How To Stop Microsoft Autoupdate On Mac

Take Back Control of Your Updates and Workflow

Are you tired of Microsoft AutoUpdate (MAU) interrupting your workflow on your Mac? You’re not alone. While automatic updates aim to keep your Microsoft apps secure and feature-rich, the constant pop-ups, background processes, and untimely downloads can be a significant source of frustration for Mac users who value control and system stability. This comprehensive guide will provide you with definitive, in-depth methods to stop Microsoft AutoUpdate on your Mac, ensuring your system runs only the software you want, when you want it.

Whether you’re a creative professional in the middle of a critical project, a developer needing a stable environment, or simply a user who prefers to manage updates manually, this article is your ultimate resource. We’ll go beyond basic tips, exploring the architecture of MAU, offering permanent solutions, and providing unique insights into managing Microsoft software on macOS effectively.

Understanding Microsoft AutoUpdate (MAU) on macOS

Before we disable it, it’s crucial to understand what we’re dealing with. Microsoft AutoUpdate is not a simple app; it’s a persistent, deeply integrated daemon designed to keep Microsoft 365 (formerly Office 365), OneDrive, Remote Desktop, and other Microsoft applications up-to-date. Unlike the App Store model, MAU operates independently, which is why it can feel intrusive.

On macOS, MAU consists of two main components:

The AutoUpdate App: Located in /Library/Application Support/Microsoft/MAU2.0/. This is the user-facing updater.
The Helper Daemon: A background process (com.microsoft.autoupdate.helper) that runs with elevated privileges to perform the actual installations.

This dual-component design is why simply quitting the app is ineffective—the daemon ensures it relaunches. Our strategies will address both parts.

Method 1: The Official & Recommended Way – Disable via Microsoft App Preferences

For most users, this is the safest and most reversible method. It doesn’t delete anything; it simply changes the update policy.

Open any Microsoft application (Word, Excel, Outlook, etc.).
Go to the menu bar and click Word (or Excel, etc.) > Preferences.
In the Preferences window, select Update.
You will see the Microsoft AutoUpdate window. Here, you have three critical options:
- Automatically Download and Install: (The default) MAU does everything in the background.
- Automatically Download: Downloads updates but asks for permission to install.
- Manually: MAU will not check, download, or install updates unless you open the AutoUpdate app yourself.

Choose “Manually.” This action tells the MAU service not to initiate any update checks automatically. It remains installed but dormant.

Unique Insight: Many tutorials miss a key step here. After changing this setting, close all Microsoft applications completely (right-click > Quit from the Dock, or use Cmd+Q). The setting is application-specific to an extent, and a full restart ensures the new policy is propagated to the background daemon.

Method 2: The “Nuclear Option” – Uninstalling Microsoft AutoUpdate Completely

If your goal is to remove MAU entirely—freeing up disk space and ensuring zero background processes—this method is for you. Warning: This may break the update functionality of your Microsoft apps until you reinstall MAU.

Step-by-Step Uninstallation:

Quit All Microsoft Apps: Ensure Word, Excel, Outlook, OneDrive, and the Microsoft AutoUpdate app itself are closed.
Terminate the Background Process: Open Activity Monitor (via Spotlight search or Applications/Utilities/). Search for Microsoft. Find any process named Microsoft AutoUpdate or Microsoft AU Daemon, select it, and click the Stop (X) button.

Delete the Core Files: You need to remove several key components. The safest way is to use the Terminal for precision.

Open Terminal.
Copy and paste the following commands one by one, pressing Return after each. You will likely need to enter your administrator password.

# Stop and unload the launch agent
launchctl bootout gui/$UID/com.microsoft.update.agent
sudo launchctl bootout system/com.microsoft.autoupdate.helper

# Remove the main application and support files
sudo rm -rf "/Library/Application Support/Microsoft/MAU2.0/"
sudo rm -rf "/Library/Application Support/Microsoft/MAU2.0/"

# Remove the launch agents and daemons
sudo rm /Library/LaunchAgents/com.microsoft.update.agent.plist
sudo rm /Library/LaunchDaemons/com.microsoft.autoupdate.helper.plist
sudo rm /Library/PrivilegedHelperTools/com.microsoft.autoupdate.helper

# Remove user-level caches and preferences
rm -rf ~/Library/Caches/com.microsoft.autoupdate*
rm ~/Library/Preferences/com.microsoft.autoupdate*.plist

Empty Trash & Restart: Finally, empty your Trash and restart your Mac. This ensures all processes are cleared from memory.

