**Microsoft Pauses Update After Thousands of Office Users Lose Licenses**
A growing number of users have reported that a recent Microsoft update has deactivated or completely removed their perpetual Office licenses. The issue, which affects both Office 2016 and Office 2019 installations, has prompted Microsoft to pause the rollout of the update while it investigates.
The problematic update, labeled KB5002907, was designed to help users update their Microsoft 365 Apps installations that are more than 90 days out of date. However, according to reports from affected users and administrators, the update is instead causing widespread issues with Office licenses.
Christian Van Hautte, a managed service provider (MSP) based in Belgium, told CyberNews.work that multiple unrelated customers contacted his company within a short period on September 24, all reporting the same problem. “The common factor was KB5002907,” he explained. “It appears to be targeting ‘outdated Microsoft 365 Apps installations,’ but it’s also landing on perpetual Office installs and breaking their license state.”
In some cases, re-entering the original Office product key restored activation on affected systems. However, Van Hautte warned that even though the update is listed as optional, it installed automatically on his customers’ devices.
Furthermore, he discovered that KB5002907 appears to remove and reinstall, or migrate the existing Office installation as part of its update process. This can cause problems with mixed-architecture installations, where both 32-bit and 64-bit Office products are present. On such systems, the reinstall can fail because Microsoft Office setup does not allow mixing 32-bit and 64-bit Office products.
Other users have reported similar issues online, including on Reddit and Microsoft forums. One user reported that multiple Office 2019 installations suddenly became deactivated, while another administrator said several unrelated customers contacted them after Office had been completely uninstalled.
Microsoft has acknowledged the issue and paused the rollout of KB5002907 while it investigates further. The company has also updated its support bulletin to acknowledge the problems and provide guidance on what to do if affected by the issue.
For users who may be impacted, Microsoft advises that affected Office installations can suffer from two different problems: appearing unlicensed or being completely removed. To prevent additional devices from being affected, Microsoft recommends not installing the update until further notice.
In practical terms, this means that users with perpetual Office licenses should exercise caution when updating their systems and avoid installing KB5002907 until Microsoft resolves the issue.
Source: Bleeping Computer — 2026-09-26