Not getting Office updates via Windows Update

By default Windows Update only updates Windows itself. In order to get updates for Office and other Microsoft products as well, you’ll have to “update” your Windows Update to Microsoft Update.

When you are using an Microsoft 365 (formerly Office 365) installation or a Click-to-Run installation of Office 2013, Office 2016, Office 2019, and Office 2021, then the updates will not be offered via Windows Update but will be installed automatically. Depending on your installation source, you can manually check for updates from within any Office application or the Microsoft Store on Windows 10 and Windows 11.

• Upgrading from Windows Update to Microsoft Update
• Updating Office 2013 / 2016 / 2019 / 2021 / 365 installations (Office website installer)
• Updating Office 2016 / 2019 / 365 installations (Microsoft Store)

Upgrading from Windows Update to Microsoft Update

In order to switch from Windows Update to Microsoft Update, you can launch Windows Update like you’d normally do and then click the appropriate link as indicated below. A quick way to locate Windows Update is to to open the Start Menu or Start Screen and type; Update.

• Window 11
  Click on the “Advanced options” link and select the option: Receive updates for other Microsoft products

  
  Enable Microsoft Update in Windows 11 to get Office updates too.

• Windows 10
  Click on the “Advanced options” link and select the option: Receive updates for other Microsoft products when you update Windows.

  
  Enable Microsoft Update in Windows 10 to get Office updates too.

• Windows 8 (Modern Update App)
  Open the Start Screen and type “Update”. This should give you a search result called: Choose whether to automatically install Windows Updates.
  When you click on this result, you’ll get a screen which allows you to select: Give me updates for other Microsoft products when I update Windows.

  
  Windows 8 also allows you to select Microsoft Update via its touch friendly interface.

• Windows 7 and Windows 8
  Click the “Find out more” link to switch to Microsoft Update.
  If it is not available, click on the “Change settings” link on the left and you should be able to select the option:
  Give me updates for other Microsoft products when I update Windows.

  
  Enable Microsoft Update in Windows 7 or Windows 8 to get Office updates too.

  When you’ve switched successfully, the Windows Update screen will no longer show the “Find out more” link and should state:
  You receive updates: For Windows and other products from Microsoft Update.

In case you run into issues with an update and want to uninstall it, you can uninstall it via one of the methods described in Uninstalling Outlook or Office updates.

Updating Office 2013 / 2016 / 2019 / 2021 / 365 installations (Office website installer)

When you are using a Click-to-Run installation of Office 2013, Office 2016, Office 2019, Office 2021, or Microsoft 365, then updates won’t be coming via Microsoft Update and you won’t be able to install updates or hotfixes manually either via their standalone installer.

Instead, updates for Office will be installed automatically for you within a few days after these updates get released. You can also force it to check for new updates and apply them by using the Update Options button.

• File-> Office Account-> Update Options-> Update Now

Manually updating a Click-to-Run installation of Microsoft 365.

In case you run into issues with an update and want to uninstall it, you can roll-back to a previous release as described in Uninstall Microsoft 365 Click-To-Run Updates.

Updating Office 2016 / 2019 / 365 installations (Microsoft Store)

When you are using Windows 10 or Windows 11 and have installed Office from the Microsoft Store, then updates are also managed via the Microsoft Store.

To manually check for updates, open the Microsoft Store app and click on the Library icon in the bottom left corner. Then press the “Get updates” button to check for updates of all your Microsoft Store apps.

Checking manually for new updates in the Microsoft Store.