How to fix Office 2021 on Mac

Question

How to fix Office 2021 on Mac

Lewis Evans 25

I bought a perpetual licence for Office 2021 in 2024. It has worked perfectly up till a couple of days ago and now I am blocked. It says 'Activate Microsoft 365 to Create and Edit: Your Office 2021 license is not supported with this version of the application'. I have tried everything to get it back and have gone round the MS 'support' system numerous times. It all goes round in circles. My Office 2021 is confirmed in my account and I have downloaded and installed the latest version. I still get the same message. I do not want 365. I just use word for writing and it is fine. I don't want updates. How do I get it working again so I can work?

Lewis Evans 25 Reputation points

2026-10-25T11:04:48.8133333+00:00

I did not buy this from the Apple App store, but from another supplier. Does the fix still apply? Also, if I delete Office in order to reinstall, do I lose all my data and my Outlook emails?
Deleted

This comment has been deleted due to a violation of our Code of Conduct. The comment was manually reported or identified through automated detection before action was taken. Please refer to our Code of Conduct for more information.

Answer accepted by question author and recommended by moderator

DaveM121 (2) 18,075 Volunteer Moderator

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

Lewis Evans 25 Reputation points

2026-10-25T11:11:24.0266667+00:00

Do I lose data, doing this?
DaveM121 (2) 18,075 Reputation points Volunteer Moderator

2026-10-25T11:22:49.4966667+00:00

You do not loose your files performing this process, this just basically installs a slightly older version of the Office apps.
Lewis Evans 25 Reputation points

2026-10-25T11:24:37.52+00:00

Dave, many thanks for this. Really appreciated. Starting the process now.
DaveM121 (2) 18,075 Reputation points Volunteer Moderator

2026-10-25T11:33:34.3866667+00:00

Glad to help!
Lewis Evans 25 Reputation points

2026-10-25T11:58:33.63+00:00

And it worked, beautifully! Thanks again.
DaveM121 (2) 18,075 Reputation points Volunteer Moderator

2026-10-25T12:49:47.34+00:00

That is great news, glad to help!
Kusuma 0 Reputation points

2026-10-27T01:03:37.6033333+00:00

Thanks Dave, it's worked perfectly!
Dnyanesh Raut 5 Reputation points

2026-10-28T06:05:51.28+00:00

please download and use following version

Microsoft_365_and_Office_16.113.26100421_BusinessPro_Installer.pkg

This worked for me

1 additional answer

Your answer

Lewis Evans 25 Reputation points

2026-10-25T11:04:48.8133333+00:00

I did not buy this from the Apple App store, but from another supplier. Does the fix still apply? Also, if I delete Office in order to reinstall, do I lose all my data and my Outlook emails?
Deleted

This comment has been deleted due to a violation of our Code of Conduct. The comment was manually reported or identified through automated detection before action was taken. Please refer to our Code of Conduct for more information.
Lewis Evans 25 Reputation points

2026-10-25T11:11:24.0266667+00:00

Do I lose data, doing this?
DaveM121 (2) 18,075 Reputation points Volunteer Moderator

2026-10-25T11:22:49.4966667+00:00

You do not loose your files performing this process, this just basically installs a slightly older version of the Office apps.
Lewis Evans 25 Reputation points

2026-10-25T11:24:37.52+00:00

Dave, many thanks for this. Really appreciated. Starting the process now.
DaveM121 (2) 18,075 Reputation points Volunteer Moderator

2026-10-25T11:33:34.3866667+00:00

Glad to help!
Lewis Evans 25 Reputation points

2026-10-25T11:58:33.63+00:00

And it worked, beautifully! Thanks again.
DaveM121 (2) 18,075 Reputation points Volunteer Moderator

2026-10-25T12:49:47.34+00:00

That is great news, glad to help!
Kusuma 0 Reputation points

2026-10-27T01:03:37.6033333+00:00

Thanks Dave, it's worked perfectly!
Dnyanesh Raut 5 Reputation points

2026-10-28T06:05:51.28+00:00

please download and use following version

Microsoft_365_and_Office_16.113.26100421_BusinessPro_Installer.pkg

This worked for me

Answer 1

That message usually means the Mac is running the Mac App Store build of Office, which does not support a one-time Office 2021 license. Mac App Store Office apps require a Microsoft 365 subscription for create/edit features. A perpetual Office 2021 license must be used with Office apps downloaded directly from Microsoft.

Do this:

Close all Office apps
- Quit Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Outlook.
Remove the current apps
- Open Finder > Applications.
- Find Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Outlook.
- Control-click each app and choose Move to Trash.
Reinstall Office from Microsoft, not the Mac App Store
- Since the license already appears in the Microsoft account, install Office from the Microsoft download/install path for Office on Mac.
- If needed, use the direct Microsoft installer package for Mac:
  - Office 2021 for Mac Installer
Open an Office app and activate
- After installation finishes, open Word.
- Sign in with the same Microsoft account that shows the Office 2021 purchase.
- The app should activate against the perpetual license.
If it still does not activate, remove older Mac license files
- Older Office license data on Mac can interfere with activation, even after reinstalling.
- Remove the old Office license files on the Mac, then open Word again and sign in to reactivate.
If the apps recently became read-only after an update
- Check the macOS version first.
- For current Office activation/licensing issues on Mac, Microsoft says to be on macOS 12 or later and then update Office.
- If Office was installed from microsoft.com, open Finder > Applications > Microsoft AutoUpdate and install updates.

Important points for this case:

Office 2021 is a one-time license and does not require Microsoft 365.
Installing “the latest version” is not enough if the installed apps are the App Store version.
On Mac, Office 2021 may also fail to activate if older license files are still present.
Office 2021 is still installable from the Microsoft account purchase history on supported devices.

If the current install came from the App Store, the fix is to remove those apps and reinstall the Microsoft-downloaded Office build. That is the key step for the exact error shown.