Access to Microsoft desktop apps with Family Sharing not working

Question

Access to Microsoft desktop apps with Family Sharing not working

Tim Lashley 20

After sharing access to the family account with a new family member, they are still unable to access any Microsoft Desktop application without being asked to renew their membership. They can access the file (e.g. MS Word) but cannot modify. There is an error at the top of the page that indicates their subscription has been canceled, and most features have been disabled, and they must re-activate. They can access the MS applications online but not desktop applications. I have confirmed the person is part of my Family and received positive email confirmation that they had joined my Microsoft 365 Premium Subscription and family group.

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Answer accepted by question author

John Jefferson Doyon 88,935 Independent Advisor

Hi, @Tim Lashley

Being added to the Microsoft Family group by itself does not always confirm that the Microsoft 365 benefits are active on that person's account.

Please have the new family member sign in here using the exact Microsoft account that accepted the invitation:

https://account.microsoft.com/services

Check whether Microsoft 365 Premium shows there as being shared with them. Microsoft confirms that shared members should have access to the desktop Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Outlook apps once the subscription benefits are active.

If it does show there, open Word on the affected computer and go to "File" > "Account". Sign out of any Microsoft accounts shown there, close all Office apps, then reopen Word and sign in with that same Microsoft account.

If the issue still persists, to help narrow down the issue:

Does Microsoft 365 Premium appear under their "Services & subscriptions" page?
Under Word > "File" > "Account", what email address is currently signed in?
Are they using Windows or a Mac?
Please provide a screenshot of the subscription/cancelled message in Word, but hide any personal information.

Click "Add comment" to let me know.

Thanks!

Tim Lashley 20 Reputation points

2026-10-01T19:14:16.4366667+00:00

Signing out via one of the desktop apps (in this case MS Word) and back in did the trick. I still can't get the banner message to reactivate my wife's 365 Personal subscription to stop displaying despite the Premium subscription being reflected in her MS account, but can live w/ that. Thank you!
John Jefferson Doyon 88,935 Reputation points Independent Advisor

2026-10-01T19:24:48.0633333+00:00

Glad signing out and back in fixed the desktop apps.

The remaining banner is most likely still referring to the old Microsoft 365 Personal subscription rather than the shared Premium subscription now active on your wife's account.

Since Word is activated and she can edit normally, it should not affect her current Microsoft 365 access.

Just let me know if you're using Windows or macOS, and I can give you the steps to clear that old subscription banner.

Thanks!
Tim Lashley 20 Reputation points

2026-10-01T20:33:16.42+00:00

Thanks John! Using Windows.
John Jefferson Doyon 88,935 Reputation points Independent Advisor

2026-10-01T21:18:05.6+00:00
Thank you for letting me know.

If subcription is active, please try these steps if you haven’t already:

Make sure to signed in with the same Microsoft account that the subscription is linked to.

Then, open any Office app (like Word or Excel), go to File > Account, and click "Update License" to refresh the license status.

If issue still persists:

Before installing, it’s a good idea to uninstall all existing versions of Office to avoid conflicts.

Here’s how:

Open the Control Panel > Programs > Programs and Features.

Look for any version of Microsoft Office or Office apps, right-click, then choose Uninstall. Please uninstall all Office apps.

Once that’s done, restart your computer just to be safe.

Then, to reinstall Microsoft Office:

Go to https://account.microsoft.com/services

Sign in using the same Microsoft account linked to your license.

Find the Microsoft 365 Subscription and click the "Install".

That will download the installer for the Office apps, just run it and follow the steps.

If anything’s unclear or the "Install" option still doesn’t show, feel free to let me know. I’ll be happy to walk you through it!

Thanks!
Tim Lashley 20 Reputation points

2026-10-04T19:52:24.5666667+00:00

Thanks John! The subscription isn't active as the banner message indicates that I should re-activate. I could not find an option to "update license" in MS-Word. I didn't want try the uninstall, reinstall option at this point. I haven't been able to get back to my wife's laptop since Thurs. I will check again later today when she's not using it.

