My Word for Mac has stopped updating and locked my word documents to read only. What can I do?

Since updating your Mac and clicking Activate didn’t fix the issue, try signing out of Word and signing back in with the Microsoft account linked to your Office license.

Also, check if your Microsoft 365 subscription is still active. If Word still opens your documents as read-only, try opening Word and checking the activation status under Account.

You can find more help here: https://support.microsoft.com/office

Hi MEB,

What you describe usually means Word on your Mac thinks your licence is not active. When Office for Mac cannot verify a licence, it switches documents to read only and stops updating. I would work through these in order.

1. Check that your licence is active. Sign in to your Microsoft account and confirm your Microsoft 365 subscription is active, or that your one-time purchase of Office is still linked to the account. Make sure it is the same email address you sign in with inside Word.
2. Sign out and back in inside Word. Open Word, sign out of your Microsoft account, close Word completely, open it again, and sign back in with the account that holds the licence. If you see an Activate option, click it and follow the prompts.
3. Update Office on your Mac. With Word open, go to Help, then Check for Updates, and install any updates it finds. Office on Mac updates through Microsoft AutoUpdate, and an old build can fail activation.

If Word still shows read only after these steps, reply with what happens when you click Activate and whether your account page shows the licence as active. That will tell me which of the steps is failing.