Update Office 2016 for Mac by using msupdate

• 4/25/2018
• 2 minutes to read
• Contributors
  • 
  • 

Microsoft AutoUpdate (MAU) version 3.18 and later includes the msupdate command-line tool. This can be used to start the Office for Mac update process, in addition to reporting the current AutoUpdate configuration. The tool is primarily designed for IT administrators so that they have more precise control over when updates are applied. Use the following steps to start using the tool:

1. Open the Terminal application
2. Enter cd /Library/Application\ Support/Microsoft/MAU2.0/Microsoft\ AutoUpdate.app/Contents/MacOS
3. Run ./msupdate --help

The following options are displayed:

 usage: msupdate <command> [<args> ...] <modifier> 

 Commands: 
    -h | --help           Show usage information 
    -c | --config         Display current AutoUpdate configuration 
    -l | --list           List available updates for installed Microsoft applications 
    -i | --install        Download and install available updates 

 Modifiers: 
    -a | --apps <app>     Install specific application updates 
    -v | --version <app>  Only update to a specific version 
    -w | --wait <secs>    Number of seconds to wait for action to complete before returning the current state of the install command 
    -f | --format         Format output results in the specified format 
        p | plist         Property list format

Examples of how to use msupdate

• Display the current configuration parameters for AutoUpdate: ./msupdate --config
• Display the current configuration parameters in machine-readable format: ./msupdate --config --format plist
• List all available updates: ./msupdate --list
• Download and install all available updates" ./msupdate --install
• Download and install the latest updates for Word, Excel, and PowerPoint" ./msupdate --install --apps mswd15 xcel15 ppt315
• Download and install a version-specific update for Outlook: ./msupdate --install --apps opim15 --version 16.10.18021001

Application identifiers

The following table lists the applications for Mac supported by AutoUpdate. The identifier is used when specifying the --apps parameter. When specifying multiple applications on the command-line, separate identifiers with a space.