KB5002700 update breaks Office 2016 Word, Excel, Outlook on Windows

Microsoft has released a new security update, KB5002700, for Office 2016 on Windows 11 (and Windows 10). Unfortunately, it appears that KB5002700 is completely broken, as it not only breaks Outlook Calendar, but also crashes Word and Excel when users try to create a new document or spreadsheet.

April 8 is Patch Tuesday, the day Microsoft releases security updates for all of its products, including Windows, Office, and even older products like Office 2016. Windows 11 received Windows 11 KB5055523, Windows 10 was updated to KB5055518, and Office 2016 received KB5002700.

While most businesses have moved to newer versions of Office, some are still using Office 2016. Windows Latest typically tests each update released by Microsoft on dozens of different configurations, and while testing Office 2016, they noticed Word, Excel, and Outlook crashing unexpectedly.

One user reported that Word and Excel stopped working when they deployed Office 2016 KB5002700 across their organization. Word and Excel immediately crashed (refused to open) on affected PCs, and it seems that a lot of Office 2016 users are experiencing these issues after updating to KB5002700.

"We're having an issue on Windows 10 with Office 2016 where Word and Excel no longer open. Outlook still works fine," one user noted in a Reddit thread spotted by Windows Latest.

"Same behavior here: After starting Word, it crashes and Outlook also stops working in calendar view. Uninstalling KB5002700 solved both issues ," another user noted.

Similarly, many users have reported these issues on social network X and the number of reports continues to increase.

In some cases, Word and Excel open, but when you click New Document or try to create a spreadsheet, Word or Excel automatically stops responding and closes abruptly, and you may even lose your unsaved work in worse cases.

How to fix Office 2016 crashing after April 2025 updates

In the case of Outlook, you can prevent the problem by turning off the Show Weather toggle in File > Options > Calendar . Additionally, in some cases, disabling the Adobe PDF Maker COM add-in can fix the Word 2016 crash issue. To do this, you can open Word in Safe Mode and disable the add-in.

Otherwise, you will need to manually remove the update. While troubleshooting PC issues at some organizations, Windows Latest was able to fix the issue, but the workaround requires us to remove the Office 2016 April 2025 patch.

Unfortunately, uninstalling Office 2016 security updates isn't easy because they're installed silently through Windows Update. You won't see the update listed in Programs and Features > View installed updates .

How to uninstall KB5002700 if it damages Office 2016 – Word, Excel, and Outlook apps

To uninstall KB5002700, you need to follow these steps:

1. In Registry Editor , go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall
2. In case of 32-bit Windows, go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall
3. Now try to find the subkey for Office 2016. It might be listed as: Microsoft Office Professional Plus 2016, then just note the GUID in that subkey name (e.g. {90160000-0011-0000-1000-0000000FF1CE}).
4. However, check the DisplayName inside that key to make sure you have copied the GUID of the Office installed on your PC. It should match what is installed.
5. Now, you have to download KB5002700 Update Installer from Microsoft Update Catalog (catalog.update.microsoft.com/Search.aspx).
6. After downloading the Office 2016 April 2025 update, open Command Prompt and use the command cd C:\Users\YourUsername\Downloads to open the folder or edit directory to open the saved KB5002700 folder. The location  C:\Users\YourUsername\Downloads here is just an example.
7. In the folder where the package is saved, run the following command: mso2016-kb5002700-fullfile-x64-glb.exe /extract:C:\KB5002700
8. This command will save the MSP file in the C:\KB5002700 folder .
9. In the C:\KB5002700 folder , right-click the MSP file, select Properties , and go to the Details tab .​ Copy the GUID/Revision Number. The revision number is your GUID.
10. In a new Command Prompt, run msiexec.exe /package {OfficeGUID} /uninstall {UpdateGUID} /qn to remove the update.
11. Restart your computer.

After removing the update, you'll be able to use your Office 2016 apps again.

This article does not recommend installing the April 2025 patch for Office 2016 unless Microsoft provides a workaround.