Couldn’t start Office installation

Couldn’t start Office installation

Story Highlights

Error Code 0-1018 (0)

How to fix Error "Couldn't start Office installation"

Applies on Microsoft Office 365, Office 2021, Office 2019, Office 2016 and Office 2013

When you try to install Microsoft Office you may get an error message “Couldn’t start Office installation. We’re sorry, but we could not start your Office installation. Another installation is in progress, please try again later.

Couldn’t start Office installation” usually occurs if another installation, updation, or uninstallation was running before you attempted to install Office. You cannot run multiple instances of the same program to install or uninstall it. The installer will conflict with each other and prompt errors on the screen.

Error Message

Couldn’t start Office installation. We’re sorry, but we could not start your Office installation. Another installation is in progress, please try again later.

Causes of Couldn't start Office installation

“Couldn’t start Office installation” occurs when another instance of the same program is conflicting with the office installation. We might see this error prompt with error code 0-1018(0), 17003-2031 or 2035-0 during office installation process.

  • Multiple instances of the same program confliction
  • Incomplete, partial, failed repair, installation, change, or removal of a previous Office suite can prevent from installing a newer version.
  • Previous version of an Office suite is blocking the installation

Resolution of "Couldn't start Office installation"

We have made a list of resolutions that can fix the Error “Couldn’t start Office installation”. Performing the below-mentioned solutions and workarounds helps us to resolve the error “Couldn’t start Office installation”.

  • Close other Office Processes
  • Restart your computer and reinstall Office
  • Office Installation in Clean Boot
  • Install Office using the Offline Installer
  • Remove Other Office Versions
Solution
1

Close other Office Processes

You might have another installation running in the background, and conflicting with the new installation you are initiating. This might prompt for the “Couldn’t start Office installation. Another installation is in progress” error during office installation.

To fix this error, you need to stop the other installation processes using Task Manager.

  • Press Ctrl + Shift + Esc to start Task Manager.
  • Locate the Office installation process running in the background
    • Office installation processes are usually IntergratedOffice.exe and Microsoft Click-to-Run.
  • Right-click on the process and click on End Task from the menu
End Process Microsoft Office

Now try to initiate the office installation and it should work like charm.

Solution
2

Restart your computer and reinstall Office

The most common scenario is that the other office background processes are conflicting with the Office installation process and causing the Error “Couldn’t start Office installation”. Try restarting your device and reinstalling Office once the device is up and running.

Solution
3

Office Suite Installation in Clean Boot

Office installation can also be interrupted if third-party services are conflicting with the office program which can result in Error “Couldn’t start Office installation”.
Consider performing Clean Boot to disable all startup programs and services on the computer. Also, consider disabling unwanted software’s which can conflict with the office suite. Try installing the office after starting the computer with minimal set of services, drivers, and startup programs to avoid other programs interfering with office installation.

Perform Clean Boot in Windows10, 8.1 and 8

  • Press Windows Key + R to open Run command, type msconfig.msc and click Ok. Or Open Control Panel –>Administrative Tools–>System Configuration
msconfig Windows 11 & 10
  • On the Services tab of the System Configuration dialog box, tap or click to select the Hide all Microsoft services check box, and then tap or click Disable all.
  • On the Startup tab of the System Configuration dialog box, tap or click Open Task Manager
  • On the Startup tab in Task Manager, for each startup item, select the item and then click Disable
  • Close Task Manager.
    On the Startup tab of the System Configuration dialog box, tap or click OK, and then restart the computer.
System Configuration

Consider installing office after restarting the device.

Perform Clean Boot in Windows 7

  • Press Windows Key + R to open Run command, type msconfig.msc and click Ok. Or Open Control Panel –>Administrative Tools–>System Configuration
  • On the General tab, click the Selective startup option, and then click to clear the Load startup items check box
  • On the Services tab, click to select the Hide all Microsoft services check box, and then click Disable all.
  • Close Task Manager.
    On the Startup tab of the System Configuration dialog box, tap or click OK, and then restart the computer.
System Configuration Windows 7

Consider installing office after restarting the device.

Solution
4

Install Office using the Office Offline Installer

The Office offline installer may help in bypassing the potential firewall, proxy, antivirus, or Internet connection issues that might occur during an Office installation as we will be downloading the Offline installer ISO file to install office to avoid error “Couldn’t start Office installation”.

Steps to Download Office Offline Installer File

Please visit www.office.com/myaccount to download the office offline installer. We need to make sure that we are using the same account which is associated with our copy of office.

If we are not signed in with the Microsoft account associated with our copy of Office, we need to sign in now. If we are signed in with a different account, we need to sign out from that account and sign in again with the correct Microsoft account.

Once we logged in, we will find My Office Account Homepage with your subscription account information and the place we normally go to download the standard online Office installer.

  • From the My Office Account Home page, click the Install button.
Microsoft Office My Account Page
  • From the Install page, click “Language, 32/64-bit, and other install options.
Language and Other Install Options
  • Language and Install Options: This is the section from where we can manually select to download Office in Language other than Operating System Configured language. We can also opt for the 64-bit version of office instead of normal 32 bit.
    • Offline Installer: From the Office Installer section, select desired language and click on Download offline installer.
Download Offline Installer
Solution
5

Remove Other Office Versions

Office installation can also be interrupted due to erroneous residual files during the installation or un-installation of previous versions of Microsoft office which can cause error “Couldn’t start Office installation”.
Consider removing Microsoft Office versions installed in the device and try to reinstall the Office program. You can reinstall the other office versions once the office installation is finished.

Uninstall Office from the Control Panel

  • Press Windows Key + R to open Run command, type appwiz.cpl and click Ok. Or Open Control Panel –>Programs
  • Right-click on the Microsoft Office product, and choose Uninstall.
  • Follow the instructions on the screen.
Uninstall Microsoft Office

Uninstall Office using Microsoft Easy Fix Tool

Try running Microsoft Easy Fix tool to completely remove Office from the device.

Reference: Microsoft Article for uninstalling Office

Consider installing office after restarting the device.

We’ve compiled all the resolutions and workarounds verified by the experts to fix the mentioned error. These resolutions and workarounds helped the users to fix the error on their system. Try implementing these resolutions on your computer and if the preceding suggestions fail to solve the error, please feel free to Ask an Expert.

Frequently Asked Questions

  1. What is Error Couldn't start Office installation?

    "Couldn't start Office installation" occurs when another instance of the same program is conflicting with the office installation.
  2. How do I download Office offline installer?

    Visit www.office.com/myaccount and log in to your account. From the Office home page select Install Office. Run the downloaded office installation file and folow the instructions.
  3. What is Office Error Code 0-1018(0)?

    Office error code 0-1018(0) occurs when another instance of the same program is conflicting with the office installation.

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