Microsoft will push thousands of paid Office 2019 and older Office 2021 installations on Mac computers into a restricted state on July 13, 2026. Users who bought the software outright will suddenly find themselves limited to opening, viewing and printing documents. Editing, saving changes or creating new files becomes impossible inside the desktop apps. The change stems from the expiration of a digital certificate Microsoft uses to validate licenses. Newer versions of the apps carry a renewed certificate. Older builds do not. And Office 2019 for Mac cannot receive the necessary update. The result is what Microsoft calls reduced functionality mode. Microsoft Support states plainly that affected apps “can open and print files, but cannot edit, save, or create new files.” Short. Direct. And a shock for many long-time customers. When Microsoft released Office 2019 it positioned the product as a one-time purchase. Buy it. Own it. Use it indefinitely. The company repeated similar language around support.…