Remove Office

Microsoft Office 2011 doesn’t ship with a Remove Office application as did earlier versions. Users may, however, have a need to remove it for troubleshooting purposes, to transfer it to another computer or simply because they are moving to a different product and no longer want the product.

This article describes four options for removing Microsoft Office 2011.

• Manual removal
• Scripted removal
• Packaged uninstaller
• Downloadable uninstaller

Manually remove files

The simplest way to remove all of Microsoft Office 2011 is to locate its files, drag them to the Trash, log out and log in again. After logging in again, empty the Trash.

Scripted removal

Administrators who need to remove Office from multiple computers will need to create or locate a script that can be deployed easily and quickly. The following shell script example offers a basic solution. It must be run as root or using sudo:

#!/bin/sh
osascript -e 'tell application "Microsoft Database Daemon" to quit'
rm -R '/Applications/Microsoft Communicator.app/'
rm -R '/Applications/Microsoft Messenger.app/'
rm -R '/Applications/Microsoft Office 2011/'
rm -R '/Applications/Remote Desktop Connection.app/'
rm -R '/Library/Application Support/Microsoft/'
rm -R '/Library/Automator/*Excel*'
rm -R '/Library/Automator/*Office*'
rm -R '/Library/Automator/*Outlook*'
rm -R '/Library/Automator/*PowerPoint*'
rm -R '/Library/Automator/*Word*'
rm -R '/Library/Automator/Add New Sheet to Workbooks.action'
rm -R '/Library/Automator/Create List from Data in Workbook.action'
rm -R '/Library/Automator/Create Table from Data in Workbook.action'
rm -R '/Library/Automator/Get Parent Presentations of Slides.action'
rm -R '/Library/Automator/Get Parent Workbooks.action'
rm -R '/Library/Automator/Set Document Settings.action'
rm -R '/Library/Fonts/Microsoft/'
rm -R '/Library/Internet Plug-Ins/*SharePoint*'
rm -R '/Library/LaunchDaemons/*Microsoft*'
rm -R '/Library/Preferences/*Microsoft*'
rm -R '/Library/PrivilegedHelperTools/*Microsoft*'
OFFICERECEIPTS=$(pkgutil --pkgs=com.microsoft.office*)
for ARECEIPT in $OFFICERECEIPTS
do
	pkgutil --forget $ARECEIPT
done

An AppleScript version of this script would look like:

tell application "Microsoft Database Daemon" to quit
tell application "Finder"
	delete file "Microsoft Communicator.app" of (path to applications folder)
	delete file "Microsoft Messenger.app" of (path to applications folder)
	delete folder "Microsoft Office 2011" of (path to applications folder)
	delete file "Remote Desktop Connection.app" of (path to applications folder)
	delete (every item of folder "Automator" of (path to library folder) ¬
		whose name contains "Excel")
	delete (every item of folder "Automator" of (path to library folder) ¬
		whose name contains "Office")
	delete (every item of folder "Automator" of (path to library folder) ¬
		whose name contains "Outlook")
	delete (every item of folder "Automator" of (path to library folder) ¬
		whose name contains "PowerPoint")
	delete (every item of folder "Automator" of (path to library folder) ¬
		whose name contains "Word")
	delete file "Add New Sheet to Workbooks.action" of folder "Automator" ¬
		of (path to library folder)
	delete file "Create List from Data in Workbook.action" of folder "Automator" ¬
		of (path to library folder)
	delete file "Create Table from Data in Workbook.action" of folder "Automator" ¬
		of (path to library folder)
	delete file "Get Parent Presentations of Slides.action" of folder "Automator" ¬
		of (path to library folder)
	delete file "Get Parent Workbooks.action" of folder "Automator" ¬
		of (path to library folder)
	delete file "Set Document Settings.action" of folder "Automator" ¬
		of (path to library folder)
	delete folder "Microsoft" of (path to fonts folder from local domain)
	delete (every item of folder "Internet Plug-Ins" of (path to library folder) ¬
		whose name contains "SharePoint")
	delete (every item of folder "LaunchDaemons" of (path to library folder) ¬
		whose name contains "microsoft")
	delete (every item of folder "Preferences" of (path to library folder) ¬
		whose name contains "microsoft")
	delete (every item of folder "PrivilegedHelperTools" of (path to library folder) ¬
		whose name contains "microsoft")
	set receiptsList to do shell script "pkgutil --pkgs=com.microsoft.office*"
	repeat with receiptNumber from 1 to count of paragraphs in receiptsList
		set forget to "pkgutil --forget " & paragraph receiptNumber of receiptsList as string
		do shell script forget
	end repeat
end tell

For non-scripters

Administrators who are unfamiliar or uncomfortable with scripting can use a free tool such as InstallEase from Absolute Manage. InstallEase has a feature to create an Apple Installer package that will remove files rather than install them.

1. Launch the InstallEase application and click the Start button.

   

2. Select the Manually option and click the Continue button. Do not select the Uninstaller package option. It does not work with the .mpkg file format of the Office Installer.mpkg file.

   

3. Referencing the Office 2011 installed files list, drag each file or top level folder into the Snapshot Data window. Items will appear under the Installation Root package and appear under the same folder hierarchy as they do on the hard drive. Click the Continue button.

   

4. On the Create Package window, select the Uninstaller package for Apple Installer (.pkg) option and click the Create… button.

   

5. Save the new package as Remove Office 2011.pkg or a similar name.

To use the Remove Office 2011.pkg package either double-click it or deploy it using a tool such as Apple Remote Desktop. The package contains no payload (no files) but instead runs a postflight script that removes the files listed in the Snapshot Data window.

Download a Remove Office 2011 package

Home users or administrators who’d prefer not to create their own installer can download a Remove Office 2011 Uninstaller.pkg package. This uninstaller is posted as a service to readers but no guarantees are made to its effectiveness. It has been created using the above method.