Installing a mix of different Outlook and Office versions

Although it used to be possible (but never really recommended) to install a mix of different Office versions and standalone applications, this is no longer supported when it comes to Office 2016.

However, you might be eligible for a free upgrade of a qualifying standalone Office application.

Office 2013 and previous

Up to Office 2013, you could mix your Office installation with standalone editions of applications belonging to a previous Office version.

The trick was to always install the older version before the newer version. However, from an Outlook perspective, you’d be missing out on some Office integration features but it was possible.

Examples:

• Outlook 2010 can be installed alongside Office 2013 Home & Student.
• Outlook 2013 can be installed alongside Office 2007 Professional when Outlook 2007 isn’t being installed.
• Office 365 Home 2013 can be installed alongside Outlook 2010 (although not recommended as Office 365 Home 2013 also contains Outlook 2013).

Office 2016

The above is no longer the case when it comes to Office 2016 and any of the Office 2016 standalone applications. As soon as you install an Office 2016 product, all your other previous Office applications need to be uninstalled and upgraded to their Office 2016 edition as well if you want to continue to use them.

Examples:

• Outlook 2013 can’t be installed alongside Office Home & Student 2016.
• Outlook 2013 can’t be installed alongside Office 365 Home 2016.
• Outlook 2016 can’t be installed alongside Office Professional 2013.
• Visio 2013 can’t be installed alongside Office 365 Home 2016.

Free upgrade offer

Since this is a change of how it previously worked, Microsoft is offering a free upgrade for qualifying Office 365 subscriptions and standalone purchases of 2013 and 2016 retail versions of Office applications.

For more information about this offer see: Special offer for customers with Office 2016 and Office 2013 standalone applications.

This offer expires February 28, 2017 so make sure you get your upgrade before then.

Volume License editions of Office 2016

The only exception to not being able to mix Office versions is when you are using a Volume License edition of an Office 2016 application.

This is because Volume License editions use an msi-based installation instead of a Click-to-Run based installation. However, these Volume License editions can’t be combined with non-Volume License editions of Office 2016 applications.

Examples:

• Outlook 2013 can be installed alongside Office Professional Plus 2016 when Outlook 2016 isn’t being installed.
• Outlook 2016 standalone can’t be installed alongside Office Professional Plus 2013 as Outlook standalone isn’t available via Volume Licensing.
• Outlook 2016 as part of the Office Standard 2016 suite can be installed alongside Office Professional Plus 2013 when Outlook 2013 isn’t being installed.