If you are attempting to install the Office suite through microsoft365.com, you may receive the following error if you have Windows Installer versions of Office installed on your computer:
“We’re sorry, Office Click-to-Run installer encountered a problem because you have these Windows Installer based Office programs installed on your computer:”
The prompt will then list the Office programs at issue.
Because Click-to-Run and Windows Installer versions of Office have compatibility issues, the 365 installer may not function while the older Office programs remain installed. To proceed, one would need to uninstall the Office programs listed on the error, then attempt the install once again.
Please note that one is not required to install Microsoft 365 through Microsoft365.com to use Microsoft 365. One can set up older versions of Office to work with Microsoft 365 mail. Please see our associated Windows and Mac pages for the 365 mail setup instructions. If one does proceed with installing Microsoft 365, it will ensure you are using the most recent version of Office which is the most compatible with the Microsoft 365 features and services.
Most programs which would be reported in the above error will be replaced with new Microsoft 365 versions. This includes the main Office suite (Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Outlook), InfoPath, Lync (now known as Skype for Business), Sharepoint and Access. For this reason, they should be able to be safely uninstalled without any issues.
Programs not currently included in the OU Microsoft 365 suite are Visio and Project. For this reason, please ensure you still have access to your Visio and Project installers and the required install Product Keys for the programs, as Visio and Project would need to be reinstalled once the Microsoft 365 suite has finished installing.
Resolving the Install Error
- If you receive the error listed above, note the listed Office programs on the warning prompt.
- If Microsoft Office Professional, Home and Business, Home and Student, Personal or Standard are listed, these may be safely removed. See step 3 below. If Visio or Project are listed, one will need to find their original Visio or Project install media and the installation Product Keys for these installers. Once these are located, the user may proceed to step 3 to uninstall them.
- To uninstall the listed programs, right click on the Start button and select Control Panel.
- Click on Programs and Features or Uninstall a Program.
- Find the program which was listed in the error message and select it. Now click the Uninstall button.
- The selected software will now uninstall. Follow the onscreen prompts and restart the computer if prompted. Continue uninstalling any of the programs listed on your original 365 installer error prompt.
- Once all the reported software has been uninstalled, return to www.microsoft365.com and attempt the Install once again.
- Once this completes, you may attempt a reinstall of Visio or Project with your install media and Product Key.
- If the above steps do not work, please call us at 325-HELP (4357).