Microsoft Office 2019 (365) Frequently Asked Questions FAQ

Article ID = 213
Article Title = Microsoft Office 2019 (365) Frequently Asked Questions FAQ
Article Author(s) = Graham Needham (BH)
Article Created On = 6th August 2018
Article Last Updated = 25th February 2021
Article URL = https://www.macstrategy.com/article.php?213

Article Brief Description:
Frequently Asked Questions about Microsoft Office 2019 / Microsoft 365

Installation, Registration, Compatibility and Requirements

Office 2019 (Microsoft 365 subscription) requires internet activation and a Microsoft Account to install
Office 2019 (standalone, perpetual licence) requires a serial number/key and internet activation to install (registration of a Microsoft Account is required if you do not already have one)

NOTE

dedicated Microsoft support pages

removing any licensing files

As of January 2019 Office 2019 was split into two tracks:

With Microsoft Teams collaboration tools
Without Microsoft Teams

Support for Office 2019 will end on 10th October 2023
On 15th December 2020 Microsoft announced Universal 2 Binary (Apple Silicon) updates (with a couple of limitations) were made available through Microsoft's usual update channels.
Office 2019 is only supported/gets security updates if you are running a supported version of macOS:

Q. What are the current, supported versions of macOS?

macOS 13 - included in the macOS 13.2.1 Installer (or go to Apple menu > System Preferences > Software Update and install the 13.2.1 update)
macOS 12 - included in the macOS 12.6.3 Installer (or go to Apple menu > System Preferences > Software Update and install the 12.6.3 update - click the blue "More info" link under "additional updates are avilable")
macOS 11 - included in the macOS 11.7.4 Installer (or go to Apple menu > System Preferences > Software Update and install the 11.7.4 update - click the blue "More info" link under "additional updates are avilable")
SECURITY WARNING: macOS 10.15 and earlier are no longer supported with security updates - see our securing older operating systems article.

Initial, Primary New Features

Word

Focus Mode in Word
Word Translator
Improved inking functionality
Customizable Office ribbons
Accessibility improvements

Outlook

@mentions
Focused inbox
Office/Microsoft 365 Groups in Outlook - Requires Exchange Online account
Travel and delivery summary cards
Send Later to delay or schedule delivery of emails
Read and delivery receipts
Email templates

Excel

Funnel charts and 2D maps
New Excel functions (CONCAT, TEXTJOIN, IFS, SWITCH)

Powerpoint

Morph transition feature
Insert and manage Icons, SVG, and 3D models
Improved roaming pencil case
4K video export
Play in-click sequence in PowerPoint

Ongoing New Features

Microsoft maintains a set of release notes for each new update online here.

General FAQ

Q. When is Office 2019 shipping?

A. Office 2019 became available for Volume License users on 24th September 2018 - Office 2019 was made available to all customers, consumer and commercial in October 2018

Q. How does the Office/Microsoft 365 subscription work and how much is it?

A. See our separate article.

Q. What if I don't want to subscribe to Office/Microsoft 365?

A. There is a perpetual licence (retail) product "Microsoft Office Home & Business" and for larger businesses there is also "volume licensing" available.

Q. What software is included?

A. The following applications are included in Office 2019:

Excel
OneNote
Outlook
Powerpoint
Word

You also get a selection of fonts that are only available to use with the Microsoft Office 2019 applications. Publisher, Access, Visio and Project are not included and probably never will be.

Q. Should I upgrade to Office 2019?

A. Yes. Becase Office 2016 and earlier are no longer supported/get security updates.

Q. Why are the applications so big/take up so much storage space?

A. Each application includes its own set of fonts and application resources including retina display assets (the latter of which take up a lot of space) - there are various reasons why they chose to do it this way but the primary one is that, simply, it is how Apple recommends to do it (to have one, self contained application) but speculation also suggests that this is also so that Microsoft could, if they wanted to, sell the applications individually via the Mac App Store…

Q. I keep getting asked to activate my copy of Microsoft Office 2019 / 365 even though I have a valid Office/Microsoft 365 subscription. What's going on?

A. There is a common problem that if your "region settings" on your computer don't match the one in your Microsoft account you will keep getting asked to activate your software. To fix this go to Apple menu > System Preferences > Language & Region > make sure the "Region" pop-up menu is set correctly and that the item at the top of the list in "Preferred languages:" on the left matches it (you can drag preferred languages up and down the list). Then go to your Microsoft Account online > login > click on "Your Info" > click on "Edit your personal info" > make sure the "Country/Region" pop-up menu matches the one set on your computer > Save and Sign out.

Q. If I subscribe to Office/Microsoft 365 can I use the Microsoft Office applications offline/without an internet connection?

A. Office/Microsoft 365 needs to "phone home" at least once every 39 days otherwise it will go into 'reduced-functionality mode' (you can open/read and print documents but not edit them or create new documents) so it will work offline for a period of time. Obviously if you use OneDrive for storing documents you will not be able to access OneDrive when you are offline. Outlook has a dedicated offline mode - go to Outlook menu > Work Offline.

Q. Now that the Office 2019 perpetual licenses are shippping is there upgrade pricing if I own an earlier version?

A. No. Microsoft stopped doing "upgrades" for Office many years ago and instead, simply lowered the price across all Office product ranges.

Q. What happens if I subscribe to Office/Microsoft 365 and then stop paying/cancel my subscription? Do I lose all my documents?

A. Obviously if you use OneDrive for storing documents you will not be able to access OneDrive once you cancel your subscription so copy all your OneDrive documents back to a local storage area before cancelling. If you use Outlook you should export your data before cancelling (see the next Q&A). Once your subscription is cancelled Office applications will go into 'reduced-functionality mode' (you can open/read and print documents but not edit them or create new documents) but you can always use an Office alternative to open and edit your documents.

Q. Are there any alternatives to Microsoft Office?

A. Yes - see our list of alternatives to Microsoft Office.

Q. How do I update Microsoft Office 2019?

A. See our updating Microsoft products article here.

Article Keywords: Microsoft Office 2019 365 Frequently Asked Questions FAQ Perpetual Licence Licences licencing License Licenses licensing boxed retail personal single user home corporate small business SME education educational volume sub subscription

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