Microsoft will block Office 2019 for Mac owners from editing their documents starting July 13, a restriction the company attributes to the expiration of the productivity suite’s digital certificate.
Affected Office 2019 apps include Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, and OneNote. Once the certificate used to confirm the suite license expires, these applications will go into what Microsoft calls “reduced functionality mode.” In other words, users will still be able to open, view and print existing documents, but creating, editing and saving documents will be disabled. The same restriction will apply to iPhone and iPad apps that cannot be updated, according to Microsoft.
Microsoft has indeed renewed the suite’s certificate, but the fix can only be delivered via a software update. This means that Microsoft 365 and Office 2021 users are clear: they will receive the update, so neither will be affected. However, Microsoft stopped offering support for Office 2019 on October 10, 2023 and the suite has not received any updates since. As such, it will not be updated to version 16.83, which is the version that includes the renewed certificate.
Microsoft says the issue cannot be fixed by reinstalling Office 2019. Instead, it suggests affected users turn to the company’s free Microsoft 365 web apps, sign up for a paid Microsoft 365 subscription, or make a one-time purchase of Office 2024.
Users running newer supported versions of Office on macOS 12 Monterey or later should simply update to version 16.83. For iPhone and iPad users running iOS 17 or later, this is version 2.93. You can check which version you have by opening Word and selecting Word ➝ About Word, but most suites will automatically update in the background.
Office 2021 will only receive updates until October 13, 2026, when it will also reach end of support. Microsoft says apps will continue to work after that date, but will no longer receive security or feature updates.
Some critics have argued that Microsoft’s deadline was actually self-imposed because the company had renewed the certificate but chose not to provide the update to Office 2019 users. For example, JimmyTech, the IT consulting firm that spotted the change, argued that taking advantage of the expiration to retire older software rather than quietly renewing it “amounts to a choice.”
Microsoft’s messages on the subject have not done it any favors either. Its end of support page for Office 2019 for Mac, originally released in October 2023, once told owners to “Rest assured that all of your Office 2019 applications will continue to work.” A revision dated May 15, 2026 removed this line, replacing it with a note that their data “can be accessed in a supported Microsoft 365 or Office product.”
Microsoft began sending emails to affected customers in May, but it may still be new to some Office 2019 owners. Apple’s iWork suite is an alternative route for anyone who has already used Microsoft’s offering. It’s also worth checking out the free and open source LibreOffice, developed by The Document Foundation.
