Microsoft Updates Office for Mac to Version 15.29 on the Inside. In Excel, use CONCAT or TEXTJOIN to shorten your text formulas, or try the forecasting functions to help you see the future.
The Download Now link above will take you to the Microsoft Office web site, where you may continue the download process. You must have a Microsoft account with an active Office 365 subscription in order to download and install the software.
Excel 2016 for Mac brings lots of welcome improvements to the workhorse spreadsheet but also leaves out useful tools.
Pros
Moving to the cloud: Like the other apps in the latest Mac Office suite, Excel 2016 lets you store, sync, and edit files online, via Microsoft's OneDrive cloud storage service. You can also save Excel files to your Dropbox account.
Collaborate: Excel 2016, through OneDrive, lets you share documents with colleagues and collaborate in real time. You can chat online as well, either through a document chat window or through Skype.
Modern design: The redesigned ribbon for the Mac version of Excel borrows the look and feel of its Windows counterpart, presenting tools and formatting options in much the same way as Excel for Windows does. Excel also recommends appropriate charts based on spreadsheet data.
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Moving across platforms: Excel 2016 supports many of the Windows keyboard shortcuts and most of the Excel 2013 for Windows functions, which should make it easier to use the tool across platforms. The update also includes an Analysis ToolPak add-in, PivotTable slicers for analyzing data, and an improved formula builder.
Cons
Macro limits: Prior to Office 2016, you could build macros in Excel for Mac. The 2016 edition offers what Microsoft calls a 'simplified' Visual Basic Editor (VBE), which allows you to debug existing macros. But if you want to build new macros, you need to do that on the Windows side or use an earlier Mac version. For those who built macros in preceding Mac editions, this is a big loss.
Bottom Line
Excel 2016 is probably worth the upgrade just based on its ability to take advantage of OneDrive. The new analysis tools and formula builder help keep Microsoft's spreadsheet an essential tool. Hobbling its macros tool, however, diminishes a bit of the attraction for serious users.
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What do you need to know about free software?
I want to stop this prompt:
Normally I’d encourage people to keep their system / app up-to-date, but there is only one word that can describe what Microsoft had done in Office for Mac: catastrophe.
Their Apr 2018 update destroyed the ability to display / assign Asian font correctly. Prior to the update, I can view & set Asian font using the Asian name of a font family (e.g. '細明體' instead of 'PMingLiU'). But after update all fonts are displayed using English font family name. I can stil use these Asian fonts, but it's no longer be compatible with Windows version.
Besides, the performance is severely declined after update: the text input curser can’t even catch up with my typing speed.
I've managed to revert to older version via Time Machine backup. This is not the first time that Office update ruined everything so I'd always make backup before applying for update. Now I just want to stop this annoying prompt.
RichardLiuRichardLiu
3 Answers
If you get Office from the Mac App Store, that handles all updates. You can delete your old version of the app and get It from Apple now. You do need an office 365 license, so if you have volume license or an older type license the App Store might not work for you for free.
If for some reason you are getting the app elsewhere, the usual way is to open updates from the word help menu and enable manual update checks.
The Microsoft Auto Update program (MAU) is undergoing pretty rapid and dramatic improvements including the ability to set preferences to control updates as well as command line updates. Check this site and link for details as well as links to old versions of apps if you decide you need to roll back an update or manually update part of Office 2016 and not Word.
bmike♦bmike
Remove the '/Library/Application Support/Microsoft/MAU2.0' folder.
Jet MaJet Ma
We're looking for long answers that provide some explanation and context. Don't just give a one-line answer; explain why your answer is right, ideally with citations. Answers that don't include explanations may be removed.
Apparently, this Microsoft employee has published a script to specifically suppress this update prompt.
I haven't tested it, but the source is there to analyze.
David WilliamsDavid Williams