Microsoft Office 2011 Not Supported in macOS High Sierra 10.13

Microsoft recently published a support document noting that Office for Mac 2011 will not be supported under the just-released macOS 10.13 High Sierra. (Users may have also seen a banner notification about this if they’ve recently opened Office 2011.) Microsoft has stated that Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, and Lync 2011 have not been tested on macOS 10.13 High Sierra, and no formal support for this configuration will be provided.

Additionally, Microsoft has stated that all applications in the Office for Mac 2011 suite are reaching end of support on October 10th, 2017. After this date there will be no new security updates, non-security updates, free or paid assisted support options, or technical content updates.

We’ve tested Office 2011 with High Sierra here at Connectech, and have experienced problems with saving files along with other stability issues. Office 2011 will continue to operate well on earlier versions of the Mac operating system, including Sierra 10.12 or El Capitan 10.11. So if you want to continue using Office 2011, we suggest not upgrading to macOS High Sierra for the time being.

Microsoft also notes that users who upgrade to Office 2016 for Mac may experience problems with High Sierra. At the time of this article’s writing, we have not extensively tested Office 2016 with High Sierra, so we will have to take Microsoft’s word for it. Microsoft will continue to update Office 2016 and will work to maintain compatibility with the latest Apple operating system. See Microsoft’s release notes.

But for now, keep in mind that not all Office 2016 functionality may be available when running macOS High Sierra, and you may encounter stability problems such as apps unexpectedly quitting. If you do decide to upgrade to Office 2016 for Mac on High Sierra, we strongly recommend that you back up your existing data before trying it out.

If you’re interested in learning more about the different ways to purchase Microsoft Office 2016, either through the Office 365 subscription program or purchase of a perpetual license, please call or email us.