Office 2016 Crashes in Word, Excel, Outlook After KB5002700 Update on Windows

Recently, Microsoft rolled out a security update known as KB5002700 for Office 2016, affecting both Windows 10 and Windows 11 users. However, this update has proven to be problematic, causing significant issues such as crashing Word and Excel when attempting to create new documents, as well as disrupting the Outlook Calendar functionality.

On April 8, often referred to as Patch Tuesday, Microsoft updated its software lineup, with Windows 11 receiving KB5055523, Windows 10 getting KB5055518, and Office 2016 being hit with KB5002700. While many companies have upgraded to newer versions of Office, there remains a sizable number of users who still depend on Office 2016, and they have reported various complications after this update.

Several users have stated that after deploying KB5002700, their Word and Excel applications would not open at all. For instance, one user mentioned that on Windows 10, Office 2016 failed to launch Word and Excel, although Outlook seemed unaffected.

In a conversation on Reddit, another user reported, “After starting Word, it crashes immediately, and Outlook experiences similar issues when viewed in calendar mode. Uninstalling KB5002700 resolved both problems.”These and other similar accounts indicate a widespread issue affecting users of Office 2016. Additionally, more reports on social media platforms have continued to emerge, amplifying concerns regarding this faulty update.

In some situations, while Word and Excel would initially open, they would become unresponsive upon attempting to create a new document or spreadsheet, leading to potential data loss from unsaved work. Windows Latest conducted discussions with various businesses and highlighted that the workaround requires removing the KB5002700 update.

Unfortunately, uninstalling this security update can be challenging since it is installed quietly through Windows Update and typically does not appear in the “Programs and Features” or “View installed updates” sections.

Steps to Uninstall KB5002700 and Restore Office 2016 Functionality

If you’re experiencing crashes with Office 2016 due to the KB5002700 update, follow these instructions to uninstall it:

Open the Registry Editor by typing “regedit”in the Start menu search.
For 64-bit Windows, navigate to the following path: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall. For 32-bit Windows, go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall.
Look for the subkeys related to Office 2016. You might see it labeled as Microsoft Office Professional Plus 2016 and identify the corresponding GUID (e.g., {90160000-0011-0000-1000-0000000FF1CE}).
Verify that the DisplayName in that key matches the Office version you have installed.
Download the KB5002700 Update Installer from the Microsoft Update Catalog.
Once downloaded, open Command Prompt and navigate to the Downloads folder using cd C:\Users\YourUsername\Downloads.
Run the command to extract the contents: mso2016-kb5002700-fullfile-x64-glb.exe /extract:C:\KB5002700.
This will create an MSP file in the C:\KB5002700 folder.
Right-click on the MSP file in the C:\KB5002700 folder, select Properties, and under the Details tab, copy the GUID/Revision Number.
In Command Prompt, execute msiexec.exe /package {OfficeGUID} /uninstall {UpdateGUID} /qn to uninstall the update.
Lastly, reboot your computer.