there? If so, it is running minimized. If not, it's not loaded.
 
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So I did a search for "Microsoft AutoUpdate" and it tells me the software is up to date. I have NO idea how I originally installed it. Just double-checked and it's still telling me that Word is 16.16.22, so if it's at 16.37 I don't know why it isn't updating to that.

Now I'm in a quandry. What would you suggest I do next? Is there a way I can look up the serial # and do a fresh install??
 
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Do you have an account at MS? If so, log in and see if you can reinstall from there. If you bought a DVD to install, you'll need that DVD, but if you bought online you may be able to reinstall from within the account that is associated with the product. Other than that, I don't know how to, or even if you can, recover the serial #. MS is pretty anti-piracy, so their security is robust.
 

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My version of Word is also at 16.37 but that is from MS 365 not the stand alone version of Office. Usually the stand alone version does not get the same updates as the subscribed version.

With the stand alone version there is an option to "check for updates" which can be user activated. If the MS Updater app is installed it will open and start to check for updates. I'm not sure how Office checks for updates from the MS 365 version. I do know that if MS 365 was purchased from Mac App Store, the updates are downloaded automatically from there.

The stand alone version includes a product ID and serial number whereas the MS 365 version is verified by user account.

Now I'm in a quandry. What would you suggest I do next? Is there a way I can look up the serial # and do a fresh install??

@AJP24: How did you purchase your copy? Was it the stand alone version or the subscribed MS 365 version? If you purchased the stand alone version, the product ID and serial number were included with your download. MS no longer provides a DVD unless you pay extra for it.
 

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Thanks Bob. If he has that version, then he also has the product ID and serial number that MS included with the download. If he lost the serial number he will be out of luck as MS will not allow him to install it again without that number. Office 2016 stand alone requires activation and that means inputting the serial number.
 
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I would also think the code might be in an email.
 
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office 2016 is no longer supported so it told me and it recommended I move to a new version so I got the 2019 version,

now I dunno if this is why its not working but it could be the problem.
 
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If you use the MS Office apps frequently, I'd highly recommend just signing up for Microsoft 365 Personal. Your office apps will always be up to date and you'll even get exclusive features that non-subcribers don't have access to in the "perpetual license" versions. $70/year ($5.83/month) and you also get 1TB of OneDrive storage included with that. You can also install the apps on multiple devices (iMac, Macbook Pro, iPhone, iPad, etc.)

Compare All Microsoft Office Products | Microsoft Office

FWIW, I've been a subscriber since 2016 and have never had Excel be "buggy" on my 2012 iMac through multiple macOS versions (also have used for a short time on Catalina on my new iMac with no issues so far - in fact, it's running better than ever). There ARE bugs from time to time of course, but nothing constant.
 
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After two hours on the phone with a Mac specialist at Microsoft, it's working after a full uninstall / reinstall. The guy said he didn't know where the problem was (possibly a corrupted file somewhere) but the important thing is that it's working again.
 

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Glad to hear you're back up with MS Office. Let us know if we can be of more assistance.
 
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that's great news im glad to know its now sorted,


must have been some damaged files as they said,


After two hours on the phone with a Mac specialist at Microsoft, it's working after a full uninstall / reinstall. The guy said he didn't know where the problem was (possibly a corrupted file somewhere) but the important thing is that it's working again.
 

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