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Uninstall Updates in Office 'Click to Run'
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› Outlook › Uninstall Updates in Office ‘Click to Run’

Last reviewed on September 27, 2021 49 Comments

Applies to: Outlook 365 (Win), Outlook 2019 (Win), Outlook 2016 (Win), Outlook 2013

A spate of recent updates caused problems in Outlook and the short-term fix is to
uninstall the update; however, updates can’t be uninstalled from the Click-To-Run
installations of Office, and almost all users have the Click-To-Run installation.

Instead, you will need to revert to an earlier version.

First, you need to disable Office updates. If you don’t disable updates, the
problem update will reinstall itself. You can disable updates from the File menu in
any Office application.

In Outlook (this is an Outlook help site after all), go to File, Office Account,
Update Options and click on Disable Updates.

disable office updates

Next, create an appointment in your calendar for 30 days from now to remind
yourself to check for updates. In many cases, the “bad” file will be removed or
replaced with a corrected update, and you can allow Office to install updates
without reinstalling "trouble" after a few weeks have passed.

Now you’re ready to roll back the click-to-run installation.

Windows 10: Start typing cmd on the Start screen in the task bar search field to
find the Command Prompt then click Run as Administrator

open the command prompt

Older Windows version: Right click on the Start button and choose Command Prompt
(Admin). If you don't see Command Prompt on the menu, you'll need to type cmd on
the Start screen to find the Command Prompt then right click on it and choose Run
as Administrator

If you are using Outlook 2016, 2019, or 365, copy the following line, then right
click in the command prompt window to paste it. Replace xxxx.yyyy with the build
number you want to revert to. You can look up build numbers at Version numbers of
update branches for Office 365 clients.

"C:\Program Files\Common Files\microsoft shared\ClickToRun\officec2rclient.exe"

/update user updatetoversion=16.0.xxxx.yyyy

paste the command into the window

Release Date Command
July 2021 "C:\Program Files\Common Files\microsoft shared\ClickToRun\
officec2rclient.exe" /update user updatetoversion=16.0.14131.20320
April 23 2021 "C:\Program Files\Common Files\microsoft shared\ClickToRun\
officec2rclient.exe" /update user updatetoversion=16.0.13901.20462
March 30 2021 "C:\Program Files\Common Files\microsoft shared\ClickToRun\
officec2rclient.exe" /update user updatetoversion=16.0.13901.20312
Press Enter and the "update" will download and install.

the "update" starts to download

Outlook 2013
Outlook 2013 users will change the directory to the path of officec2rclient.exe. To
do this, in the command prompt window, type (or copy and right-click paste) the
following if you are running 64-bit Office:
cd %programfiles%\Microsoft Office 15\ClientX64\

or this if using the 32-bit version of Office:

cd %programfiles%\Microsoft Office 15\ClientX86\

You’ll revert to a previous version of Office by running officec2rclient using a

command line in this format, where 15.0.xxxx.xxxx is the previous version.
officec2rclient.exe /update user updatetoversion=15.0.xxxx.yyyy

The command line you'll use will look something like this (this is the July 2014
build):

officec2rclient.exe /update user updatetoversion=15.0.4631.1002

Use the command prompt dialog box to roll back Office installations

You can get the Office 2013 version numbers from Microsoft Office 2013 Click-to-Run
virtualization or Office 2016 versions here: Version and build numbers of update
channel releases for Office 365 clients

Choose Online Repair. Once repair is complete you can check your version to verify
it updated properly. Note: you'll probably be asked to log in again and verify your
license.

Choose Online Repair

More Information
For a complete list of version numbers, see Microsoft Office 2013 Click-to-Run
virtualization
How to revert to an earlier version of Office 2013 or Office 2016 Click-to-Run
(MSKB)
Version and build numbers of update channel releases for Office 365 clients
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Fixed: Could not read the calendar error

About Diane Poremsky
A Microsoft Outlook Most Valuable Professional (MVP) since 1999, Diane is the
author of several books, including Outlook 2013 Absolute Beginners Book. She also
created video training CDs and online training classes for Microsoft Outlook. You
can find her helping people online in Outlook Forums as well as in the Microsoft
Answers and TechNet forums.

