Run a full Online Repair from Windows Settings because the repair offered in Word’s error dialog may be only the limited Quick Repair.
Close Word and all other Office applications.
Windows 11
- Right-click Start and select Installed apps.
- Find Microsoft 365 or Microsoft Office.
- Select the three dots → Modify.
- For a Click-to-Run installation, select Online Repair → Repair.
- If Online Repair is not displayed and the window says Change your installation, it is an MSI-based installation; select Repair → Continue instead.
- Approve the administrator prompt if Windows displays one.
- When repair finishes, restart Windows and open Word.
The operation repairs the entire Office suite, not only Word. Online Repair is more comprehensive than Quick Repair because it replaces more than just detected corrupted files.^1^
Windows 10
- Right-click Start → Apps and Features.
- Select Microsoft 365 or Microsoft Office → Modify.
- Select Online Repair → Repair, then complete the prompts.^2^
2. If Word still cannot find the license
Check these items in order:
- Open Services & subscriptions at
https://account.microsoft.com/services/.
- Sign in with the Microsoft account used to buy or redeem Office.
- Confirm that the expected Microsoft 365 subscription or one-time-purchase Office product appears.
- For Microsoft 365, confirm the subscription is active.
- If the product is missing, try any other personal, work, or school account that may have been used to purchase or receive the license.
- In Word, select File → Account, sign out of the incorrect account if necessary, and sign in with the account that owns the license.
Office cannot activate when the signed-in account has no associated product or when a Microsoft 365 subscription has expired.^3^
3. Remove conflicting Office installations
Multiple Office installations can interfere with activation:
- Open Control Panel → Programs → Programs and Features.
- Search for Office.
- If more than one Office version is installed, uninstall only the version you no longer use.
- Restart Windows.
- Open Word and sign in again.
Do not uninstall the only Office installation at this stage. If activation still fails and this is Microsoft 365 on Windows 10 or later, run the Microsoft 365 activation troubleshooter from the official activation support page.^3^
If the license appears correctly under Services & subscriptions but Word remains unlicensed after Online Repair and the activation troubleshooter, contact Microsoft Support with the exact error message and any error code shown. For an employer- or school-provided license, contact that organization’s Microsoft 365 administrator to verify that the license is assigned to your account.
References
- Windows 11
- Windows 10
- Unlicensed Product and activation errors in Office