Symptoms

Consider the following scenario:

  • You have Microsoft Office 2010 or Office 2013 MSI installed.

  • The Mail Merge feature in Microsoft Word lets you send email messages to a contact list.

  • Skype for Business 2016 Basic MSI is then installed on the computer. No other Office 2016 components are installed.

In this scenario, the Mail Merge feature in Word no longer works. No error message is logged.

Cause

This issue occurs when Skype for Business 2016 Basic installation creates a registry key for Office 2016. Skype for Business 2016 Basic is released with some basic Office 2016 components, but it does not come with Mso.dll.

Workaround

To work around this issue, use one of the following methods, depending on your deployment scenario.

Scenario 1

Office 2010 MSI was installed but no earlier version of Lync (Skype for Business) was installed. Or, Office 2013 MSI was installed with either the Lync 2013 (Skype for Business) Basic client or the Lync 2013 (Skype for Business) rich client.

  • Workaround 1: Upgrade all Office applications to Office 2016 for the best user experience.

  • Workaround 2: Delete the following registry key:

    HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\TypeLib\{2DF8D04C-5BFA-101B-BDE5-00AA0044DE52}\2.8

Scenario 2

Lync 2013 Basic (Skype for Business 2015) was removed during the upgrade to Skype for Business 2016 Basic when Office 2010 is installed.

  • Workaround 1: Upgrade all Office applications to Office 2016 for the best user experience.

  • Workaround 2: Repair the Office 2010 MSI installation, and restart the computer. After the restart, delete the following registry key:

    HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\TypeLib\{2DF8D04C-5BFA-101B-BDE5-00AA0044DE52}\2.8

Notes

  • Subsequent updates to Office and Skype for Business 2016 Basic may re-create this registry key. Therefore, we recommend that you distribute this action through a Group Policy object (GPO) to make sure that the key is removed after future updates are applied.

  • If a GPO is used, it should be reconfigured to no longer delete this registry key when you deploy other Office 2016 applications.

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