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49 COMMENTS
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Tomasz (@guest_220470)
August 4, 2023 9:43 am
Hi Diane, could you advise if there's any way to revert to OneNote old look? The
new one (https://insider.microsoft365.com/en-us/blog/introducing-new-layout-
options-in-onenote-on-windows) is much less efficient for me - many visual features
that made navigation smooth were erased from ON with the recent update. Many
thanks!

0
0
Reply
Diane Poremsky(@diane-poremsky)
Author
Reply to Tomasz
August 15, 2023 7:47 am
No, I'm not aware of a way to roll it back. Sorry.

0
0
Reply
isa L (@guest_220206)
April 1, 2023 6:44 am
Thank You Diane ! it works !

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Reply
ashton (@guest_220110)
February 28, 2023 7:22 pm
I tried reverting back to a previous installation, but the changes aren't being
applied, or at least that's what I think. I'm trying to go back to a previous
installation of Word, as the new updates haven't been to my liking, but each time
I've reverted back to another installation nothing has changed with the Word
application. If there's any solution, it would be greatly appreciated!

0
0
Reply
Diane Poremsky(@diane-poremsky)
Author
Reply to ashton
April 1, 2023 4:42 pm
did you disable automatic updates? Did you roll back far enough to undo the
changes?

0
0
Reply
Jim (@guest_220105)
February 27, 2023 5:48 pm
Hello,

Is this valid for Office 2021? I am trying to do this but it does not seem to work.

0
0
Reply
Diane Poremsky(@diane-poremsky)
Author
Reply to Jim
February 27, 2023 10:22 pm
It is valid for office 2021. What build are you at now and what build do you want
to roll back to?

1
0
Reply
Jim (@guest_220109)
Reply to Diane Poremsky
February 28, 2023 1:44 pm
Hi Diane,

I just made a new reply sorry. For some reason this was not appearing for me a
short while ago.

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Reply
Chris (@guest_219679)
August 29, 2022 10:55 pm
I had Office 2016 Pro Plus MSI installed, and then Microsoft did something in July
which I can't find any info on, because one day I fired up OneNote 2016, and
instead found that it was now suddenly OneNote 2019 C2R… A full upgrade had
occurred without consent or interaction from me… And there's nothing at all listed
for Office in the Control Panel's "Installed Updates". There's also no entry for
v2019 in Add-Remove Programs - it's actually still listed there as v2016... And if
I click "Change" for that entry, it only offers "quick repair" or "online repair".
So my questions then: (1) Where is the published info on this move from Microsoft?
And (2) How do I revert back to 2016 MSI? Thank you.

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Tolu (@guest_219453)
June 21, 2022 12:20 pm
Hello, I noticed when I wanted to revert back to Office 2016, Microsoft had pulled
the software off their sites. How else can I go back to Office 2016?

0
0
Reply
Diane Poremsky(@diane-poremsky)
Author
Reply to Tolu
June 21, 2022 10:22 pm
Do you have a license linked to your Microsoft account? Should be able to download
from account.microsoft.com. If you did not add the key to a Microsoft account and
did not save the officesetup.exe, I'll see if I can find a link.
https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/download-and-install-or-reinstall-
office-2019-office-2016-or-office-2013-7c695b06-6d1a-4917-809c-98ce43f86479

0
0
Reply
Siva (@guest_219179)
February 18, 2022 12:01 pm
Hi how can i roll back to 2019 from 2021

0
0
Reply
Diane Poremsky(@diane-poremsky)
Author
Reply to Siva
February 19, 2022 1:14 am
Since its a separate program, you would uninstall 2021 then install 2019 (you need
a license for 2019).

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0
Reply
Jeff (@guest_219159)
February 7, 2022 10:34 am
Recently received Office build 14827.20158, and neither the steps above nor any
other support posts are able to remove it and revert back to 14701.20290. The
current build is causing multiple instances of Access to open and stay open which
then throws a "cannot open more databases" error to occur.

0
0
Reply
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