I cannot activate my microsoft office account even though other people on my plan can access it

First confirm that your Microsoft account accepted the shared Microsoft 365 invitation; activation on your Mac will not work until that specific account has joined the subscription.

1. Confirm your shared subscription access

Ask the subscription owner to resend the Microsoft 365 Family invitation if necessary. Using your own Microsoft account:

1. Open the invitation email and select Accept.
2. Select Join now.
3. If Microsoft says that you already belong to another family group, leave that group before accepting the new invitation.
4. Select Start using Microsoft 365 apps, then Install. Microsoft documents that accepting the invitation grants the invited account access to the desktop Office apps.[^1^](https://support.microsoft.com/accounts-billing/subscriptions/[Subscription ID] "Someone invited you to share their Microsoft 365 subscription")

To verify the account has a license, sign in at https://account.microsoft.com/services with the same email address that accepted the invitation. Select Install Microsoft 365 or Office; the license should appear on the next page.^2^

If no license appears, this is an account-sharing issue rather than a Mac activation issue. The subscription owner should remove your existing share, invite you again, and ensure you accept it with the intended Microsoft account.

2. Clear the stored Mac license

Since the normal sign-in process has already failed, remove the cached Office license rather than repeating it.

This removes all Office licenses stored on the Mac, so have the licensed Microsoft account and password ready first.

1. Quit Word, Excel, Outlook, PowerPoint, and all other Office apps.
2. Download Microsoft’s Office License Removal Tool from the official instructions.
3. Open the downloaded .pkg file. If macOS reports an unidentified developer, Control-click the file and select Open.
4. Select Continue, follow the prompts, and select Install. Enter the Mac administrator password if requested.
5. When the tool reports success, select Close.
6. Open Word and sign in with the exact Microsoft account that accepted the Family invitation.
7. If asked to select a license, choose the Microsoft 365 subscription.
8. After activation succeeds, restart the Mac.^3^

3. Reach a Microsoft representative

Use the online support workflow rather than calling the general help line:

1. Open Microsoft’s Contact us page.
2. Sign in with the affected Microsoft account.
3. Select Microsoft 365 or Office.
4. Enter Microsoft 365 Family activation on Mac as the issue.
5. Complete the initial self-help prompts, then select Contact Support or the offered live chat with a Microsoft specialist.^4^

Include these details in the request:

• The email account has accepted a shared Microsoft 365 Family invitation.
• Other subscription members can activate successfully.
• The license does or does not appear under Services & subscriptions.
• The Office License Removal Tool has already been run.
• The exact activation message or error code displayed on the Mac.

If an error code appears, include it verbatim because codes such as 0xD000000C and 0x8A010101 have different resolution paths.

References

1. [Someone invited you to share their Microsoft 365 subscription](https://support.microsoft.com/accounts-billing/subscriptions/[Subscription ID])
2. [Download/Install](https://support.microsoft.com/microsoft-365-activation-licensing/what-to-try-if-you-can-t-install-or-activate-office-for-mac)
3. How to remove Office license files on a Mac | Microsoft Support
4. Contact us