Here’s the kicker that most repack distributors don’t tell you. Office 2016 has multiple build branches (Current, Semi-Annual, Extended). A LIP built for Office 2016 version 16.0.4266.1001 will not work correctly on version 16.0.8431.2110. The repack might install, but you’ll see:

A good repack includes version checking. A bad repack ignores it and leaves you with a Frankensteined Office installation that requires a full uninstall/reinstall to fix.

If you change your Windows 10/11 display language to your target language, and you have matching Office MUI files (from a legitimate source), Office will automatically follow the system language. This is the safest method.

IT professionals can use the ODT to specify Language ID in the configuration.xml file. For example, to force a Spanish interface on an English build:

<Add OfficeClientEdition="64" Channel="PerpetualVL2016">
  <Product ID="ProPlusRetail">
    <Language ID="es-es" />
    <Language ID="en-us" />
  </Product>
</Add>

This downloads the official bits from Microsoft—no repack required.

Let’s assume you want to add Catalan to your English Office 2016 ProPlus without using a repack.

Step 1: Verify your Office build. Run winver and check File > Account > About Excel. You need build 16.0.4266.1001 or later.

Step 2: Download the official Office Deployment Tool (ODT) from Microsoft.

Step 3: Create a folder C:\OfficeLIP and extract ODT there.

Step 4: Create lip.xml:

<Configuration>
  <Add OfficeClientEdition="64" Channel="PerpetualVL2016">
    <Product ID="ProPlus2019Volume" PIDKEY="XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX">
      <Language ID="en-us" />
      <Language ID="ca-es" />
    </Product>
  </Add>
</Configuration>

Step 5: Run as Admin: setup.exe /configure lip.xml

Step 6: Wait 5-10 minutes. Office will download only the necessary CABs for Catalan (approx 85MB). No repack required.

Result: Clean, signed, updatable, and uninstallable.

Official LIPs uninstall cleanly via Control Panel. Repacks glue themselves into the registry. Removing them often requires wiping Office entirely and using Microsoft’s SetupProd_OffScrub.exe.

In the software world, a "repack" is a modified version of an original installer. For the Office 2016 LIP, a repack typically means: