Microsoft Office Auto Update - unable to set frequency of checks

[pine man]

Earlier this month, August 2016, I downloaded and installed the latest version of Microsoft Auto Update. Following that I was notified of updates to the Office programs Word, Outlook etc which were downloaded and installed. I am running Microsoft Office 365 on El Capitan.

Since the updates I have noticed that everyday when I first open an Office program Auto Update is launched and checks for updates. In the past it used to check weekly in the background and now I find that there is no provision to set the frequency of the checks.

Has anyone else noticed this?

 

[MacInWin]

No interval, but you can set it to only check when you want it to, i.e., manually. Open Help, then Check for Updates and set the option in the resulting dialog box.

 

[pine man]

According to 'Help' you should be able to do this:-

You can set AutoUpdate to check for updates automatically on a regular schedule. Click Automatically, and then on the Check for Updates pop-up menu, click the schedule that you want.

I don't get any pop-up menus to choose from whatever I do. I have downloaded and reinstalled the latest version of Auto Update and it is still the same. Manual or Automatic with no other options.

I know that when using Windows 10 you basically no longer have any options with updates. Maybe MS are applying the same logic to Office updates on a Mac.

 

[ferrarr]

Do you get another pop up when you click on the Check for Updates button? If you do and you then click cancel in that window, there used to be an option to choose how often it would check for updates. Is that no longer available?

 

[pine man]

Originally, underneath Manually and Automatically, there used to be a dialogue box to select the frequency of checking for updates which, in my case, were carried out in the background weekly. Now, when I open Outlook first thing in the morning, Auto Update launches and checks for updates without any action from me.

With the new Auto Update when I click on Check for Updates it does just that and returns with, at the moment, no updates available check again later etc. No pop-ups at all are displayed giving me any other options.

 

[MacInWin]

Yes, they removed the frequency of auto checks. You either check each time, or manually. No other options anymore.

 

[pine man]

Thanks for that - good old Microsoft!

 

[chscag]

Not sure I see a problem with the way MS Office auto update checking is working? It's so fast and does not display a pop up unless there is in fact an update. To me, that's the way I want it to work.

 

[MacInWin]

I had it set to check just once a week. Don't mind the change, just don't know why they did it. Frankly, nothing in the Office suite is that important that it can't wait a week for a patch, IMHO. I guess MS sees it differently.

 

[ferrarr]

Well, for a company that has trained a whole part of the world to wait for Patch Tuesday, one has to wonder what happened to that motto?

 

[chscag]

I love it! Complain when there are too many updates; complain when there is no update; complain when the update is delayed. I guess it's hard to keep everyone happy.

 

[pine man]

I'm not sure I actually complained. If anything it is an inferred criticism that no explanation came with the change leaving some people, me for instance, wondering whether or not the update was working correctly. Anyway thanks everybody for your input.