I'm having a tough time getting rid of Microsoft Office LTSC Professional Plus 2021 that I downloaded using the Office Deployment Tool. The uninstallation won't work at all, which is preventing me from installing Microsoft 365. Here's what's going on:
- I still see it in Control Panel under Programs and Features, but when I try to uninstall it, nothing happens after the UAC prompt. No setup window or progress bar shows up.
- The apps for Word and Excel are missing, leaving just broken shortcuts behind.
- I even manually deleted some Office folders, which made things worse.
I've tried everything: uninstalling through Control Panel, Installed Apps, restarting Windows, using the Microsoft Troubleshooter, and even reconfiguring the ODT installer, but nothing seems to work. My goal is to completely remove LTSC 2021 so I can do a clean install of Microsoft 365. Any advice?
4 Answers
It sounds like a frustrating situation! Since you've already tried a lot, maybe it’s time to consider using third-party uninstaller software. They can sometimes handle stubborn programs better than the standard options. Just make sure to back up your important files before diving into that.
So, I found a solution that worked for me! If you're stuck like I was with failed uninstalls and the troubleshooter, check out this article: [Manual Uninstallation Guide](https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/manually-uninstall-office-4e2904ea-25c8-4544-99ee-17696bb3027b?ui=en-US&rs=en-US&ad=US). Just be cautious when following the steps!
The official uninstaller from Microsoft might still be your best bet if you haven't already tried it. Here’s the link: [Microsoft Office Uninstall](https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/uninstall-microsoft-365-or-office-from-a-pc-9dd49b83-264a-477a-8fcc-2fdf5dbf61d8). Sometimes it needs to be run in a specific way to work!
Thanks! I actually did try that, but it just redirected me to a help page without doing anything. At this point, I'm just using the manual methods.
Have you checked out this tool? [Alitajran's Office Uninstaller](https://www.alitajran.com/uninstall-microsoft-office/). It’s specifically designed for this kind of issue. If that doesn’t work, let me know—I know of a more aggressive tool that can wipe every version of Office clean!
I appreciate the link! Unfortunately, the official tool doesn’t launch for me anymore. I ended up using cmd and regedit to clean it up, which worked.
Thanks for the idea! I was hesitant about third-party tools, but I might give one a shot since it seems like my normal uninstall methods are failing.