Microsoft Update Remover

A small zsh script that removes Microsoft AutoUpdate from macOS after showing you what it found and asking for confirmation.

Why

Microsoft Office for Mac installs Microsoft AutoUpdate (MAU), which runs in the background and opens its own window to check for updates:

If you would rather update Office by hand, this script removes the MAU app and its launch agent, launch daemon and privileged helper in one step.

Quick start

git clone https://github.com/mrsarac/microsoft-update-remover.git
cd microsoft-update-remover
sudo ./remove_ms_update.sh

The script needs root. Without sudo it stops with a message and changes nothing.

How it works

1. Asks whether to check for Microsoft AutoUpdate components (y to continue).
2. Prints a table of the four paths below with [Exists] or [Not Found] and their size.
3. Asks again before deleting anything (y to continue).
4. Runs rm -rf on each path and prints REMOVED or ERROR per line.

Paths removed:

• /Library/Application Support/Microsoft/MAU2.0/Microsoft AutoUpdate.app
• /Library/LaunchAgents/com.microsoft.update.agent.plist
• /Library/LaunchDaemons/com.microsoft.autoupdate.helper.plist
• /Library/PrivilegedHelperTools/com.microsoft.autoupdate.helper

Answering anything other than y (or e) at either prompt cancels without changes.

Status / limits

• A single script written in December 2024; no tests and no releases.
• It does not unload the launch agent or daemon first; MAU processes that are already running may keep running until you log out or restart.
• It only knows the four paths above. Other Microsoft files (Office apps, caches, preferences) are not touched.
• Without MAU you will not get automatic Office updates. An Office installer or update may put MAU back.
• To update Office manually, download updates from Microsoft: Office for Mac update history.

The script is based on the steps in this OS X Daily guide.

License

MIT. See LICENSE.