How to Completely Uninstall Microsoft Office with the Support and Recovery Assistant
Fully remove Microsoft Office - including leftover files, registry entries, and licenses that a normal uninstall misses - using Microsoft's official Support and Recovery Assistant (SaRA), for a single PC or a whole fleet.
- Difficulty
- Intermediate
- Time required
- 15-20 minutes
- Steps
- 7
- Platform
- Microsoft Office
- Last tested
- July 4, 2026
Table of contents
Quick Answer
Go to the stepsFirst try Control Panel/Settings. If Office won't fully uninstall, use Microsoft's Support and Recovery Assistant: on a single PC, run the 'Uninstall Office' troubleshooter from the Get Help app; for scripted or fleet cleanup, download SaRA Enterprise and run the OfficeScrubScenario in an elevated prompt. Exit code 00 means success. Restart afterward.
- Back up Office customizations and close all Office apps
- Try Control Panel / Settings uninstall first
- Single PC: run the Get Help 'Uninstall Office' troubleshooter
- Fleet/scripted: run SaRAcmd -S OfficeScrubScenario -AcceptEula -OfficeVersion All (elevated)
- Restart and verify Office is gone
Get Help app > Uninstall Office troubleshooter -or- SaRAcmd.exe -S OfficeScrubScenario -AcceptEula -OfficeVersion AllSaRAcmd.exe -S OfficeScrubScenario -AcceptEula -OfficeVersion AllExpected result: Office is fully removed (files, registry entries, licenses); SaRAcmd reports '00: Successfully completed this scenario' and prompts for a restart.
Key takeaways
- You will completely remove Microsoft Office - including the leftover files, registry entries, and license tokens a normal uninstall leaves behind - using Microsoft's official Support and Recovery Assistant (SaRA), either through the Get Help troubleshooter on a single PC or the scriptable SaRAcmd command on many.
- Uninstalling Office from Control Panel often leaves remnants that block reinstalls, cause activation loops, or interfere with a different Office version. SaRA performs the deep clean Microsoft designed for exactly these cases.
- The reliable, current way to fully remove Office is Microsoft's SaRA - Get Help for one PC, SaRAcmd for fleets - not the deprecated GUI or any third-party 'scrubber' script.
Introduction
When Control Panel can't fully remove Office - a corrupted install, a stuck activation, or a version that won't uninstall - Microsoft's answer is the Support and Recovery Assistant (SaRA) and its Office removal ("scrub") scenario. A quick clarification, because the naming is confusing: people often call this the "Office Scrubber," and the official page serves a file named SetupProd_OffScrub.exe, but the tool itself is SaRA. There is also a separate, third-party "Office-Scrubber" batch script on GitHub that is not a Microsoft tool - this tutorial uses only Microsoft's official downloads, and you should too. One more important change: Microsoft retired the standalone SaRA GUI in March 2026, so the current supported paths are the Get Help uninstall troubleshooter (single PC) and the SaRAcmd command-line Enterprise version (scriptable, all versions including Office 2024). This is a system-wide removal, so treat it deliberately.
Who this is for: IT admins, MSPs, and advanced users cleaning up broken, corrupted, or leftover Office installations, or preparing a machine for a fresh or different Office deployment.
Before you start
- Access
- Local administrator rights on the device, and the ability to download from Microsoft. VBScript must be enabled, since SaRA runs OffScrubC2R.vbs under the hood.
- Required roles
- Local administrator
- Local administrator on the device
- Environment
- Windows 10 or Windows 11. VBScript feature enabled (SaRA uses OffScrubC2R.vbs). Note: the standalone SaRA GUI was retired in March 2026 - use Get Help or SaRAcmd.
- Vendor
- Microsoft
- Tested environment
- Verified against Microsoft Learn (SaRA Office uninstall) and current vendor guidance, July 2026. Tool landscape changed in early 2026 - see notes.
- Last tested
- Administrator permissions required
- Backup required
Guidance verified against Microsoft documentation, July 2026.
About 15-20 minutes including the restart.
Warning: Back up your Office customizations first
A complete removal wipes Office settings. Before you start, make a backup of custom templates (Normal.dotm), Outlook signatures, custom dictionaries, and note your Outlook data file (PST/OST) locations. Your documents are not deleted, but personalized settings will be.
Warning: This removes all selected Office products
OfficeScrubScenario with -OfficeVersion All removes every Office product on the machine for all users, including Project and Visio. Specify an exact version if you need to keep another install.
Note: Download only from Microsoft
Use only Microsoft's official pages (support.microsoft.com / Microsoft Learn). Avoid third-party 'Office Scrubber' scripts and mirror sites, even ones that wrap Microsoft's own scripts - they are unverified code running with admin rights.
