Microsoft office cannot verify the license for this product. You should repair the Office program by using Control Panel

Run an Online Repair of the complete Office installation, then restart Windows and reopen an Office application.

Repair Office

Close Word, Excel, Outlook, and any other Office applications first.

Windows 11

1. Right-click Start and select Installed apps.
2. Find Microsoft 365 or Microsoft Office.
3. Select the three dots (…) beside it, then Modify.
4. For a Click-to-Run installation, select Online Repair → Repair.
5. If an MSI repair window appears instead, select Repair → Continue.
6. Complete the repair and restart the computer.

Windows 10

1. Right-click Start and select Apps and Features.
2. Select Microsoft 365 or Microsoft Office, then Modify.
3. Select Online Repair → Repair. For an MSI installation, select Repair → Continue.
4. Complete the repair and restart the computer.

Online Repair is preferable here because it performs a more comprehensive repair than Quick Repair. Repairing one Office entry repairs the entire suite.^1^

If Office still cannot verify the license

Work through these activation checks in order:

1. Verify the account and license
   • Open the Microsoft account Services & subscriptions page from Microsoft’s activation article.
   • Sign in with the Microsoft account used to purchase or redeem Office.
   • Confirm that the Microsoft 365 subscription or one-time Office purchase is listed.
   • If Microsoft 365 has expired, renew it and reopen Office.
   • In Word or Excel, sign out of an incorrect account and sign in with the account associated with that license.^2^
2. Remove conflicting Office installations
   • Open Control Panel → Programs → Programs and Features.
   • Search for Office.
   • If multiple Office versions are installed, uninstall versions that are no longer used.
   • Restart Windows, open Office, and sign in again. Multiple installations can create activation conflicts.^2^
3. Run the Microsoft 365 activation troubleshooter
   • This applies to Microsoft 365 on Windows 10 or later.
   • Open Microsoft’s activation article, select the Microsoft 365 activation troubleshooter, allow it to open Get Help, and complete the prompts on the affected PC.^2^
4. Check Windows time and permissions
   • Open Settings → Time & language → Date & time.
   • Enable automatic time and time-zone settings.
   • Close Office, search for Word, right-click it, and select Run as administrator.
   • Also install available Office updates. Incorrect time settings or permission problems can prevent activation.^2^

If this is a newly purchased product key

Redeem the key once at Office.com/setup using the Microsoft account that should own the license. After redemption, activate Office by signing in with that same account.^3^

If Online Repair and the activation troubleshooter both fail, the remaining supported fallback is to deactivate the installation, completely uninstall Office, restart Windows, and reinstall it from the account associated with the license.

References

1. Repair an Office application | Microsoft Support
2. Unlicensed Product and activation errors in Office | Microsoft Support
3. Activate Office for Windows | Microsoft Support