person who handles Office 2021 perpetual-license activation

Tom DiPasquale 0 Reputation points
2026-10-23T18:55:18.47+00:00

own Office Home & Business 2021 for Mac. It is listed in my Microsoft account under Services & subscriptions, but Word says “No License Found.” Reinstalled Office using the installer from my account and ran Microsoft's Office License Removal Tool. The problem persists. Please help restore activation for my existing one-time purchase. I do not want to purchase Microsoft 365.

Microsoft 365 and Office | Install, redeem, activate | Other | MacOS
0 comments

3 answers

Sort by: Oldest
Most helpful Newest Oldest

  1. AI answer

    2026-10-23T18:55:34.9933333+00:00

    For an existing Office Home & Business 2021 for Mac one-time purchase that is already shown under Services & subscriptions, the supported recovery path is:

    1. Make sure the Mac is using the correct Office build If Office was ever installed from the Mac App Store, that build does not use the licensing helper tool and can cause activation issues for perpetual licenses. Remove the current Office apps from Finder > Applications by moving Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Outlook to Trash.
    2. Reinstall Office directly from Microsoft Install the Microsoft-delivered Office for Mac package again, not the Mac App Store version. After installation completes, open an Office app.
    3. Remove saved license state again, then reactivate Run the official license removal tool:
      • Download the tool.
      • Open the .pkg from Downloads.
      • If macOS shows an unidentified developer warning, use Control + click > Open.
      • Select Continue, then Install.
      • Enter the Mac local admin password if prompted.
      • When finished, open an Office app and sign in with the same Microsoft account that owns the Office Home & Business 2021 for Mac license.
      Important: this removes all Office license data from the Mac, so the correct account credentials must be ready before doing it.
    4. If prompted to choose a license, choose the one-time purchase If the account has both Microsoft 365 and a perpetual license associated with it, Office can prompt for a license choice during activation. Select Office Home & Business 2021 for Mac.
    5. Restart the Mac immediately after successful activation A documented Microsoft Q&A resolution for this exact behavior was:
      • run the License Removal Tool
      • launch Word and activate, selecting Office Home and Business 2021 Mac
      • confirm About Word shows the Office 2021 license
      • immediately quit Word and reboot the Mac
      After reboot, the Office apps continued using the Office 2021 license.
    6. If activation still fails with helper-related behavior Office for Mac perpetual licenses rely on the licensing helper tool. That helper is included in the Microsoft installer package and is not installed or used by the Mac App Store version. Updating Office through Microsoft AutoUpdate can also update the helper tool automatically.

    If Word still shows No License Found after reinstalling from Microsoft, running the license removal tool, signing in with the licensed account, selecting the 2021 license if offered, and restarting the Mac, the next supported check is to verify the installation is the Microsoft installer build and not the Mac App Store build.

    AI-generated content may be incorrect. Read our transparency notes for more information.

    Was this answer helpful?

  2. Tom DiPasquale 0 Reputation points
    2026-10-23T19:04:05.2333333+00:00

    I really don't know how to do all these steps. is there someone who can walk me thru this?? Your update caused this issue and I am about to call the attorney generals office. this is ridiculous

    Was this answer helpful?

    0 comments
  3. EmilyS_726 31,430 Reputation points Volunteer Moderator
    2026-10-23T19:50:32.9166667+00:00

    Please uninstall your Office apps.

    Then install this slightly older version 16.114: https://res.public.onecdn.static.microsoft/mro1cdnstorage/C1297A47-86C4-4C1F-97FA-950631F94777/MacAutoupdate/Microsoft_365_and_Office_16.114.26101123_BusinessPro_Installer.pkg?atp=ets

    Or 16.113 version: https://res.public.onecdn.static.microsoft/mro1cdnstorage/C1297A47-86C4-4C1F-97FA-950631F94777/MacAutoupdate/Microsoft_365_and_Office_16.113.26100421_Installer.pkg?atp=ets

    After that, open any Office app, such as Word or Excel. From the top menu, select Help > Check for Updates. When Microsoft AutoUpdate opens, uncheck Automatically keep Microsoft apps up to date, then confirm by clicking Turn Off.

    That should work.

    Was this answer helpful?

    0 comments

Your answer

Answers can be marked as 'Accepted' by the question author and 'Recommended' by moderators, which helps users know the answer solved the author's problem.