Microsoft 365 and Office | Other
Miscellaneous topics that do not fit into specific categories.
No MAU2 to delete or use. Microsoft doesn't seem to care.
How to Stop AutoUpdate from Trying to Update Silverlight
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Paul White
10
Reputation points
Every time I run AutoUpdate it fails in trying to update Silverlight plugin. How do I stop this time-wasting effort to update a discontinued plugin?
I've tried online instructions to be sure the silverlight plugin is not installed, but AutoUpdate keeps trying.
Please, advise on how to rein in AutoUpdate or how to remove all traces of Silverlight from my Mac.
Thanks
Microsoft 365 and Office | Other
Locked Question. You can vote on whether it's helpful, but you can't add comments or replies or follow the question.
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Paul White 10 Reputation points
2025-11-26T19:16:21.47+00:00 Note: the 'AI' generated response on how to remove the Silverlight plug-in doesn't work - the plug-in has already been removed and doesn't appear in the Internet Plug-ins folder.
2 answers
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Henry Forman 0 Reputation points2026-05-05T02:01:30.95+00:00 -
Stefan Blom 339.3K Reputation points MVP Volunteer Moderator2026-05-05T07:50:39.99+00:00 Henry Forman, you can install the most recent version of AutoUpdate. It should fix the update problems. Go to https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/update-office-for-mac-automatically-bfd1e497-c24d-4754-92ab-910a4074d7c1 . If you have further questions, please start your own thread. Use the Ask a question option. (The current thread is old and it will be closed.)
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Anonymous2025-11-26T19:46:39.3266667+00:00 Hi, I get why this keeps catching your attention, it feels like AutoUpdate is stuck on something that doesn’t even exist anymore.
What’s happening is that Microsoft AutoUpdate still has Silverlight listed as an update candidate, even though the plugin is discontinued and likely removed from your system.
The updater checks for it because some leftover files or registry entries make it think Silverlight is installed.
The first thing to do is confirm there are no traces left: open Finder, go to Library > Internet Plug-Ins, and delete any Silverlight.plugin file.
Also check Library then go to Application Support then click Microsoft for folders named Silverlight or PlayReady and remove them.
After that, restart your Mac and run AutoUpdate again.
If it still tries to update, open Microsoft AutoUpdate from /Library/Application Support/Microsoft/MAU2.0, go to Preferences, and uncheck Silverlight so it’s no longer in the update list.
Quick question: do you still have any old Microsoft apps installed, like Office 2011 or older?
Those sometimes keep Silverlight in their dependency list and knowing that will help me guide you further.
Regards,
Aron
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Paul White 10 Reputation points
2025-11-26T20:08:39.2+00:00 I'd already followed the first couple of suggestions (Internet Plug-Ins; Application Support) and there was no remaining trace of Silverlight - except that AutoUpdate still reported an update error. When trying to follow the next suggestion (/Library/Application Support/Microsoft/) I found no App in this folder resembling AutoUpdate, MAU2.0, or anything else relevant to AutoUpdate. When invoking AutoUpdater from within a Microsoft App, e.g., Word, I found there is no Preferences option, and Settings does not offer any option to 'uncheck' anything.
And, no, I do not have older apps installed.
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Anonymous
2025-11-28T15:43:33.9833333+00:00 Thanks for confirming that. The issue is AutoUpdate still has Silverlight in its catalog even though it’s gone, and the embedded updater in Word doesn’t let you manage that list.
The quickest fix is to reset AutoUpdate: remove com.microsoft.autoupdate2.plist from ~/Library/Preferences, delete any MAU2.0 folder under ~/Library/Application Support/Microsoft, then restart and check for updates again.
If Silverlight still shows, download the latest Microsoft AutoUpdate from Microsoft’s site, it includes a Preferences option to turn off automatic updates.
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Paul White 10 Reputation points
2025-11-28T18:03:05.3266667+00:00 Thanks for the additional information.
I can find no MAU2.0 file or folder anywhere on my Mac, including not in ~/Library/Preferences nor in ~/Library/Applicaiton Support/Microsoft.
I think I already had the latest AutoUpdate, but went ahead and re-installed from the ReleaseHistory site at Microsoft.
Still could not get rid of the Silverlight exception.
HOWEVER - I found old Silverlight folders/files/etc in an OLD OLD backup folder on an external drive. Once those items were deleted, AutoUpdate ceased displaying the exception. I guess AutoUpdate manages to search everywhere whether the program/app/plugin/etc. is running or not. Curious.
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