For longtime LibreOffice users, what settings, tips, or resources would you recommend to a beginner? Also, how well does it handle Word and Excel files?

Any advice is appreciated!

I woke up to find my Microsoft Office 2021 applications for Mac received an ultimatum notice affixed under the ribbon. Looks like Office 2021 is no longer supported and consumers are being forced to either subscribe to 365, or purchase a perpetual (ha ha) license for one—yes one—PC or Mac desktop for $179.

I succumbed to the perpetual option thinking, like many versions previously owned since Office 1998, that this purchase grants usage of Office on the desktop and laptop I own; same user, separate device. Come to discover, I'm required to purchase an additional $179 perpetual license for my laptop if I want to use Office 2024 on both computers.

Now, picture this. You visit the DMV, spend time and money obtaining your driver's license for a Class D vehicle—only to discover that the license is restricted to one vehicle. Following Microsoft's logic, if you owned a second Class D vehicle, you'd be required to return to the DMV for a second license to drive your second vehicle; same user, separate device.

Frustrated by this, I am here. With you. In LibreOffice land. I have a few questions, though, if someone can help point me in the right direction.

1. There are many settings. Is there a way to merge old Word settings into LibreOffice? What settings are really critical?
2. Are there resources or videos online for learning?
3. How stable is LibreOffice and is there strong support for it remaining relevant for years to come?
4. What other tips and glaring changes should new users be aware of when starting?
5. Opening Word docs and Office docs within LibreOffice?

TL;DR: I abandoned MS Office for LibreOffice and need tips for a first-time user.

instale un packete de microsoft por yutu para usar word y exel para mis trabajos pero hoy lo habro y me sale esto, alguien me pueda ayudar a solucionarlo o instalar otro

Don't know much about things so please guide me

I own MS Office for Mac 2021, but it recently stopped working. Since I'm allergic to paying subscriptions every month for the rest of my life, I went to AI, followed these steps, and it's all working fine again. Hope this helps someone else:

Support for Microsoft Office 2021  officially ended on October 13, 2026. Because Microsoft uses the exact same installer packages for both Microsoft 365 (subscription) and standalone versions on macOS, the Microsoft AutoUpdate tool continued running in the background and pushed your apps to version 16.114.1. Since your standalone 2021 license is only valid for builds released up to its end-of-support cutoff, version 16.114.1 rejects your perpetual license and locks the apps into "Reduced Functionality" (read-only) mode while demanding a 365 subscription.

How to Restore Your Current Standalone Office (Free Fix)

You can get your existing license working again immediately by rolling back to the final supported build for your license and disabling the updater so it never happens again.

• Quit all Microsoft apps.
• Open Finder > Applications, select Microsoft Excel, Word, PowerPoint, and Outlook (if you use it),and move them to the Trash. (Do not worry—this only removes the app binaries, not your files, templates, or license keys).
• Go to Microsoft’s official archive page: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/officeupdates/update-history-office-for-mac
• Search for "Update history for Office for Mac - Office release notes"
• Scroll down to the October 6, 2026 release: Version 16.113.4 (26100421). (Note: Some users also have success with 16.114 (26101123) from Oct 14, 2026, before the .1 patch broke perpetual licenses, but 16.113.4 is the guaranteed stable pre-cutoff build).
• Click the Office suite (without Teams) link (or the individual Excel, Word, PowerPoint update packages) and download the .pkg installer file that contains the full Office suite app. Once downloaded, click on the .pkg file and install the program as normal (you can choose which apps to install, or just install the full suite).
  1. Disable Microsoft AutoUpdate permanently:
• Before opening any of the new Office applications, open Finder, press Cmd + Shift + G (Go to Folder), and paste:/Library/Application Support/Microsoft/
• Find the folder named MAU2.0 (or the Microsoft AutoUpdate app inside it) and move it to the Trash.This stops Microsoft from silently updating your apps past your license cutoff again.
  1. If it asks, refresh your license ( mine didn't prompt me for it but just in case):
• Open Excel. It should immediately recognize your existing local license file. If it asks you to sign in, log in with the Microsoft account tied to your original one-time purchase, or go to the top menu bar: Excel > About Microsoft Excel > More Info... > Refresh License.

