Switched from my personal account to a family account owned by my cousin and I no longer have access to my files.

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Switched from my personal account to a family account owned by my cousin and I no longer have access to my files.

Erika Marbella Cano 20

I switched from my personal account to a family account owned by my cousin and when I’m trying to access any of my files it says “SUBSCRIPTION CANCELLED Most of the features have been disabled,” and than gives me the option yo reactivate the account. What am I doing wrong? The family account shows me as a member.

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Answer 1

Hi Erika,

You are seeing that message because Office and OneDrive on your PC are still activated with the old, cancelled subscription. Joining a Microsoft 365 Family plan does not automatically switch the license on your apps. The fix is to sign out everywhere in Office and OneDrive, then sign back in with the Microsoft account that actually has the Family benefit you were invited to.

Do this on the PC where you see the error. Open Word or Excel. Go to File > Account. If you see your old account under User Information or Connected Services, choose Sign out for every entry and close all Office apps. Now open Settings > Accounts > Access work or school and disconnect anything there that relates to the old Office sign-in. Then open Settings > Accounts > Email and accounts and remove the old Microsoft account under Accounts used by other apps if it is listed. Next, open Control Panel and go to Credential Manager > Windows Credentials, remove any entries that mention Office, MicrosoftOffice, ADAL, or WAM. Restart the PC.

Before you sign back in, make sure your Family entitlement is active. In a browser, sign in at account.microsoft.com/services with the same Microsoft account you use. You should see Microsoft 365 Family listed as Shared by your cousin. If you do not see it, ask your cousin to resend the share from family.microsoft.com and accept the invite with the exact email you plan to use on the PC.

Reopen Word. Go to File > Account > Sign in and use the Microsoft account that shows Microsoft 365 Family on the Services page. After sign-in, Office should show Product Activated. For OneDrive, click the OneDrive cloud icon in the taskbar, open the gear menu > Settings > Account, choose Unlink this PC, then sign in again with the same Family-covered account so your files sync under the right license.

If any step gives you trouble, tell me exactly where it differs on your screen and I will adjust the directions.