As a seasoned IT consultant with over a decade of experience managing Microsoft Office deployments for businesses and individuals, I've guided countless users through version transitions like this. Microsoft Office 2016 rolled out to Office 365 subscribers, but if compatibility issues or workflow preferences keep you on Office 2013, downgrading is straightforward—despite initial impressions otherwise.
If you're an Office 365 subscriber still running Office 2013 and want to stay put, block the update with these proven methods.
Press Windows key + R, type regedit, press Enter, and confirm Yes. Navigate to:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\office\15.0\common\officeupdate
Right-click, select Edit > New > DWORD (32-bit) Value, name it enableautomaticupgrade, set Value data to 0. Restart your PC.
For simplicity, use Microsoft's official easy fix tool to apply this change automatically, then reboot.
On domain-joined machines, open Group Policy Editor and go to Computer Configuration > Administrative Templates > Microsoft Office 2013 (Machine) > Updates. Set Enable automatic update to Disabled and apply. If templates are missing, download the Office 2013 Administrative Template from Microsoft. Restart afterward.
Before reinstalling 2013, fully remove 2016 via Control Panel or, for a thorough cleanup, Microsoft's Fix It tool. Download the Office 2016 uninstaller directly from Microsoft. Run it, click Next, select Apply this patch, and follow prompts.
Microsoft also offers a manual uninstall guide for Office 2016 or 365.
Availability varies by subscription.
Log into your Office account, click Install > Language and installation options > Additional installation options. Select language and Version: Office 2013, then install. Note: This is an online installer; offline ISO options are discontinued, and availability is temporary.
Use these Microsoft-provided links for Office 2013:
For other languages, modify the URL with your language code (e.g., Spanish 64-bit Business:
https://c2rsetup.officeapps.live.com/c2r/download.aspx?productReleaseID=O365BusinessRetail&platform=X64&language=es-es&version=O15GA&source=O15OLSO365). Alternatively, use the Office Deployment Tool if supported. Office 2013 updates end after September 2016.
Upgrading is simple, but downgrading fixes regrets—like unsupported features or early bugs. Always test thoroughly. What challenges prompted your downgrade? Share in the comments.
