Split from this thread about general compatibility of Office with Catalina
It is not accurate to say that Office 2016 is compatible with Catalina. Apple blogs report the contrary. My experience is to the contrary. I installed Catalina thinking it was "ready to roll." I have a late 2012 iMac. Apple says Catalina is compatible. I also have fully updated version of Office 2016 on the mac, version 16.16.15. Following the installation of Catalina, the Office apps each detour into a "verifying Word, etc.," when launch is attempted. The verification process takes a long time -- several minutes per application. Sometimes the apps do not launch after 'verification,' and a "Force Quit" must be performed. Other times, they open only after at least two rounds of 'verification.' Other users report the same problem. If you can avoid it, DO NOT install Catalina until Apple reports that "the coast is clear." It is not worth the aggravation. In my case, the workaround is to turn on file sharing in the mac, access documents with a Microsoft Surface laptop, and use those documents in the MICROSOFT version of Office. "PDF" files are another matter. Adobe Acrobat does not work at all in Catalina, so I've opted for PDF Studio Pro, which seems very easy to use, as powerful as Acrobat for what I do and costs less than a third of Acrobat, without a subscription.
