Install Office (Word/Excel/PowerPoint) on macOS

Microsoft-Office-For-MacOS provides the macOS Microsoft Office Volume License (VL) Serializer (activation tool).

It currently has about 7.9k stars and 1k forks, is updated fairly often, and covers installers and matching serializers from older Office 2011/2016/2019 through LTSC 2021/2024, across different macOS versions (including Apple Silicon).

Main contents

• Office installers: direct links to Microsoft’s official CDN (e.g. go.microsoft.com or officecdn.microsoft.com);

• Serializer (activation tool): hosts .pkg and ISO files (such as Microsoft_Office_LTSC_2021_VL_Serializer.pkg, Microsoft_Office_LTSC_2024_VL_Serializer.pkg, and others). These are Microsoft’s official tools originally meant for enterprise Volume License customers, used to activate Office as a perpetual license (no subscription required);

• License cleanup tools, telemetry-disabling scripts, troubleshooting guides, and more;

Safety

• The installers are official download links;

• There are no widely reported large-scale incidents with the Serializer so far, and it has a sizable community of users — at least no obvious security issues have surfaced;

Install steps

Install Office first, then run the Serializer

• Download the matching official Office Suite installer and the corresponding Office Serializer;

• If applicable: if you previously installed any version of Office (even if you already uninstalled it), clear the old license first, or activation may fail:

  • Microsoft’s official License Removal Tool: https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?linkid=849815 (filename is usually Microsoft_Office_License_Removal_2.7.pkg)
  • Double-click to run it and follow the prompts until it finishes;
  • You can also use the License Removal tool provided in the repository;

• Install Office:

  • Double-click the downloaded .pkg, for example Microsoft_365_and_Office_16.112.26090911_Installer.pkg;

  • Follow the prompts and finish the install;

  • During installation, do not open any Office apps and do not sign in with a Microsoft account;

• Run the Serializer to activate:

  • Double-click the downloaded Office Serializer, for example Microsoft_Office_LTSC_2024_VL_Serializer.pkg;

  • Follow the prompts until it finishes (it silently writes the Volume License);

  • A restart is usually not required afterward, but restarting once is safer;

• Verify:

  • Open Microsoft Word (or Excel / PowerPoint);

  • Normally it should no longer ask you to sign in with a Microsoft account and should open ready to use;

  • You can check Word → About Word for version details and confirm activation;

If activation fails

• Run the License Removal Tool once, then run the Serializer again;

• Fully quit all Office apps (including background processes), then try again;

• Restart the Mac, then open Word to test;

• Check for leftover Office files:

  • Use AppCleaner or manually delete related files under ~/Library/Group Containers/UBF8T346G9.*, ~/Library/Preferences/com.microsoft.*, and similar paths, then retry;

Other notes

• Update Office with the official Microsoft AutoUpdate; it generally does not affect the Volume License already written;

• The Office installer build needs to match the corresponding Serializer version and the OS, or activation may fail;

• For specifics, refer to the related docs — the suggested fixes there are quite thorough;