Microsoft Word
Microsoft Word is an app for writing, editing, formatting and sharing documents. It’s made by Microsoft, based in the United States.
Criminals have used its name in fake downloads or scams, so get it only from microsoft.com.
What it is
People use Word for letters, schoolwork, reports and other documents. It supports pictures, comments and shared editing. The Mac App Store edition requires a qualifying Microsoft 365 subscription.
Word can read and change documents you open. Optional features use your microphone for dictation or your photo library for inserting pictures. Dictation sends speech to Microsoft. Online features can analyse document content, and Word sends diagnostic data. Home users can adjust these features in Word’s privacy settings.
Microsoft distributes Word through its website and the Mac App Store and publishes security updates. Use a supported edition: Office 2021 stopped receiving security updates on 13 October 2026, and Office 2019 for Mac stopped in October 2023.
Who makes it
Microsoft is a technology company founded in 1975 and based in Redmond, Washington, that makes software, devices and online services. Its legal name is Microsoft Corporation. Its website is microsoft.com.
Microsoft makes other software with flaws that attackers have used. Its page in Companies lists them.
Is it the real one?
Every Mac app carries a signature from the developer who made it. Apple checks who the developer is before handing out the certificate, and macOS refuses to open an app whose signature has been tampered with.
HARD hasn’t yet recorded the signature on a real copy of Microsoft Word. Its Mac app shows who signed the copy you have.
Its bundle ID, the name macOS knows it by, is com.microsoft.Word. Download it only from microsoft.com or the Mac App Store, not from an ad or a link someone sends you.
Fakes. In February 2026, Bitdefender reported malicious Google ads impersonating Microsoft Office and other Mac software. The ads led to Evernote pages that instructed people to run a Terminal command which installed MacSync malware to steal files and account details.
What it connects to
In normal use, Microsoft Word talks to these places on the internet. A firewall that asks before apps connect, like the one in HARD’s Mac app, will show them.
| Address | Why |
|---|---|
login.live.com | Personal Microsoft account sign-in. |
login.microsoftonline.com | Work or school account sign-in. |
ols.officeapps.live.com | Checks the Office licence. |
officeclient.microsoft.com | Finds Office service settings. |
templateservice.office.com | Downloads document templates. |
ocws.officeapps.live.com | Locates online document storage. |
res.public.onecdn.static.microsoft | Checks for and downloads updates. |
watson.microsoft.com | Sends crash reports. |
What it can see
macOS asks you before an app can use these. You can change them any time in System Settings → Privacy & Security.
| Permission | What it’s for |
|---|---|
| Microphone | Turns speech into document text when you use Dictate. |
| Photos | Lets you browse your photo library to insert pictures into documents. |
| Files and Folders | Opens and saves documents in protected folders and on external or network drives. |
Security record
Problems with Microsoft Word or Microsoft in the last three years, newest first. Keeping the app up to date covers the ones that were fixed.
| When | What happened | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Microsoft fixed a Word memory flaw, CVE-2026-70220, that could let an attacker run code, in Office for Mac version 16.114. | ↗ | |
| Cisco Talos reported that malicious software could reuse Word’s existing permissions through CVE-2024-41165; Word remained vulnerable when the report was published. | ↗ | |
| Microsoft reported that Midnight Blizzard used stolen corporate emails to access source code and internal systems; it strengthened security controls while its investigation continued. | ↗ |
References
- Microsoft Word microsoft.com
- Microsoft Word on the Mac App Store apps.apple.com
- Microsoft 2026 Form 10-K sec.gov
- Deploy Office for Mac from the Mac App Store learn.microsoft.com
- Update Office for Mac automatically support.microsoft.com
- Release notes for Office for Mac learn.microsoft.com
- Network requests in Office for Mac learn.microsoft.com
- Use preferences to manage privacy controls for Office for Mac learn.microsoft.com
- Dictate your documents in Word support.microsoft.com
- Update Microsoft 365 or Office on your macOS or iOS device support.microsoft.com
- Insert pictures support.microsoft.com
- How to allow access to Photos in Word for Mac learn.microsoft.com
- Some Word documents ask for access and will not open on macOS learn.microsoft.com
- Microsoft Word for macOS library injection vulnerability talosintelligence.com
- Microsoft-assigned CVE-2026-70220 record raw.githubusercontent.com
- How Microsoft apps for macOS could have their permissions stolen blog.talosintelligence.com
- Update on Microsoft actions following the Midnight Blizzard attack microsoft.com
- Hijacked Google Ads push fake Office downloads to Mac users bitdefender.com