How to fix Office 2021 Update error 44

Question

Our org is using a genuine copy of MS Office 2021 obtained by the Government of Canada which we have the installer & serializer packages. We are using this version on Government purchased MacBooks. We can only sign in with personal accounts since we can't use our corporate accounts on this stand-alone version.

After running the serializer package; it still shows to update the licence and when we try to do the update we get an error 44.

Answer 1

• Some users have reported that version 16.81 of the Microsoft Office for Mac auto-update caused licensing issues for standalone versions of Office 2021.

So, check the current version.

To fix licensing issues, you can try these steps: Restart your Mac, sign in with the correct account, update your Office apps, check your subscription status, and Troubleshoot activation.

• If required uninstall and reinstall office.

Answer 2

Hi @Francois Moisan

Has Office for Mac been successfully activated so far?

Do you install Office LTSC for Mac 2021? (You may go to Word and choose About Word to check the Office information.)

• Theoretically, by running the VL Serializer on your Mac, users won't see any activation prompts when they first open their copy of Office.
• If you and others are unable to activate Office for Mac, please download the Volume License (VL) Serializer from the VLSC and install again.

If your Office is not Office LTSC for Mac 2021, but a retail version, please ensure that your personal accounts have been bound to Office license.

You may refer to S.Sengupta's reply. Besides, you may get the installation package from following link:

https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/officeupdates/update-history-office-for-mac

Any misunderstandings and issues, welcome to post back.

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