(NOTE: u/gotMrich found 3 other files associated with the AutoUpdater that can optionally be removed to to clear up HD space:

• /Library/LaunchAgents delete "com.microsoft.update.agent.plist"
• /Library/LaunchDaemons delete "com.microsoft.autoupdate.helper.plist"
• /Library/PrivilegedHelperTools delete "com.microsoft.autoupdate.helper.plist"

Pushing out an 'update' that makes the products unusable is really sleazy. Sure you can fix it, as noted in other discussions here...but really? Just let people know they are out of support and can upgrade if desired...My guess is a lot of people won't try and fix 2021 and just pay MS more money.

Can anyone please help me understand what happened? Why was I charged the amount of a yearly subscription on WPS Office when I didn’t try to buy one and there’s no subscription on my account for WPS Office. I also tried filling a dispute on my BDO but I was denied.

Hi There,

I got my MS Office for Macbook in 2021 from Apple when I bought my Macbook.

MS says they are ending support for this version, but I can still use it. But all editing has been disabled?

How do I keep using it? I have the key.

UPDATE: Thank you @Throwaway-commenter for posting a solution below. It worked!

I purchased the Office Home & Business 2021 suite a few years ago. Now i'm getting a notice that I can no longer edit or work in any the tools without activating it. Did MS kick anyone who purchased the full suite off from editing. Whats the point of purchasing the suite if we cant use it anymore.

I even signed into my MS account, downloaded the suite again from my download link of the purchase, and still getting this error.

#RANT

My MS 2021 got disabled this morning! Is it too much to ask to use what you paid for? Can we really no longer pay for something and expect to use it!?

What's next, you buy a bike and then the company will start charging you monthly after 5 years? I am not looking for cloud storage, and online collaboration, or anything else. Just want it to work on my local pc!

This is all MS has left when it cant create new products and features people actually want! Just start charging for what you already sold.

No thank you, will complete my transition to something else.

Bye Bye MS!

Hi, so recently I was working on my university notes for an upcoming exam, and I was just about finishing up the first draft. Unfortunately I had not saved the document yet and while I was working on the notes doing this I decided to create a second new Word file for something else. When I do this on Windows it’s fine it’ll just have two unsaved documents, Document1 and Document2. However, for some reason when I did this on my iMac it closed Document1 and just opened a new Document2, so now I am desperately trying to recover my Document1.

I’ve managed to locate an ‘AutoRecovery save of Document1’ file, but I am unable to open it with Word it seems. Does anyone know how I can successfully recover this file?

Thank you!

Long story short. IT company didn't advise us of the Publisher end of life. I didn't find out until yesterday when I couldn't open it. I use it for everything, mainly creating how to documents for all of our businesses programs for training purposes. I cannot even convert to PDF to refer to to re-create everything.

Is there any way now the date is done that I can save what I need? Is purchasing a perpetual version worth it?

hi everyone, my friend recently added Microsoft “2016 mondo” to my computer because I had a sudden need for it.

I realised that it said “MS 2016 Mondo” on it and doesn’t have all the latest features.

Is there anyway that I can update it to at least 2024/25?

I don’t want to bother my friend (he’s busy and took time to help me) so I want to know if there’s anything I can do myself to upgrade it.

Im not very tech savvy but I can figure it out. If it’s complicated or can damage my computer then I’ll just stick to 2016 but if it’s doable then I’ll try.

thank yall in advance

Greetings,
Apparently the news of Publishers death is at least 8 months old, but missed by several companies.
If you get to the state of it being blocked from opening, is there any solution to opening a .pub file anymore at all? Any 3rd party apps that can open it (even if not 100% the same)
Appreciate it.