1Back up customizations and close all Office apps
Protect your settings and let the tool access every Office file.
Save and close Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook and any other Office apps. Back up custom templates, Outlook signatures, and custom dictionaries, and note your PST/OST locations. Then confirm nothing is still running: open Task Manager (Ctrl+Shift+Esc) and end any lingering processes such as WINWORD.EXE, EXCEL.EXE, OUTLOOK.EXE, or the Click-to-Run service if it blocks removal.
Expected result: No Office processes remain, and your customizations are backed up.
Note
SaRA reports exit code 06 ('Office programs are running') if any Office app is still open, so this step avoids a failed run.
2Try the standard uninstall first
Rule out the simplest fix before deep-cleaning.
Settings > Apps > Installed appsOpen Settings > Apps > Installed apps (Windows 11) or Control Panel > Programs and Features (Windows 10), find your Office / Microsoft 365 entry, and choose Uninstall. If it removes cleanly and a reinstall works, you're done. Continue to the SaRA steps only if the uninstall fails, leaves remnants, or Office won't reinstall.
Expected result: Office is removed via the built-in uninstaller, or you confirm you need the deeper SaRA clean-up.
Note
Control Panel is also currently the most reliable route for fully removing Office 2024, which the Get Help troubleshooter only partially handles.
3Single PC: run the Get Help uninstall troubleshooter
Use Microsoft's supported GUI clean-up on one machine.
Open the Microsoft support page "Uninstall Office from a PC" (or the official link aka.ms/SaRA-OfficeUninstallFromPC) and start the uninstall support tool. On current Windows it launches the Get Help app's Microsoft 365 uninstall troubleshooter; on older setups it downloads SetupProd_OffScrub.exe, which installs SaRA and runs the Office scrub scenario. Accept the UAC prompt and follow the wizard to select the Office products to remove.
Expected result: The troubleshooter detects your Office installation and removes it, then prompts to restart.
Note
The standalone SaRA GUI was retired in March 2026; the SetupProd_OffScrub.exe link may still work but is deprecated. For Office 2024 or scripted removal, use the SaRAcmd method below.
4Fleet/scripted: download SaRA Enterprise (SaRAcmd)
Get the command-line tool for repeatable, all-version, remote cleanup.
On Microsoft Learn, open the page "Office uninstall with Microsoft Support and Recovery Assistant" and download the Enterprise SaRA package (a ZIP such as SaRACmd_17_01_3954_000.zip). Extract it to a folder like C:\Tools\SaRACmd. This version is intended for scripting and produces no interactive prompts.
Expected result: SaRAcmd.exe is extracted and ready to run from an elevated prompt.
Note
Download only from Microsoft Learn. The Enterprise SaRA is the current Microsoft-recommended tool for full, scripted Office removal.
5Run the Office scrub scenario
Perform the deep removal from an elevated Command Prompt.
Open Command Prompt as administrator, change to the SaRAcmd folder, and run the scrub command. Use -OfficeVersion All to remove everything, or a specific value (M365, 2024, 2021, 2019, 2016, 2013, 2010, 2007) to target one install. On machines with multiple Office versions you must pass an explicit -OfficeVersion, or the tool exits asking you to specify one.
SaRAcmd.exe -S OfficeScrubScenario -AcceptEula -OfficeVersion AllExpected result: SaRAcmd reports '00: Successfully completed this scenario' and recommends a restart. Logs are written to %localappdata%\SaRALogs.
Note
Common exit codes: 00 = success; 06 = an Office program is still running; 10 = the prompt wasn't elevated. SaRAcmd can target remote machines via PowerShell Remoting (Invoke-Command).
6Restart to finish cleanup
Let Windows complete removal of system-level components.
Restart the computer, as SaRA recommends after a successful run. Some registry and service cleanup only completes on reboot. If you plan to install a different Office version or another suite, this restart also prevents installer conflicts.
Expected result: The machine reboots and finishes removing any remaining Office components.
7Verify complete removal
Confirm no Office remnants remain.
Settings > Apps > Installed appsCheck Settings > Apps > Installed apps - no Office/Microsoft 365 entries should remain. Confirm the Start menu no longer lists Word/Excel/etc. Optionally check that folders like C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office and %LOCALAPPDATA%\Microsoft\Office are gone or empty. For a stuck activation scenario, re-running the scrub or checking licensing status confirms the license tokens were cleared.
Expected result: No Office apps, entries, or (optionally) folders remain; the system is clean for a fresh install.
Note
If remnants remain, re-run SaRAcmd with -OfficeVersion All and review the SaRALogs for what was skipped.
