Update!

Article contributed by Beth Rosengard

Go to update information about Office/Word 2001 and Office/Word 98.

You must optimize your version of the Apple Operating System and fully update Office/Word if you expect to get optimum performance from each and avoid malfunctions. And for best results, it is advisable to Repair Disk Permissions before and after every major update.

The Apple OS

Each successive version of the Apple OS will make not just your computer, but Word as well, run better. For whatever reason, you may be unable to upgrade your OS to the max, but you can at least be sure your OS version is updated as fully as possible:

If you are in OS X 10.1 (Puma), you should be updated to OS X 10.1.5.
If you are in OS X 10.2 (Jaguar), you should be updated to OS X 10.2.8.
If you are in OS X 10.3 (Panther), you should be updated to OS X 10.3.9.
If you are in OS X 10.4 (Tiger), you should be updated to OS X 10.4.11.
If you are in OS X 10.5 (Leopard), you should be updated to OS X 10.5.3.

These version numbers are accurate as of the date of this writing (see “Last Updated” at the bottom of the page). We do our best to keep this information current but it is not always possible to make changes as quickly as we’d like. It is your job to be sure you have the most up-to-date versions of your software.

Click here to obtain the latest Apple upgrades and be sure to check Software Update regularly [Lene Fredborg, 13-Jan-2020: Removed outdated link to http://www.apple.com/support/downloads/].

Note: Be sure to keep your other software up-to-date as well. Example: Some third party QuickTime codecs (coders/decoders) interfere badly with Office and can cause crashes on launch if the Project Gallery is opened at any time. This is especially true of some "old" versions of the DivX codec from DivX.com. The fix is simple: Make sure everything is current. Newer versions of the DivX codecs don't exhibit the problem.

Updating Office/Word

It is equally important to keep Office/Word fully updated since each update issued contains improvements to Office applications (sometimes even new features) and/or fixes to newly discovered security vulnerabilities. The specific information below on Office updaters is current as of this writing (see "Page Updated" date at the bottom of this page). It is your responsibility to check for possible newer updaters.

If you are in Office/Word X, you should have the following updater:

Microsoft Office v. X for Mac 10.1.9 Update. This updater includes all previous updaters.

If you are in Office/Word 2004, you should have the following updater:

Microsoft Office 2004 for Mac 11.5 Update [Lene Fredborg, 21-Jan-2021: Removed outdated link to http://support.microsoft.com/kb/953824]. This is a combo updater, so you can apply it regardless of any previous updates.

To update Office 2004, you can select Help>Check for Updates in any application, or run the Microsoft AutoUpdate utility in your Applications folder.
If you are in Office/Word 2008, use the Microsoft Office 2008 for Mac Service Pack 1 Update [Lene Fredborg, 04-Jun-2019: Removed outdated link to http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/] (12.1.0.) This is a combo updater including the 12.0.1 update. Click here for a full description of the changes and fixes [Lene Fredborg, 21-Jan-2021: Removed outdated link to http://support.microsoft.com/kb/952331/en-us]. Then apply the 12.1.1 update.

To update Office 2008, you can select Help>Check for Updates in any application, or run the MAU 2.0 utility in [harddrive]/Library/Application Support/Microsoft.
PS. You should always re-run software updaters after applying an update, as they may not show you necessary software until you have installed the previous updates (true for Microsoft and Apple).

Note: Regardless of your version of Office, there are situations that require you to reapply Office updaters, even if you are already fully updated! The reason is that updaters can only affect software that is installed at the time the updates were originally applied.

You must reapply updaters after installing additional Office options, such as those found in the Value Pack on the Office X installation CD.
You must reapply updaters after reinstalling any Office component or after removing and reinstalling Office in its entirety.
In any of these scenarios, you must reapply all the updaters in order.

Tip: Since downloading updates is a time-consuming affair, we recommend that you store all downloaded updates in your Downloads folder or on external media in case you need them in the future.

Finding Your Version of Office/Word

If you, just for instance, can’t remember which update you last applied and need to find out your version of Office, here’s how: Navigate to the Microsoft Component Plugin (HD/Applications/Microsoft Office X or 2004/Office/ or 2008/Office/), select it and do a Get Info (Command> i).

To learn the current version of Word X (or any other Office X application), navigate to the application in the Finder, select it and do a Get Info. Don’t count on “About Word” on the Word menu to tell you the correct version number. (For some inexplicable reason, only “About Entourage ” in Office X always shows the correct version number.)

To learn the current version of Word 2004 or Word 2008 (or any other Office 2004/2008 application), check “About Word” on the Word menu (or you can do a Get Info as above if you prefer).

In Office 2008 (post 12.1-only), the About Word dialog will also tell you the last Office update that has been installed.

Note: Office version numbers and Office application version numbers are not always the same. Any particular update can make a change to one application without affecting any of the others. In that case, only that one application’s number will increment.

Example: If you updated Office X to Office X 10.1.5, Word X’s version number will nevertheless show as Word 10.1.4. That’s because the Office X 10.1.5 updater made no changes to the Word X application.

However, the Office 10.1.6 updater changes all Office applications' version numbers to 10.1.6 as well.

For more about Office X version numbers, including the version numbers for all Office X 10.1.x applications in relation to specific updates, click here.

Since an unsuccessful update is as damaging (or more so) than no update at all, you can check that you have updated correctly by verifying your application version numbers. If you discover anomalies that lead you to suspect an unsuccessful update, your best bet is to do a complete Removal, Reinstallation and Update of Office.

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