Microsoft has paused its rollout of the KB5002907 Microsoft 365 update after users reported that it deactivated or, in some cases, entirely removed perpetual Office 2016 and Office 2019 installations. The company confirmed the pause to BleepingComputer while it investigates the reports. Microsoft also updated the KB5002907 support bulletin to acknowledge the problems. Additional guidance for customers will be communicated through appropriate channels, a Microsoft spokesperson said.
KB5002907 was titled "Optional update for out-of-date Microsoft 365 Apps installations" and was released to help users bring Microsoft 365 Apps installations more than 90 days out of date back to a current build for their assigned update channel. According to the release notes, it was offered only for Windows PCs running Microsoft 365 Apps installations that were more than 90 days out of date and using the Current Channel or Monthly Enterprise Channel. Microsoft said the update was optional, offered through Windows Update, and would not install automatically.
Shortly after release, Christian Van Hautte, who runs an MSP in Belgium, told BleepingComputer that several customers found their perpetual Office installations showing as an "Unlicensed Product." Five unrelated customers contacted his company within about ten minutes on September 24, he said, with dozens of PCs affected across the organizations. The affected installations were all Office 2016 and Office 2019 Home & Business, which use perpetual one-time purchase licenses. Van Hautte said the common factor was KB5002907, released around September 23, which he said was clearly landing on perpetual, non-subscription Office installs and breaking their license state.
Van Hautte said re-entering the original Office product key restored activation on affected systems. He also warned that although the update was listed as optional, it installed automatically on his customers' devices. He later found that KB5002907 appears to remove and reinstall, or migrate, the existing Office installation as part of its update process. On systems with Office components of different architectures, such as a 32-bit Office 2016 or 2019 installation alongside a 64-bit Microsoft Access Runtime, he said the reinstall can fail because Microsoft Office setup does not allow mixing 32-bit and 64-bit Office products. In those cases, the existing Office suite is removed but not successfully reinstalled, leaving the device without Office. Microsoft has not confirmed that mixed-bitness installations cause this behavior.
Other administrators and users began reporting similar problems online at roughly the same time. One Reddit user said multiple Office 2019 installations suddenly became deactivated and that re-entering product keys restored activation on at least some devices, later updating the post to say the issue was not limited to Office 2019 and that some systems required signing into a Microsoft account and selecting the license. In another report, an administrator said several unrelated customers contacted them after Office had been completely uninstalled. One user replied that their Office 2019 and their father's Office 2016 installs were both removed overnight, describing both as legitimate keys purchased long ago. Similar reports also appeared in the Microsoft forums.
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