1 additional answer

Your answer

Tim Lashley 20 Reputation points

2026-10-01T19:14:16.4366667+00:00

Signing out via one of the desktop apps (in this case MS Word) and back in did the trick. I still can't get the banner message to reactivate my wife's 365 Personal subscription to stop displaying despite the Premium subscription being reflected in her MS account, but can live w/ that. Thank you!
John Jefferson Doyon 88,935 Reputation points Independent Advisor

2026-10-01T19:24:48.0633333+00:00

Glad signing out and back in fixed the desktop apps.

The remaining banner is most likely still referring to the old Microsoft 365 Personal subscription rather than the shared Premium subscription now active on your wife's account.

Since Word is activated and she can edit normally, it should not affect her current Microsoft 365 access.

Just let me know if you're using Windows or macOS, and I can give you the steps to clear that old subscription banner.

Thanks!
Tim Lashley 20 Reputation points

2026-10-01T20:33:16.42+00:00

Thanks John! Using Windows.
John Jefferson Doyon 88,935 Reputation points Independent Advisor

2026-10-01T21:18:05.6+00:00

Thank you for letting me know.

If subcription is active, please try these steps if you haven’t already:

Make sure to signed in with the same Microsoft account that the subscription is linked to.

Then, open any Office app (like Word or Excel), go to File > Account, and click "Update License" to refresh the license status.

If issue still persists:

Before installing, it’s a good idea to uninstall all existing versions of Office to avoid conflicts.

Here’s how:

Open the Control Panel > Programs > Programs and Features.

Look for any version of Microsoft Office or Office apps, right-click, then choose Uninstall. Please uninstall all Office apps.

Once that’s done, restart your computer just to be safe.

Then, to reinstall Microsoft Office:

Go to https://account.microsoft.com/services

Sign in using the same Microsoft account linked to your license.

Find the Microsoft 365 Subscription and click the "Install".

That will download the installer for the Office apps, just run it and follow the steps.

If anything’s unclear or the "Install" option still doesn’t show, feel free to let me know. I’ll be happy to walk you through it!

Thanks!
Tim Lashley 20 Reputation points

2026-10-04T19:52:24.5666667+00:00

Thanks John! The subscription isn't active as the banner message indicates that I should re-activate. I could not find an option to "update license" in MS-Word. I didn't want try the uninstall, reinstall option at this point. I haven't been able to get back to my wife's laptop since Thurs. I will check again later today when she's not using it.

Answer 1

This usually means the desktop apps are still activated with the old or wrong Microsoft account, even though the family sharing invitation was accepted successfully. Joining a Microsoft 365 Family or Premium plan does not automatically switch the license used by the installed desktop apps.

Try this on the affected PC:

Confirm the shared benefit is active for that person.
- Sign in with that family member’s Microsoft account at account.microsoft.com/services.
- Verify Microsoft 365 Family or Premium appears as shared with that account.
Sign out of Office in the desktop apps.
- Open Word or Excel.
- Go to File > Account.
- Sign out of every account shown under the app account or connected services.
- Close all Office apps.
Sign back in with the account that accepted the family invitation.
- Reopen Word or Excel.
- Go to File > Account > Sign in.
- Use the exact Microsoft account that shows the shared subscription on the Services page.
- The expected result is that the app no longer shows the subscription canceled message.
If OneDrive on that PC is also tied to the old account, reconnect it.
- Select the OneDrive cloud icon.
- Open Settings > Account.
- Choose Unlink this PC.
- Sign in again with the same Microsoft account that has the shared Family benefit.
If the person was already in another family group before joining, that can block sharing.
- Sharing only works if the invitee joins the subscription owner’s family group.
- If they were already in another family group, they must leave it first, then join the subscription owner’s group.
If the apps still show expired or unlicensed, reconnect the device to the internet and sign in again.
- Microsoft 365 desktop apps need to connect to the internet regularly.
- If they do not connect at least every 39 days, the apps can enter reduced functionality mode and show unlicensed product errors.

What to expect after it is fixed:

The desktop apps remain installed.
The user should be able to create and edit documents again.
If sharing is removed or the subscription expires, files remain intact, but desktop apps return to view/print-only mode and the extra 1 TB OneDrive storage benefit is lost.

If the account is correctly shared and signed in but the issue continues, use Contact Microsoft Support from the support flow for account-level help.

References: