Microsoft fixes Word, Skype hangs in July Office 2020 updates

Microsoft released the July 2020 non-security Microsoft Office updates with improvements and fixes for issues impacting Windows Installer (MSI) editions of Office 2016 and Office 2013 products.

The KB4484439 update for instance addresses a bug leading to Office 2016 hang or delay issues when opening Word documents featuring custom XML values with many spaces.

KB4484326 fixes another hang issue affecting Skype for Business 2016 when users are trying to open a conversation window and a bug leading to the inability to sign in to Skype for Business 2016 after the device wakes up from sleep.

Microsoft also fixed a bug causing Excel to become unresponsive (in KB4484437) after using the Ctrl+Shift+Arrow keys for scrolling when the user is sharing the Excel window through Microsoft Teams.

July 2020 Office non-security update list

Three of the Office July 2020 non-security updates apply to the entire Office 2016 and Office 2013 software suites, while three others address issues impacting Excel 2016, PowerPoint 2013, and Skype for Business 2016.

The July 2020 updates can be manually downloaded and installed from the Microsoft Download Center, via the Microsoft Update Catalog as standalone packages, or by using the Microsoft Update service for automatic installation.

These Office updates apply to Microsoft Installer (.msi)-based Office products only, and do not apply to Office subscription or Office 2016 Click-to-Run editions such as Microsoft Office 365 Home.

The full list of updates and the Office product they apply to is available in the table embedded below.

Office Product Knowledge Base article
Microsoft Office 2016 KB4484439
Microsoft Office 2016 KB4484174
Microsoft Excel 2016 KB4484437
Skype for Business 2016 KB4484326
Microsoft Office 2013 KB4484442
Microsoft PowerPoint 2013 KB4484349

Some updates may require a reboot

After applying some of these Microsoft Office updates you may also be required to restart your computer.

If your Office product starts misbehaving after the update, you can uninstall the problematic update by going through the following steps:

  1. Go to Start, enter View Installed Updates in the Search Windows box, and then press Enter.
  2. In the list of updates, locate and select the offending update, and then select Uninstall.

Depending on the Office update you need to apply, you may also have to install other updates for the issue to be completely fixed on your Windows computer (for instance, KB4484326 requires installing the KB4011669 update for Office 2016).

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