Reinstallation: If you need updates later, simply run any Microsoft app. It will typically prompt you that MAU is missing and offer to download it again, or you can download the full Microsoft 365/Office package from your Microsoft account.

Method 3: The Network Approach – Blocking with a Firewall (Little Snitch or LuLu)

This is a powerful and flexible method popular among power users. It doesn’t delete MAU; it simply prevents it from communicating with Microsoft’s servers, effectively neutering it.

Using Little Snitch (Paid, highly recommended): Upon installing Little Snitch, the first time MAU tries to call home, you’ll get a connection alert. You can then create a permanent deny rule for the process Microsoft AutoUpdate and Microsoft AU Daemon. This blocks its update check entirely.
Using LuLu (Free, open-source): This excellent free firewall can achieve the same result. When LuLu alerts you to an outgoing connection from MAU, you can block it permanently.

Expert Tip: Blocking at the firewall level also prevents MAU from fetching and displaying messages from Microsoft (like promotions or major version update notifications), offering the cleanest user experience short of deletion.

Method 4: The Scheduler Method – Disabling the Launch Daemon

Since MAU relies on macOS’s launchd scheduler to run its helper, we can disable its launch files.

Navigate to the system-level LaunchDaemons folder: /Library/LaunchDaemons/.
Find the file com.microsoft.autoupdate.helper.plist.
Rename it to com.microsoft.autoupdate.helper.plist.disabled.
Do the same for the user-level LaunchAgent at ~/Library/LaunchAgents/com.microsoft.update.agent.plist.

This tells macOS not to load these services on startup. To reverse, just remove the .disabled extension.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

Q: Is it safe to disable Microsoft AutoUpdate?
A: It comes with a trade-off. You gain control and eliminate interruptions but lose automatic security patches and bug fixes. The safe compromise is to set updates to “Manually” (Method 1) and check for updates monthly via Help > Check for Updates within a Microsoft app.

Q: Will disabling MAU break my Microsoft Office apps?
A: No, the core applications will function normally. However, you may see a warning message about “Updates Required” when launching them if a mandatory security update is pending. You can typically dismiss this and continue working.

Q: What’s the difference between uninstalling MAU and just disabling it?
A: Disabling (Method 1) is reversible and non-destructive. Uninstalling removes the files completely. The firewall method (3) blocks communication but leaves the app intact. Choose based on your desired level of permanence.

Q: I only want to stop OneDrive from auto-updating, but keep Office updating. Is that possible?
A: The MAU framework manages updates for all Microsoft apps collectively. There’s no built-in, app-specific toggle within MAU. Your options are to manage updates manually for all or use a firewall rule that might be too broad.

Q: After following these steps, MAU still seems to run. What did I miss?
A: The most common oversight is not quitting all Microsoft applications before making changes. OneDrive, in particular, often runs in the background. Use Activity Monitor to ensure every related process (OneDrive, Microsoft AU Daemon) is terminated before proceeding.

Best Practices & Final Recommendations

Based on extensive experience managing enterprise and personal Mac environments, here is a tiered recommendation:

For Most Users: Use Method 1 (Manual Setting). It’s official, safe, and gives you control. Schedule a monthly calendar reminder to open an Office app and check for updates manually via Help > Check for Updates.
For Power Users & Professionals: Combine Method 1 with Method 3 (Firewall). This provides a double layer of prevention and stops all background communication, ideal for those on metered connections or in high-security focus environments.
For the Minimalist: If you rarely use Microsoft apps and hate unnecessary background processes, Method 2 (Complete Uninstall) is justified. You can reinstall later if needed.

The Unique Perspective: The core issue isn’t just Microsoft AutoUpdate; it’s the philosophical clash between macOS’s curated, user-permission-centric update model and Microsoft’s Windows-derived, persistent-service model. Understanding this helps explain why MAU feels so “un-Mac-like.” The most elegant solution respects the macOS paradigm: keep the software, but dictate the terms of engagement.

By following this guide, you’re not just stopping a pesky updater; you’re asserting precise control over your Mac’s ecosystem. You decide when and how your software changes, leading to a more predictable and stable computing experience.

Disclaimer: This guide is for educational purposes. Disabling automatic updates may expose your software to unpatched security vulnerabilities. It is your responsibility to manually update your software regularly to maintain security. Always ensure you have legitimate licenses for your Microsoft software.