What is Microsoft Automatic Update on Mac and How to Delete it?

Have you noticed the Microsoft AutoUpdate app while using your Mac? Are you getting occasional pop-up notifications from Microsoft AutoUpdate and wondering what it is? Or maybe you randomly detect the program in Activity Monitor using your Mac’s CPU. This leaves you wondering what Microsoft Update is and how to get it off your Mac. But should you? This post will explain everything about Microsoft Auto Update on Mac.

Microsoft AutoUpdate is a harmless application that comes with one purpose: to update all Microsoft-made applications on your Mac. Under certain circumstances, it can become a nuisance to ask for quick removal from your Mac. In the following sections, you’ll discover what Microsoft Automatic Update does and how to disable or delete it from your Mac.

What is Microsoft Automatic Update?

If you have any apps developed by Microsoft (think: OneNote, Microsoft Word, Microsoft Edge, etc.) on your Mac, then you definitely have Microsoft Auto Update (MAU) on your device somewhere.

Microsoft AutoUpdate has one task: to automatically update Microsoft apps on your Mac and make sure they stay up to date. Have you ever launched a Microsoft app and found that it already has a newly released feature? Microsoft AutoUpdate software did this.

It also installs security and bug fixes. So, when this random glitch you encountered while using a Microsoft app suddenly disappeared after a while, Microsoft AutoUpdate probably installed an update (in the background) that fixed the problem.

Why and When Should You Delete Microsoft Automatic Update?

While Microsoft AutoUpdate is an application in itself, you won’t find it in your Mac’s Launchpad or Applications folder. So it can be really annoying if you keep getting random ‘Required Data Notification’ notifications from a mysterious Microsoft AutoUpdate app.

Sometimes the app runs in the background and consumes an insignificant amount of CPU resources when you check your Activity Monitor.

It’s getting worse. The Microsoft AutoUpdate program continues to work even if you no longer have any Microsoft applications installed on your Mac. That’s a bit silly, isn’t it?

Therefore, if you do not have any Microsoft applications and it has become a threat to the performance of your Mac, you should delete Microsoft AutoUpdate.

How to Delete Microsoft Automatic Update

To completely remove Microsoft AutoUpdate from your Mac, you need to delete both apps and other associated files. Here’s how to do it.

Note: Deleting the program means you will have to manually update all Microsoft applications installed on your computer.

Stage 1: Launch Finder and type microsoft auto update in the search bar.

You should see the Microsoft AutoUpdate program in the search result.

Step 2: Right-click the Microsoft AutoUpdate program and click ‘Move to Pane’.

You will be prompted to enter your Mac’s password or use Touch ID to verify the deletion.

Stage 3: Select other files and folders associated with Microsoft Auto Update and delete them as well.

Another way to do this is to launch the ‘Go to Folder’ tool from the desktop using the Command + Shift + G shortcut. Enter the following path in the box provided and click Go.

/Library/Application Support/Microsoft/

This will direct you to the Microsoft Application Support folder on your Mac. Located in this folder is the Microsoft AutoUpdate program folder.

Open the MAU folder and move Microsoft AutoUpdate to Bin.

To completely remove Microsoft AutoUpdate from your computer, we recommend deleting its associated files (see Step 3 above).

Changing the Configuration of Microsoft AutoUpdate

If you don’t want to delete Microsoft AutoUpdate, there are other ways to end high CPU usage and random pop-up notifications. You can achieve this by disabling the app or revoking the notification permission.

Disable Microsoft Auto Update

In this sense, disabling Microsoft Auto-Update means preventing the app from performing its primary assignment (i.e. automatically updating other Microsoft apps).

Stage 1: Launch Finder and type microsoft auto update in the search bar.

Double-click Microsoft Auto Update in the search results to launch the application.

Step 2: Uncheck the ‘Automatically keep Microsoft apps up to date’ box.

Stage 3: Tap Close to continue.

And that’s it. Microsoft AutoUpdate will no longer use your Mac’s CPU in the background.

Revoke Microsoft AutoUpdate’s Notification Access

Naturally, you should no longer receive random popups from Microsoft AutoUpdate when disabled. Still, you should turn off the app’s permission to send notifications to your Mac.

Stage 1: Launch System Preferences and click Notifications.

Step 2: Click ‘Microsoft Update Assistant’ in the left sidebar and disable ‘Allow Notifications from Microsoft Update Assistant’.

To Delete or Not to Delete

With this new information, we hope you now have a better understanding of what Microsoft Automatic Update does on your Mac and when it should be deleted or temporarily disabled. To summarize, we recommend that you delete the program if you do not have any Microsoft applications installed on your computer. Otherwise, disabling it is a much better option. You eliminate excessive CPU consumption of the application and likewise block notifications that pop up incessantly. More questions about Microsoft Automatic Update? Leave a comment below and we’ll answer them.

Next: Ever wanted to use your Mac without a keyboard or trackpad? Read the article linked below to learn about Voice Control and how you can use it for a better browsing and interaction experience on your Mac.