If that still doesn't resolve the crash, then the ultimate solution is to completely remove and reinstall Office.If the former is greater than the later, that means the updates have already been installed. Match this number with the update version number found on the “Check for updates” window which is accessible through the Help Menu.

To ensure the update is not already installed, open any of the Office for Mac applications like word and excel for macos 10.14, click the about app page and note the update version number displayed underneath the application title.

If it's still not possible to map out a way around the situation after doing that, the external hard disc drive should be disconnected, and then the updates reinstalled. There are a number of ways to resolve these issues. These crashes can occur at any point in time while app is running, including upon launching or while certain operations are being executed.