Table of contents

You don’t have to be a Microsoft Office fan to agree that it’s one of the most adopted software suites for Windows. It calls almost every Windows PC home not just because it’s a Microsoft product but also because it’s seen improvements over the years that put it years ahead of the competition.

As much as we admit that Microsoft Office is a great suite of utility programs, it’s not perfect. Users often struggle with glitches and errors that make it almost impossible to use. That said, if you know what to do, you can get rid of any error in no time.

One of the problems users tend to have a hard time dealing with is the error code 30088-26. The error shows up when you try to install Office updates, indicating a frustrating end to the process.

Fixing the error involves different approaches. Many users resolved the issue by applying the fixes on this page. Follow them one after the other, and you should finish the update process.

What Is the Error 30088-26 on Windows 10?

The full error message usually reads as follows:

“Something went wrong. Sorry, we ran into a problem. Error code 30088-26.”

The error message pop-up shows up in the middle of a Microsoft Office update or repair. It can be caused by internet connectivity, disk space, Windows update, or Office licensing issues.

How to Fix the Microsoft Office Error Code 30088-26

The solutions in this article resolve problems that trigger the error. Carefully apply each fix one after the other until you can successfully carry out the update.

Repair Microsoft Office

Some Office installation files might be corrupt or missing. To find and replace them, you have to use the repair function. You can either go through the Settings app or the Control Panel to repair your Office installation.

We’ll show you how to use both methods.

Going through Windows Settings:

  1. Press the Windows logo and I keyboard buttons at the same time to launch Settings.
  2. Click on the Apps icon after you see the homepage of Windows Settings.
  3. Go to the search box under Apps & Features and type “Office.”
  4. Click on Office once it appears.
  5. Click the Modify button under Microsoft Office.
  6. Click the Yes option once you see the User Account Control dialog.
  7. You’ll now see the “How would you like to repair your Office programs?” dialog window with two repair options: Quick Repair and Online Repair.

The Quick Repair option will check for common glitches in your Office installation and fix them offline on your computer. It only carries out minor repairs, such as repairing corrupt files.

Go for the Online Repair option if Quick Repair does not resolve the problem. Make sure your internet connection is stable and reliable before you run Online Repair. Note that this process will take longer than the Quick Repair scan.

  1. If you’re trying to update an MSI-based Microsoft Office installation, you should see the “Change your installation” dialog instead. Click on Repair if that’s the case.
  2. Restart your system after the repair process is over and try updating the program again.

Going through the Control Panel:

This is just another route to the same “How would you like to repair your Office programs?” dialog window:

  1. Press Win + S or click on the magnifying glass icon next to the Start menu.
  2. After the search window comes up, type “control panel.”
  3. Select Control Panel in the results.
  4. After the Control Panel window opens, click on Uninstall a Program under Programs.
  5. The Programs and Features window will now appear.
  6. Go to the Programs list, search for Microsoft Office, click on it, and go to the top of the list to click on Change.
  7. Click the Yes option in the User Account Control dialog window.
  8. You should now see the “How would you like to repair your Office programs?” dialog.

Uninstall the conflicting Office version

If you’re running an MSI-based Office suite, such as Microsoft Office 2013, you’ll encounter issues if you try to update it using the Click-to-run installer.

Normally, you should get an error notifying you that your current Office edition is not compatible with the update you want to install. However, there are instances where the 30088-26 error shows up for the same problem.

If you want to switch to the Click-to-run edition, you have to completely uninstall your Windows Installer (MSI) edition.

Follow these steps to remove the program:

  1. Press the Windows logo and I keyboard buttons at the same time to launch Settings.
  2. Click on the Apps icon after you see the homepage of Windows Settings.
  3. Go to the search box under Apps & Features and type “Office.”
  4. Click on Office once it appears.
  5. Click on the Uninstall button under Microsoft Office.
  6. Click the Yes option in the User Account Control dialog box.
  7. Follow the prompts that show up in the setup wizard to remove the program.
  8. Restart your computer after uninstalling the application.

Make sure the Click-to-run service is running

The Click-to-run service is at the heart of Microsoft Office updates. It facilitates background updates while you use your Office applications.

The service has to be active even when you don’t have any Office program running. Head to the Services application to make sure the service is turned on and set to Automatic.

Follow these steps:

  1. Press Win + S or click the magnifying glass icon next to the Start menu.
  2. After the search window comes up, type “services.”
  3. Click on Services in the search results.
  4. After the Services application comes up, go to the Microsoft Office Click-to-run service and double-click it.
  5. When you see the Properties dialog window, go to the Startup Type drop-down menu and select Automatic.
  6. Click on the Start button to start the service.
  7. Select the OK button.

Update Windows

Outdated system components can trigger the error. The Office update installer (Click-to-run) might require updated system components to install Office updates. If you haven’t updated your computer in a while, that explains the error.

Follow these steps to update your system:

  1. Press the Windows logo and I keyboard buttons at the same time to launch Settings.
  2. Click on the Update & Security icon after you see the homepage of Windows Settings.
  3. Once the Windows Update interface opens, click on the Check for Updates button if the client doesn’t start the process automatically.
  4. If you have pending optional updates, download them.
  5. Click on the Restart Now button to allow the client to restart your PC and install the downloaded updates.
  6. Once the installation process is complete, your PC should boot up normally.
  7. You can now try updating Office.

Prevent your antivirus program from blocking Office

Your antivirus program could be interfering with the update process because it somehow suspects your Office installation to be a security threat. Turning off the antivirus program and running the update process will help you find out if it’s the problem.

However, if you want to prevent such interference in the future without leaving your computer vulnerable, you’ll have to add Microsoft Office as an exception or exclusion in your antivirus program.

The following steps will show you how to do that in Windows Security:

  1. Press the Windows logo and I keyboard buttons at the same time to launch Settings.
  2. Click on the Update & Security icon after you see the homepage of Windows Settings.
  3. Click on Windows Security in the left pane of the Update & Security page.
  4. Go to the Windows Security tab and select Virus & Threat Protection under Protection Areas.
  5. Go to the Virus & Threat Protection Settings section once the Virus & Threat Protection window opens and click on Manage Settings.
  6. Scroll down to Exclusions in the Virus & Threat Protection window and click on “Add or remove exclusions.”
  7. Click on “Add an exclusion” after the Exclusions interface appears.
  8. Click on Folder in the menu.
  9. After the Select Folder window shows up, go to Microsoft Office’s installation folder and select it.
  10. Click on the Select Folder button.
  11. You can now update Office.

Use the Install and Uninstall Troubleshooter

Microsoft’s Install and Uninstall Troubleshooter helps you get rid of problems that prevent you from installing or uninstalling a program. It repairs system components that obstruct the installation process and removes problematic registry keys responsible for the update data.

Head to Microsoft’s website to download the tool and run it.

Get rid of temporary files

Temporary files cause all sorts of problems when they grow too large or become corrupt. This could be the cause of the update error.

Clear your temporary files and check if the update process will run without interruptions.

Follow these steps to remove the temporary files using Disk Cleanup:

  1. Right-click the Start button and click on File Explorer or press the Win + E keyboard combo.
  2. After the File Explorer window opens, go to the left side and click on the arrow beside This PC.
  3. Go to the hard disk that contains your operating system and right-click it.
  4. Select Properties once the context menu appears.
  5. After the Properties dialog opens, click on Disk Cleanup.
  6. The tool will now scan your system and display a list of temporary files.
  7. Check the categories you want to remove and click on OK.
  8. To clear temporary system files such as Windows log files and Windows Update installation files, summon the Disk Cleanup window again and click the “Clean up system files” button after it displays normal temporary files.
  9. The tool will scan your computer again and show you a list of temporary system file categories.
  10. Now, check the boxes for the categories you want to get rid of and click on the OK button.

Here’s how to clear temporary files using Windows Settings:

  1. Press the Windows logo and I keyboard buttons at the same time to launch Settings.
  1. Click on the System icon after you see the homepage of Windows Settings.
  2. Select Storage in the left pane of the System page.
  3. Next, navigate to the middle of the window (the Storage tab).
  4. Go to your main hard drive and click on Temporary Files under it.

To clear temporary files on another drive or partition, go to “More storage settings” and click on “View storage usage on other drives.” Click on the drive on the next screen, and then select Temporary Files.

