If you use Office on the Mac, you should mark July 13, 2026 on your calendar. On that day, Microsoft switches Office 2019 for Mac into a read-only mode. Also affected are un-updated installations of Office 2021 for Mac. Word, Excel and PowerPoint can still be opened and printed afterwards, but no longer edited or saved. The cause is not a hacker attack and not a security hole, but an expiring certificate. Sounds absurd? In a way, it is.
Until Office for Mac switches to read-only mode
Deadline: July 13, 2026. After that, documents on the Mac can only be opened and printed — no more editing.
What exactly happens on July 13, 2026
Office is not deleted from the Mac and doesn't crash either. It switches into a reduced mode that is best described as "read-only":
- Opening, viewing, printing and exporting existing files: continues to work.
- Editing, creating new files and saving: blocked.
- Affected are Office 2019 for Mac as well as Office 2021 for Mac, provided it hasn't been updated to the latest version.
For a workstation where documents are created every day, this is practically the end. A read-only copy is no help to anyone who still wants to write an invoice or adjust a spreadsheet.
Why a certificate cripples your software
macOS only lets programs run without restrictions if they carry a valid code signature. Put simply, the system checks at every launch whether the app comes from a recognized developer and hasn't been altered along the way. These signatures are tied to certificates, and certificates have an expiry date.
Microsoft signed Office for Mac with a certificate that expires on July 13, 2026. If it isn't renewed for the old version, the signature is considered invalid and macOS switches the application into the reduced mode. Technically, this is understandable. Apple requires all developers to keep their programs up to date and correctly signed.
The strange part: Microsoft could simply have renewed it
Renewing a certificate is an administrative procedure. It costs Microsoft practically nothing and requires no major development work. Microsoft could easily have kept Office for Mac alive beyond 2026 this way. That it doesn't happen is a deliberate decision, not a technical necessity.
And that's exactly what's off-putting about it. A perpetual licence was always the honest alternative to a subscription: pay once, use forever, owe no one anything. When purchased software then quits working on a fixed date because a certificate was deliberately not renewed, little is left of that promise. "Perpetual licence" then effectively means "licence until we let the certificate expire." You don't have to be a Microsoft opponent to find that odd.
On Windows this doesn't happen, and there's a reason for it
On Windows, there is no such certificate-linked cut-off date. An installed version of Office 2019 for Windows technically keeps running normally after support ends. It no longer receives security updates, but Word and Excel open and save as usual.
The difference lies in the operating system. Apple places considerably stricter, time-limited requirements on the signing of programs, and that's exactly what functionality depends on the Mac. Windows doesn't block locally installed programs in the same way. That makes July 13, 2026 a purely Mac problem.
What you can do now
On the Mac, continuing to use it is not a real solution, because read-only mode takes away your daily work. The clean, lasting answer is the current version as a one-time purchase: Office 2024 for Mac (Standard) or Office 2024 Home and Business for Mac. Both are perpetual licences without a subscription. You pay once, install on the Mac and keep working, with no monthly fee and no certificate cut-off date hanging over you.
Your existing files remain usable in the process: Office 2024 opens your old Word, Excel and PowerPoint documents and you carry on working with them completely as normal.
30% reader discount on Office 2024 for Mac
With the code MACWECHSEL30 you get 30% off both Mac editions of Office 2024 (Standard and Home and Business). One-time purchase, perpetual license, no subscription. Simply enter the code in your cart.
Applies only to the Office 2024 Mac editions. No time pressure, no tricks: the code will still be there if you'd rather compare first.
Du nutzt Office 2019 unter Windows? Dort gilt das Gegenteil: Die Software läuft nach dem Support-Ende weiter. Wie du sie absicherst, liest du in unserem Windows-Guide.