How to Confirm Office Is Fully Removed
Verify fix
A successful clean-up shows a few consistent signals. From SaRAcmd, the console reports '00: Successfully completed this scenario' and the %localappdata%\SaRALogs folder holds a detailed log of what was removed. In Windows, Installed apps lists no Office or Microsoft 365 entries and the Start menu no longer shows the apps. If you were fixing a stuck activation or a blocked reinstall, the true test is behavioral: a fresh Office install now activates and runs without the previous error. Remember this removes applications, registration, and license tokens - not your documents, which remain on disk (and your backed-up templates and signatures can be restored afterward).
Normal result: SaRAcmd exit code 00; no Office entries in Installed apps; a fresh install/activation now works.
Abnormal result: Exit code 06 (Office still running) or 10 (not elevated), or Office entries still present - re-run after closing all Office apps in an elevated prompt.
00
Success
Office removed; restart recommended to finish cleanup.
06
Office programs running
Close all Office apps (check Task Manager) and re-run.
10
Needs elevation
Re-open Command Prompt as administrator and re-run.
Troubleshooting
SaRAcmd returns exit code 06 (Office programs are running)
Warning
Cause: An Office application or the Click-to-Run service is still active.
Close all Office apps, end any WINWORD/EXCEL/OUTLOOK processes in Task Manager, then re-run the command. A reboot before running SaRAcmd also clears lingering processes.
SaRAcmd returns exit code 10 (needs elevation)
Warning
Cause: The Command Prompt wasn't started as administrator.
Close it, reopen Command Prompt with 'Run as administrator', navigate back to the SaRAcmd folder, and re-run.
The tool quits asking you to specify a version
Note
Cause: Multiple Office versions are installed and no -OfficeVersion was passed.
Re-run with an explicit value, e.g. -OfficeVersion All, or a specific year like -OfficeVersion 2021. Guessing isn't allowed by the tool.
Office 2024 isn't fully removed by the Get Help troubleshooter
Note
Cause: The Get Help/older SetupProd path only partially scrubs Office 2024.
Use Control Panel to uninstall Office 2024, or use the SaRAcmd Enterprise OfficeScrubScenario, which handles current versions.
SaRA fails because VBScript is disabled
Warning
Cause: SaRA runs OffScrubC2R.vbs under the hood; if the VBScript feature is turned off, removal fails.
Temporarily enable the VBScript optional feature, run the scrub, then re-disable it if your hardening policy requires.
The old SetupProd_OffScrub.exe GUI won't download or run
Note
Cause: The standalone SaRA GUI was retired in March 2026; the download may be deprecated.
Use the Get Help uninstall troubleshooter for a single PC, or the SaRAcmd Enterprise package from Microsoft Learn for scripted removal.
Frequently asked questions
Will this delete my Word and Excel documents?
No. It removes the Office applications, registry entries, and license tokens - not your files. Your documents stay on disk. Do back up custom templates, Outlook signatures, and dictionaries first, since those personalized settings are removed.
Is the 'Office Scrubber' an official Microsoft tool?
The official tool is Microsoft's Support and Recovery Assistant (SaRA); its removal scenario is nicknamed the 'scrub.' A separate third-party 'Office-Scrubber' script exists on GitHub and is not a Microsoft tool. Download only from Microsoft's official pages.
Why won't the old SetupProd_OffScrub.exe GUI open?
Microsoft retired the standalone SaRA GUI in March 2026. Use the Get Help uninstall troubleshooter on a single PC, or the SaRAcmd Enterprise command-line package for scripted removal.
How do I remove Office from many computers at once?
Use the SaRAcmd Enterprise package in a PowerShell script and deploy it via Intune, Group Policy, or PowerShell Remoting. It runs silently and logs to %localappdata%\SaRALogs. Test on one device first.
Does it remove Office 2024?
The SaRAcmd Enterprise OfficeScrubScenario and Control Panel handle Office 2024. The Get Help troubleshooter and older SetupProd path only partially remove it, so prefer SaRAcmd or Control Panel for 2024.
Do I have to restart afterward?
Yes. Some registry and service cleanup only completes on reboot, and restarting prevents conflicts if you plan to install a different Office version or suite.
Conclusion
To completely uninstall Office, try Control Panel first, then use Microsoft's official Support and Recovery Assistant: the Get Help uninstall troubleshooter on a single PC, or SaRAcmd (-S OfficeScrubScenario -AcceptEula -OfficeVersion All) for scripted, all-version cleanup. Watch for exit code 00, restart, and verify no Office entries remain. Only download from Microsoft, and remember the standalone SaRA GUI was retired in March 2026.
The reliable, current way to fully remove Office is Microsoft's SaRA - Get Help for one PC, SaRAcmd for fleets - not the deprecated GUI or any third-party 'scrubber' script.
SaRAcmd.exe -S OfficeScrubScenario -AcceptEula -OfficeVersion AllSources4
