The "optional" update that un-licensed the Office you paid for
September 2026 update deactivated or removed perpetual Office 2016 and 2019
One of only 20 things they have ever fully walked back.
The market's verdict: +2.2% on MSFT in the week after.
What actually happened
In late September 2026, an update titled "Optional update for out-of-date Microsoft 365 Apps installations", which arrived automatically through Windows Update and was optional only in the sense that you could not opt out, deactivated perpetual license Office 2016 and 2019 installs, branding them Unlicensed Product, and on some mixed 32 and 64 bit systems removed Office entirely without reinstalling it. Microsoft paused the rollout on September 26, after the press noticed. Affected users were told to reactivate or reinstall. The company that once called paying customers pirates in 2007 has matured: now it simply switches the products off.
This one is officially acknowledged.
Were you affected? Unbreak it
Rollout paused September 26; reactivate or reinstall Office ↗
Microsoft has acknowledged this issue; a fix ships in an out-of-band or next cumulative update. Check Windows Release Health before manual workarounds.
They did it more than once
2007: called the paying customers pirates. 2026: switched their Office off.
Links
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Impact
- BleepingComputer (publication)
↳ caused by KB5002907
Timeline
- Sep 23, 2026 Confirmed First reports came in.
- Sep 26, 2026 Walked back Rollout paused after license deactivations hit the press.