office apps not activating with microsoft 365 account

Question

office apps not activating with microsoft 365 account

Browning 105

I’m having trouble activating Office apps (Word, Excel, Outlook) with my Microsoft 365 account on my Macbook M2. The apps install fine, but when I sign in, it keeps prompting me to activate again, showing “We can’t verify your subscription.”

How can I redeem or fix it ?

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Answer accepted by question author

Michelle-N 20,735 Microsoft External Staff Moderator

Hi @Browning

Thank you so much for contacting Microsoft Q&A Forum.

Based on your description, I understand you're having trouble activating Office apps on your MacBook M2. Even after signing in, the apps get stuck in a loop asking you to activate and showing a "We can't verify your subscription" error.

First, let's verify that your subscription is active. Please help me by checking your account using one of these two options:

If you have a Personal/Family account: Check your services here: https://account.microsoft.com/services
If you have a Business/School account: Check your subscriptions here: https://portal.office.com/account/#subscriptions

If you have confirmed the license is correct and active, the next step is to check what license Word is using.

Open Microsoft Word.
In the top menu, click Word > About Microsoft Word.
A dialog box will appear. Look for "License:" and "Belongs to:". Does this information match the account you are trying to sign in with?

User's image

If the License Doesn't Match (or is missing): If the "About" box shows a different email or an incorrect license, the most likely cause is that your Mac has old, conflicting license files from a previous installation.

Solution 1: Remove Old License Files

You can use an official tool to remove these old files. Please follow the steps in this Microsoft guide:

How to remove Office license files on a Mac

After running the tool and removing the old licenses, restart your Mac and try signing in to activate Office again.

Solution 2: Reinstall from the Web

One more question: did you download the Office apps from the Apple App Store?

If you did, I recommend that you uninstall all the Office apps. Then, reinstall them by downloading the installer directly from your Microsoft account page.

If you have a Personal/Family account: https://account.microsoft.com
If you have a Business/School account: https://portal.office.com/account/?ref=Harmony#installs

I hope this information can help you to solve it.

Wish you a pleasant day!

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Browning 105 Reputation points

2025-11-13T07:46:10.41+00:00

Its still not activated
Browning 105 Reputation points

2025-11-13T07:48:37.4566667+00:00

Sorry but this is the second time I use this forum, the first one when I accepted the answer, I werent get the support anymore, so this is how it work ? Its mean accept the answer the case will be closed and no one take the next action right ? Just for asking

thank you
Michelle-N 20,735 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator

2025-11-13T08:01:44.8133333+00:00
Hi @Browning

Thank you for the update on this thread.

As a Moderator, I'm always here to help you find the right path. Closing this case will simply depend on whether or not you've managed to figure out the right way forward.

If you have tried the steps above and are still unable to activate, please provide me with a few more details below:

Have you tried the steps I suggested, such as "remove license files on Mac," and what error did you encounter when trying to re-download/re-install? Please provide a detailed description of the issue if possible.

Could you let me know what subscription you are using? And, are you able to use Office Web with that same account?

Please provide any additional information you can, and I will do my absolute best to help you resolve this.

2 additional answers

Browning 105 Reputation points

2025-11-13T07:46:10.41+00:00

Its still not activated
Browning 105 Reputation points

2025-11-13T07:48:37.4566667+00:00

Sorry but this is the second time I use this forum, the first one when I accepted the answer, I werent get the support anymore, so this is how it work ? Its mean accept the answer the case will be closed and no one take the next action right ? Just for asking

thank you
Michelle-N 20,735 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator

2025-11-13T08:01:44.8133333+00:00

Hi @Browning

Thank you for the update on this thread.

As a Moderator, I'm always here to help you find the right path. Closing this case will simply depend on whether or not you've managed to figure out the right way forward.

If you have tried the steps above and are still unable to activate, please provide me with a few more details below:

Have you tried the steps I suggested, such as "remove license files on Mac," and what error did you encounter when trying to re-download/re-install? Please provide a detailed description of the issue if possible.

Could you let me know what subscription you are using? And, are you able to use Office Web with that same account?

Please provide any additional information you can, and I will do my absolute best to help you resolve this.

Answer 1

Jeremy Hamilton 0

So, I have found that only Mac users are having this issue.

My recommendation for I have to resolve this issue with my users, is that your update your OS for Microsoft no longer communicates with the old OS (from my understanding). Once the OS is updated, utilize the Microsoft updater to update the apps. Should fix the issue. See attached for reference.

Stefan Blom 352.1K Reputation points MVP Volunteer Moderator

2026-07-22T18:02:15.8366667+00:00

@Jeremy Hamilton

Microsoft has recently stopped supporting Office under older versions of macOS. That is correct.

However, the current thread was started in November 2025, which means the issue was almost certainly something else.

Answer 2

To resolve the issue of activating Office apps with your Microsoft 365 account on your Macbook M2, you can try the following troubleshooting methods:

Sign out and Sign back in:
- Open an Office app, such as Word.
- Select your name and profile picture at the top.
- Choose Sign out.
- Then select Sign in and ensure you are using your Work or School account, not a personal Microsoft account.
Check User Licenses:
- If you have access to the Microsoft 365 Admin Center, go to Users > Active users.
- Select your user account and ensure that the appropriate licenses are assigned. If necessary, reassign the license.
Reset Office License:
- You can use the Mac License removal tool to remove any existing license files. For detailed instructions, refer to the guide on how to remove Office license files on a Mac.
Uninstall and Reinstall Office:
- If the above steps do not work, consider uninstalling Office and then reinstalling it. Instructions for uninstalling Office for Mac can be found in the Microsoft support documentation.
Update Microsoft 365:
- Ensure that your Microsoft 365 apps are up to date. Open an Office app, go to File > Account, and select Update options > Update now.

By following these steps, you should be able to resolve the activation issue with your Office apps.