  1. The operating system will now display your temporary files and separate them into categories.
  2. Select the categories you want to get rid of and click on Remove Now.
  3. Now, restart your device and run the update process.

If you don’t want to go through the stress of using the Disk Cleanup utility or the Settings application to get rid of temporary files, you’re better off using Auslogics BoostSpeed. The program checks for temporary files that might be harmful to your system and automatically removes them. It also has a built-in registry cleaner that gets rid of corrupt registry keys that could obstruct the update process.

Perform a clean boot

The clean boot technique is used to find startup programs and services that disrupt certain processes. Startup items are designed to launch after Windows starts. While some startup apps stop running after executing certain instructions, others continue to run in the background.

If a startup program or service is responsible for the Microsoft Office update error, the guide below will show you how to find it.

Here is how to disable startup programs:

  1. Press the Windows logo and I keyboard buttons at the same time to launch Settings.
  2. Click on the Apps icon after you see the homepage of Windows Settings.
  3. Go to the left side of the Apps page and click on Startup.
  4. Once the Startup tab shows up in the middle of the screen, toggle off the switch for every program on the Startup Apps list.
  5. Restart your system.
  6. Now, update Office.
  7. If the error still appears, move on to the next guide.
  8. If the update process runs as it should, then one of the startup programs you disabled is the culprit.
  9. Enable the first program on the list and restart your system to check if the error shows up again. If the first program doesn’t trigger the error, move on to the second one, and then check the other programs until you find the responsible program.

Here is how to disable startup services:

  1. Use the Windows logo + R keyboard combo to launch the Run dialog box or right-click the Start button and click on Run.
  2. After Run shows up, type “msconfig” and click on OK.
  3. After the System Configuration window appears, head to the Services tab.
  4. Tick the box next to “Hide all Microsoft services.”
  5. Click on the Disable All button.
  6. Click on OK and restart your computer.
  7. After your system starts, check if Office will update without issues.
  8. If the error shows up, enable the services one after the other and restart your computer after enabling each service to check for the error.

Reinstall Office

If none of the methods above has resolved the problem, uninstall your current Office installation and install the latest version from scratch. This time, try installing Office from the Microsoft Store if you don’t have that version.

Follow these steps to remove the program:

  1. Right-click on the Windows logo in the taskbar and click on Settings in the menu or tap Win + I to open Settings.
  2. After the first screen of Windows Settings appears, click on Apps.
  3. Go to the search box under Apps & Features and type “Microsoft Office.”
  4. After the program shows up, click on it and select Uninstall.
  5. Click on Uninstall again in the confirmation pop-up.
  6. Select Yes once you see the User Account Control dialog.
  7. Follow the prompts in the wizard to complete the process.

You can also use Microsoft’s Office Uninstaller to completely remove the program. Head to Microsoft’s website to download the uninstall tool. Once your browser downloads its .exe file (SetupProd_OffScrub.exe), double-click it. Click on Run if a warning dialog appears, and then click Yes in the User Account Control box. After the setup opens, select the Office version you want to remove and click on Next. After that, follow the prompts on the subsequent screens and restart your system after the process is complete. The tool will carry out the final steps after your computer boots up.

If you have the Microsoft Store Office version, follow these steps to uninstall it via Windows PowerShell:

  1. Right-click on the Start button or press the Windows logo and I keyboard buttons together.
  2. After the Power User menu opens, click on Windows PowerShell (Admin).
  3. Click Yes after the User Account Control dialog opens.
  4. Once Windows PowerShell shows up, type or copy and paste the following command and click on OK:

Get-AppxPackage -name “Microsoft.Office.Desktop” | Remove-AppxPackage

  1. After the command completes, enter the following line into Windows PowerShell and click on OK to confirm that you successfully uninstalled Office:

Get-AppxPackage -name “Microsoft.Office.Desktop”

  1. If a Command Prompt window shows up without any information, then the operation was successful.

After removing Office, head to the Microsoft Store, search for Microsoft Office, and then download the program. You can also go to Microsoft’s website to download the Office setup file and complete the installation online.

Conclusion

That’s how to fix the error 30088-26 when updating Office on Windows 10. You can always share your experience or let us know what you think about these solutions in the comments section below.