Uninstalling Office doesn't delete your files
What stays on the PC when Office is removed or reinstalled
Internet Interests
Last Update 12 days ago
Removing Office takes away the apps and leaves your files. Microsoft states that uninstalling "only removes the Microsoft 365 applications from your computer" and that "It doesn't remove any files, documents, or workbooks you created using the apps." Documents, spreadsheets and presentations stay in their folders and open in Office 2024 once it's installed.
What stays
- Files in Documents, Desktop, Downloads and any other folder you saved them in
- Files in OneDrive, which stay in your OneDrive account and in the OneDrive folder on the PC
- Email in Outlook.com, Microsoft 365, Gmail and other accounts that keep mail on the provider's server, which comes back when you add the account to Outlook again
Before you uninstall
A backup before any big change to a PC is good practice, even though an uninstall leaves your files alone. Copy anything important to an external drive or to cloud storage first.
If an older Office on the PC includes Publisher, open each .pub file you need and save a copy as PDF or as a Word document before you uninstall. Office LTSC 2024 doesn't include Publisher and can't open .pub files.
After Office 2024 is installed
Your files open in the new apps from File Explorer, or from File > Open inside each app. Add an email account to Outlook shows how to set up your mail again.