Not able to use Excel and Word

Marys Access Clinic, PLLC 0 Reputation points
2026-11-02T17:25:42.0333333+00:00

Hello, i have not been able to use my Excel and Word as my account is "view only". The pop up msg says my account does not allow editing on a Mac.

How do i go about this?

Thanks

Mary

Microsoft 365 and Office | Word | Other | MacOS
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  1. AI answer

    2026-11-02T17:26:19.8966667+00:00

    Check that the account signed into Word and Excel has an active license that includes the Mac desktop apps, then reactivate Office with that same account.

    1. Verify the license

    • Personal or Family subscription: Open Services & subscriptions and sign in with the Microsoft account used to purchase Microsoft 365.
    • Work or school account: Open the organization’s My Account page, select Subscriptions → View, and review the assigned license. ^1^

    The license must include desktop applications. For example, Business Basic and Microsoft 365 Education A1 do not include desktop editing, while plans such as Microsoft 365 Apps for business, Business Standard, Business Premium, A3/A5, and E3/E5 do. ^2^

    • If no qualifying license appears, sign in with the account that purchased Office.
    • For a work or school account, ask the organization’s IT administrator to assign a license that includes Microsoft 365 desktop apps.
    • Until that is resolved, use Word or Excel for the web in your browser if the account permits web editing.

    2. Reactivate with the licensed account

    If the correct license is listed:

    1. Open Word or Excel.
    2. Sign out of the account currently displayed in the app.
    3. Quit all Microsoft Office applications.
    4. Reopen Word or Excel and select Sign in or Activate.
    5. Enter the exact account shown with the qualifying license.
    6. Confirm that a new document can now be created and edited.

    3. If the license is valid but Office remains view-only

    Reset the stored Office licensing information:

    1. Quit every Office application.
    2. Download Microsoft’s Office license removal tool.
    3. Open the downloaded .pkg file and follow the prompts.
    4. Select Install to remove the existing Office licenses. A Mac administrator password may be required.
    5. Open Word or Excel and sign in with the licensed account.
    6. Restart the Mac after activation succeeds. ^3^

    Important: The removal tool deletes all Office licenses stored on that Mac, so have the correct account name and password available before running it.

    If activation still fails, note the complete error message or error code. Different Mac activation codes have specific repair procedures; without an error code, uninstalling Office should be a later step rather than the first action.

    References

    1. Microsoft 365 subscription features aren't available in Office apps | Microsoft Support
    2. Doesn't Allow Editing on Mac - Microsoft Q&A
    3. How to remove Office license files on a Mac
    AI-generated content may be incorrect. Read our transparency notes for more information.

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  2. EmilyS726 277.8K Reputation points Independent Advisor
    2026-11-02T17:57:59.4333333+00:00

    You need to provide some necessary information/context in order for anyone to troubleshoot.

    What license do you use? Is it Microsoft 365 Personal/Family subscription?

    Or One-time purchased license like Office Home 2024, etc? If so, which one/year?

    What's your macOS version?

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  3. Kai-H 30,315 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator
    2026-11-05T10:05:53.95+00:00

    Hi, @Marys Access Clinic, PLLC

    This message usually means Word and Excel on your Mac are holding on to old or mixed-up sign-in info. Because of that, they can't confirm your subscription even if it's still active.

    Here are some suggestions you can try:

    Quit all Office apps, then go to Finder > Applications > Utilities > Keychain Access. Search for "Office", "ADAL" and "AzureAD", and delete the entries that come up. Restart your Mac, open Word and sign in again. Office uses these saved logins to check your license, so clearing them makes it check again from scratch.

    If that doesn't work, quit Office again. In Finder, click Go > Go to Folder, type ~/Library/Group Containers and press Enter. Move these three folders to the Trash: UBF8T346G9.ms, UBF8T346G9.Office and UBF8T346G9.OfficeOsfWebHost. Empty the Trash, then reopen Word and sign in.

    Check where you got Office. If you downloaded Word and Excel from the Mac App Store, delete them and reinstall them from microsoft365.com. One-time purchase licenses don't work with the App Store versions. After that, go to Help > Check for Updates and install everything available.

    Your work or school email might also be set up as a personal Microsoft account. If so, it's recommended to add a different email as an alias on the personal account and make it the primary one. That way, Office stops mixing up the two accounts.

    Let me know how it goes!

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