Turn off Microsoft Apps auto update on a Mac

Microsoft used to just do a system notification you could easily disable. Now they launch the auto update program once per day (interrupting whatever you are doing to put the focus on the auto update app -- watching a show? Streaming on Twitch? Sorry, it is now time to let you know... we didn't find any update for Office, but don't worry we checked!

Today of course I had an update, but usually, it says no updates found.

This is mind-numbingly frustrating and I have unchecked the 'Automatically Download and Install' checkbox.

Is there a way to prevent this short of deleting the auto update app entirely?

Solution 1:

I've been annoyed by the Microsoft AutoUpdater long too. Too many times it intrusively interrupted my work. So I decided to disable it and below was how I did it:

1. Open Terminal

2. Disable it:

   # disable the service
   launchctl disable gui/$(id -u)/com.microsoft.update.agent
   
   # check that the service is disabled
   launchctl print-disabled gui/$(id -u) | grep microsoft
   

   Alternatively if you wish not to disable the auto update but change the interval to launch the checking:

   # check current config content
   plutil -p /Library/LaunchAgents/com.microsoft.update.agent.plist
   
   # backup
   cp -a /Library/LaunchAgents/com.microsoft.update.agent.plist /somewhere/to/backup/
   
   # update the interval, e.g. 43200 seconds (i.e. 12 hours)
   sudo plutil -replace StartInterval -integer 43200 /Library/LaunchAgents/com.microsoft.update.agent.plist
   

Solution 2:

Based on Lacek's suggestion, here is my solution to turn off Microsoft Auto Update, but retain the ability to run it manually:

# check current config
plutil -p /Library/LaunchAgents/com.microsoft.update.agent.plist

# apply new values
sudo plutil -replace Disabled -integer 1 /Library/LaunchAgents/com.microsoft.update.agent.plist
sudo plutil -replace RunAtLoad -integer 0 /Library/LaunchAgents/com.microsoft.update.agent.plist
sudo plutil -replace StartInterval -integer 10368000 /Library/LaunchAgents/com.microsoft.update.agent.plist
          
# check new config
plutil -p /Library/LaunchAgents/com.microsoft.update.agent.plist

Solution 3:

The only methods I know (applicable to Oct 2020, Office 365, version 16.42, build 2010 11 01):

1. Open an Office app > Help menu > Check for updates > click around and disable/uncheck autoupdate. If your security settings has this disabled and you have access to modify programs, try #2.
2. While Microsoft Update (what ever the latest name is) is still open, right click on the program icon in the tray. Options > Show in Finder. Close the update dialog. Delete or move the program. You can always reinstall. If you try #1 again, you will get an error which means it worked.