Unable to Detect Office 2021 License on Mac After Transferring from Windows PC

Hi everyone,

I'm having trouble getting my Office Home & Student license to be recognized on my Mac, and I would really appreciate some guidance.

Background:

• I have a perpetual Office Home & Student license that was originally activated on an HP Windows laptop (purchased in 2024).

I can see two licenses in my Microsoft account services page (account.microsoft.com/services), and both show the option to "Install" the Mac PKG file, so they are account-based, not device-locked OEM keys.

What I've Already Done:

Deauthorized the old PC: I signed out of the Office app on the old Windows laptop via File > Account > Sign Out. I also removed the device from my Microsoft account online.

Cleaned my Mac: I previously had an Office trial on this Mac. I ran the official Microsoft License Removal Tool, manually deleted licensing files from the system Library folders, and cleared all "Microsoft Office" entries in Keychain Access.

Reinstalled from the account page: I downloaded the latest Office installation package directly from my Microsoft account services page.

Current Status: After a clean installation, I launch Word and sign in with the correct Microsoft account. However, it still cannot find a valid license. It either keeps prompting me to start a trial or purchase a subscription, as if my purchased license doesn't exist.

It seems the activation servers still believe my license is tied up, or there's a persistent local caching issue I'm missing. Could an engineer please check on the backend if the license is still in use on the old machine, and force-release it if necessary?

Thank you so much for your help.