Login help needed

Sign in with your own Microsoft account—the exact address your wife invited—rather than trying to sign in to your wife’s account.

Check and complete the invitation

1. Ask your wife to open: https://account.microsoft.com/services/office/sharing
2. She should find your name:
   • If it says Pending invite, select Resend invite.
   • If you are not listed, select Share, then send a new invitation to your preferred Microsoft account email address.
3. Open that invitation while signed in with the same Microsoft account that was invited.
4. Select Accept, then Join now. Both actions are required before the shared subscription becomes available. Invitations must be accepted within 48 hours.[^1^](https://support.microsoft.com/accounts-billing/subscriptions/[Subscription ID] "Share your Microsoft 365 subscription | Microsoft Support")

Do not create a new account if your existing Microsoft account contains your OneDrive files and Office documents; the invitation should be sent to that existing account.

If Microsoft says you are already in a family group

An account can only join the subscription owner’s family group after leaving any other family group. Leave the previous group, then have your wife resend the invitation and accept it again.[^2^](https://support.microsoft.com/accounts-billing/subscriptions/[Subscription ID] "Someone invited you to share their Microsoft 365 subscription")

Your expired subscription does not mean that you should use your wife’s credentials. Her subscription remains under her account, while the shared benefits are attached to your existing account after you accept the invitation.

Confirm that sharing reached your account

Open https://account.microsoft.com/services and sign in with your invited account. The shared Microsoft 365 subscription should appear there.

If it appears as active but Word or Excel still reports that your old subscription expired:

1. Open an Office application.
2. Go to File → Account.
3. Check that the signed-in account is the invited account.
4. Select Update License, then restart the application.

An account mismatch commonly leaves Office associated with the expired subscription even though sharing was completed.^3^

If the shared subscription does not appear after you accepted the invitation, your wife can remove your current share and send a new invitation. If that also fails, use Contact Support from the invitation-help page and choose Get Help, then Contact Support so Microsoft can examine the accounts’ subscription state.[^2^](https://support.microsoft.com/accounts-billing/subscriptions/[Subscription ID] "Someone invited you to share their Microsoft 365 subscription")

References

1. [Share your Microsoft 365 subscription | Microsoft Support](https://support.microsoft.com/accounts-billing/subscriptions/[Subscription ID])
2. [Someone invited you to share their Microsoft 365 subscription](https://support.microsoft.com/accounts-billing/subscriptions/[Subscription ID])
3. family members lost access - Microsoft Q&A