Microsoft has paused the distribution of KB5002907 after the update triggered KB5002907 Office licence deactivation across perpetual Office 2016 and Office 2019 installations, and, in a smaller number of cases, removed Office entirely from affected machines.
The update, formally titled ‘Optional update for out-of-date Microsoft 365 Apps installations’, was designed to nudge Microsoft 365 Apps installations that are more than 90 days out of date back onto a current build for their assigned update channel. According to the KB5002907 release notes, it targets devices using Current Channel or Monthly Enterprise Channel, and Microsoft described it as optional, not something that would push itself out automatically.
How the KB5002907 Office licence deactivation came to light
Christian Van Hautte, who runs an MSP in Belgium, was among the first to flag the problem publicly. He told BleepingComputer that five unrelated customers contacted his company within approximately ten minutes on 24 September, with dozens of PCs across those organisations suddenly showing Office as an ‘Unlicensed Product’. All affected installations were Office 2016 and Office 2019 Home & Business, perpetual, one-time-purchase licences rather than subscriptions.
‘The common factor is KB5002907, an update released around September 23 and described as targeting “outdated Microsoft 365 Apps installations”, but it is clearly also landing on perpetual (non-subscription) Office installs and breaking their license state,’ Van Hautte told BleepingComputer. He also noted that despite the update being listed as optional, it had installed automatically on his customers’ devices.
Re-entering the original Office product key restored activation on affected systems, Van Hautte confirmed. However, he later identified a more serious scenario: KB5002907 appears to remove and reinstall (or migrate) the existing Office installation as part of its process. On systems carrying Office components of mixed architectures, such as a 32-bit Office 2016 or 2019 installation sitting alongside a 64-bit Microsoft Access Runtime, that reinstall can fail outright. Because Office setup does not allow mixing 32-bit and 64-bit components, the existing suite gets removed but is never successfully put back, leaving the machine without Office altogether. Microsoft has not confirmed that mixed-bitness installations cause this behaviour.
Wider reports and Microsoft’s response to the paused update
Reports from other administrators landed at roughly the same time. On Reddit, one user described multiple Office 2019 installations becoming deactivated simultaneously, adding in a later update that the problem was not limited to Office 2019 and that some systems required signing into a Microsoft account and selecting the licence rather than simply re-entering a product key. Another user wrote that both their own Office 2019 and a family member’s Office 2016 installation had been ‘nuked overnight’, describing both as ‘100% legit keys purchased long ago’. Similar accounts appeared in the Microsoft community forums.
After BleepingComputer contacted the company, Microsoft confirmed it had paused the rollout. ‘We are aware of these reports and have paused the update while we investigate. Additional customer guidance will be communicated via appropriate channels,’ a Microsoft spokesperson said.
Microsoft has since updated the KB5002907 support bulletin to acknowledge two distinct problems. In the more common case, Office appears unlicensed and Microsoft advises customers to reactivate their purchased product by re-entering their key or signing in with a Microsoft account. In what Microsoft describes as ‘rare cases’, Office is removed entirely. Those users are instructed to download and reinstall their purchased copy of Office 2016 or Office 2019 from scratch.
The update remains paused while Microsoft investigates. The KB5002907 support bulletin, which now carries Microsoft’s acknowledgement of the issue, is the place to watch for further guidance as the investigation continues.
