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I'm running windows 10. A year back I installed Kutools. Now I'm trying to uninstall through Control Panel. It showing the below error, and I'm not able to uninstall it.

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When I tried to open the Regedit. It is showing that "It cannot be opened and Access denied"

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I tried multiple options from here. But no luck.

I'm able to disable Kutools from Excel but unable to remove it in add-ins.

How can I uninstall it from my PC?

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3 Answers 3

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The Registry path in the error is invalid: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE32\Software\Licenses\ExtendOffice

  • Did you download the software directly from Extend Office? If so, and the uninstaller still errors out after removing the key [below], contact their tech support

If unable to delete HKLM\Software\Licenses\ExtendOffice, check it's permissions; if still unable to remove it after giving your user Full Control:

  1. WinKey+R → powershell → Ctrl+Shift+OK
  2. Reg Delete HKLM\Software\Licenses\ExtendOffice
  3. Re-try uninstall

If that still doesn't allow key removal:

  1. Boot to WinRE: Shutdown /r /o /t 1
    (Troubleshooting → Advanced → Command Prompt)
  2. Determine OS partition letter: DiskPart → Lis Vol → Exit
  3. Load the OS SOFTWARE hive, delete ExtendOffice, and unload it: 
    :: # C: is usually not the OS partition in WinRE/WinPE, update accordingly
     Reg Load HKLM\OS "C:\Windows\System32\config\SOFTWARE"

:: # Remove the key:
     Reg Delete HKLM\OS\Software\Licenses\ExtendOffice

:: # Unload the OS `SOFTWARE` hive:
     Reg Unload HKLM\OS
  4. Close terminal and choose to Boot to Windows 10
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  • I've run into the same problem, tried all those suggestions, and even in WinRE when trying to load/delete that key I get "unable to open due to another process already having that open" error of sorts... Any other suggestions?
    – Crazy Serb
    Sep 15, 2021 at 12:41
  • their support didn't help - I had to resort to using this software to open up Reg Editor as system user and then remove that registry key that way: sourceforge.net/projects/runassystem
    – Crazy Serb
    Oct 14, 2021 at 17:34
  • @CrazySerb I'm baffled why you simply didn't use WinRE, which is in the answer for a reason =]
    – JW0914
    Oct 15, 2021 at 0:04
  • why are you baffled? I tried that already and couldn't get it to work at all.
    – Crazy Serb
    Oct 15, 2021 at 4:21
  • @CrazySerb It's literally impossible for the deletion of the Registry key to not have worked in WinRE, so it's likely WinRE either wasn't booted to or the OS' SOFTWARE hive wasn't loaded while in WinRE, as it's not possible for Kutools to run in WinRE (programs must be built specifically to run in WinPE - WinRE is WinPE with two required WinPE OCs), nor is it possible for Kutools to modify WinRE's Registry hives. Additionally, the OS' hives aren't loaded into WinPE, so it's literally impossible for an error message to occur that the OS' hives are in use by a process while booted to WinRE.
    – JW0914
    Oct 15, 2021 at 19:14
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I had the exact same issue and after spending hours trying every single suggestions I could find out there, here's how I got it sorted out - just go download RunAsSystem.exe software and open up your Registry Editor via that (to run it as a SYSTEM user with elevated privileges) and then try removing that key.

RunAsSystem

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  • While running RegEdit as SYSTEM will allow the deletion of any Registry key, it's not the safest way to do so since it allows deleting any registry key without warning. Instead, doing so in WinRE would be a much safer way to resolve the issue. (PsExec would be be the recommended program to run a program as SYSTEM)
    – JW0914
    Oct 15, 2021 at 0:17
  • Yeah, it might not be the "safest" way, but it's the most efficient way out of all the suggestions mentioned here, including your booting in WinRE and going through 8 different steps (without any luck in my case to top it off), when mine is a 2 step process and can easily be done within Windows itself without any reboots, command lines, etc. Much easier and faster, and since we are talking about removing just one registry key in here and calling it a day, I don't see how it's "not safe", since I hope nobody is that silly to just start deleting registry keys willy nilly all over the place...
    – Crazy Serb
    Oct 15, 2021 at 4:24
  • It's unsafe because all it takes is accidentally hitting the wrong key or selecting the wrong item in a context menu while navigating to the key. There's no right or wrong answer as both get to the same result, however this answer is inherently unsafe when running RegEdit as SYSTEM; if a system critical registry key is deleted accidentally, it won't be known until much later and there is no system backup of the Registry hives. Should something like that occur, a repair install of Windows would need to be performed, so this answer is a high risk solution to save a couple of minutes at best.
    – JW0914
    Oct 15, 2021 at 19:21
  • @JW0914 sure, but by your logic booting into Windows is a high risk / unsafe activity as well, since you can easily delete things just going about your day in Windows too. I'm sorry that you feel like that about a quick and effective solution to the problem that doesn't require jumping through a dozen hoops or knowing any advanced Windows RE / PowerShell commands to get around and such. Not to mention that your solution doesn't even get the job done, while this one does, in under a minute. At the end of the day, that's all that matters to lot of people - fixing the problem at hand, quickly.
    – Crazy Serb
    Oct 15, 2021 at 23:08
  • You appear to be unfamiliar with what running a program as SYSTEM does, just as you appear unfamiliar with what WinRE is - as a normal user or a user apart of the Administrators group, you cannot delete or modify a substantial amount of Registry keys without going through at least two steps, however as the SYSTEM user, those safeguards are no longer in place. It's simply unwise to run RegEdit as System to save ~120s by not booting to WinRE; there are far better options available that don't carry such a high risk of inadvertently corrupting the OS and this answer is simply bad advice.
    – JW0914
    Oct 17, 2021 at 1:10
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Please check if you have a related Add-In installed in Excel.

  1. Open Excel.
  2. Click on File > Options > Add-Ins. Under the Manage drop-down button select Excel Add-ins and click on Go. Check and disable or remove any Add-ins associated with KuTools.
  3. Also, under Manage check under COM Add-ins option and see if you find any KuTools Add-ins to disable or remove.

Then close Excel and try to uninstall Kutools.

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  • Tried that but no luck...
    – Pluviophile
    Mar 11, 2021 at 10:02

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