How to reactivate Excel and Word - reactivation and payment did not solve

Question

How to reactivate Excel and Word - reactivation and payment did not solve

Theresa Hunter 0

Ive had a subscription for years and my Excel and Word quit working so I reactivated with the "activate" button and paid the fee for the subscription of approx $105 with tax. I still cannot get the them to work. Word does not allow me to do anything not even open a new blank page. Excel allows me to input my current spread sheet but I no longer have the "save" button and cannot start a new spreadsheet.

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2 answers

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Answer 1

DaveM121 939.6K Independent Advisor

This problem may be caused by a recent update, at the top left of your Mac desktop, click the Apple icon and select 'About this Mac', what version of MacOS is installed on your computer?

Theresa Hunter 0 Reputation points

2026-10-14T14:43:44.87+00:00

Sequoia 15.7.9
DaveM121 939.6K Reputation points Independent Advisor

2026-10-14T14:54:51.27+00:00

Thank you for that information, there is no problem indicated with your MacOS version.

The working method that people indicate resolves this problem after that update is to completely uninstall Office using the steps on this link, then download and reinstall Office from your Microsoft account online (https://account.microsoft.com/services/).

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/lifecycle/officeinstall/uninstall-office-for-mac

Answer 2

For Microsoft 365 for Mac, this usually means the subscription is active but the Mac still has stale or damaged Office license data.

First, confirm the subscription is active:
- Close all Office apps.
- Go to the Services & subscriptions page.
- Sign in with the same Microsoft account used to renew.
- Verify the Microsoft 365 subscription is listed as active.
If the subscription is active, remove the old Office license information on the Mac:
- Quit all Office apps.
- Run the License Removal Tool.
- Open Keychain Access.
- Delete these items if present:
  - Microsoft Office Identities Cache 3
  - Microsoft Office Identities Settings 3
  - Microsoft Office Ticket Cache
- Restart the Mac.
- Open Word or Excel and activate again.
If the apps say they are activated but still behave as read-only or keep prompting for activation:
- Quit the app.
- Reopen Word or Excel.
- If the problem continues, open Keychain Access, search for Office, delete the data license file, then run the license removal tool again.
If Office still will not reactivate, reinstall from the Services & subscriptions page:
- Sign in to the Microsoft account that owns the license.
- Install the product again from that page.

If the issue started after renewing, payment alone does not restore editing until the Mac picks up the renewed license correctly. The license reset steps above are the supported path for Mac when Word and Excel remain unlicensed or read-only after renewal.