Office 2021 perpetual license rejected after Word for Mac update to 16.114.1 (“License Not Found”) – work completely blocked

Ahmad Miftakhul Khoiri 5 Reputation points
2026-10-24T11:12:43.83+00:00

I purchased Office Home & Student 2021 in 2021 together with my MacBook, and the license has been listed in my Microsoft account under “Products you’ve purchased” since 17 November 2021. This was a one-time purchase, sold to me as a perpetual license, and I have used it without any problem for years.

Since the latest update, Word for Mac version 16.114.1 (26102031) no longer lets me create or edit documents. The app shows “Activate Microsoft 365 to Create and Edit – Your Office 2021 license is not supported with this version of the application,” and when I click Activate, I only get “License Not Found” and a screen offering paid Microsoft 365 plans. The About screen shows “License: Not Activated,” even though my account clearly holds a valid Office 2021 license. I have signed in with the account that owns the purchase, so this does not appear to be an account mix-up.

I am very disappointed. I did nothing except keep my software updated, and an update delivered by Microsoft itself has left me unable to use a product I paid for. Being pushed toward a monthly subscription for something I already own is frustrating, and it makes the “perpetual license” feel meaningless. As someone who relies on Word every day for my work, I am now unable to edit documents, and this is seriously disrupting my productivity.

I have seen other users reporting the same problem on the same version since 22 October 2026, so this does not seem to be an isolated case. I would like to ask for the following:

  1. Official confirmation from Microsoft on whether this is a bug in version 16.114.1 or an intentional change.
  2. A fix, or a clear and supported way to restore editing for Office 2021 perpetual licenses on Mac.
  3. Official download links to the last working build, in case a rollback is the recommended workaround.

Has anyone found a solution that works reliably? Any guidance from Microsoft staff would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you.

Microsoft 365 and Office | Microsoft 365 Defender | For home | MacOS
0 comments

1 answer

Sort by: Most helpful
Most helpful Newest Oldest
  1. DaveM121 (2) 17,800 Reputation points Volunteer Moderator
    2026-10-24T11:29:50.82+00:00

    This error is being reported with the Office apps on a Mac at the moment, follow these steps, step 3 is important.

    1

    Use the steps provided on this link to remove the Office licence from your Mac:

    https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-365-activation-licensing/how-to-remove-office-license-files-on-a-mac

    2

    Uninstall the Office apps using the steps provided on this link:

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

    3

    Then download and install the October 6th version of Office for Mac from this link.

    https://res.public.onecdn.static.microsoft/mro1cdnstorage/C1297A47-86C4-4C1F-97FA-950631F94777/MacAutoupdate/Microsoft_365_and_Office_16.113.26100421_Installer.pkg

    Was this answer helpful?

    4 people found this answer helpful.

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.