What you need to know
- The first build of Office 2021 and macOS 10.14 Mojave are compatible.
- Starting in December 2021, you'll need at least macOS 10.15 Catalina to receive Office 2021 updates, including security patches.
- You can still use Office 2021 if you don't have macOS 10.15 or newer, but you won't receive the aforementioned updates.
Though this isn't massive news for the majority of Office users, a good chunk of folks who've been enjoying Office 2021 on macOS may be in for an unwelcome surprise come December 2021. Starting in the final month of the year, Office 2021 customers on macOS 10.14 Mojave will be cut off from future updates, including those of the security variety. If you don't want to be cut off, you'll need to be on macOS 10.15 Catalina or a newer iteration of macOS.
Office 2021 won't randomly stop working for macOS 10.14 users, so rest easy there. There just won't be updates. Here's what Microsoft had to say about the upcoming shift: "While the first build of Office 2021 for Mac installs and works on macOS 10.14 Mojave, in December 2021, macOS 10.15 Catalina or later will be needed to get updates for Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, and OneNote. If you continue with an older version of macOS, your Office apps will still work, but you will no longer receive updates, including security updates."
Microsoft also included a note about Monterey. "You can use the latest builds of Office along with Monterey for testing purposes, but official support won't begin until Monterey is made generally available."
And as Microsoft sometimes does at the end of its blog posts, it humbly requests your feedback regarding how you feel about Office on Mac. So, if you have the time, know that Redmond is waiting to hear from you.
