Processes in Microsoft 365 for setting up Office apps, redeeming product keys, and activating licenses.
There is an ongoing problem with Office 2021 on an Apple Mac device at the moment.
Download this installer from the Microsoft Servers, then log into the Office apps with your Microsoft account to activate Office, if you previously activated your Office licence, you cannot use your product key again, it is a digital licence associated to your Microsoft account
Then, because of the current problem with Office 2021, in one of the Office apps, Click Help - Check for Updates.
That will open Microsoft AutoUpdate, disable 'Automatically keep Microsoft apps up to date' and apply that setting.