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Office 2011 for mac not recogizing Office 365 subscription

Anonymous
2021-07-08T07:33:48+00:00

Split from this thread.

Hello Alex,

I am having the exact same issue. Here is the screenshot you requested:

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I have tried a complete uninstall and reinstall of MS Office 2011 (my current version) on Mac OS 10.9.

I've tried the remove 2011 tool posted here: https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/troubleshoot-office-for-mac-2011-issues-by-completely-uninstalling-before-you-reinstall-ba8d8d13-0015-4eea-b60b-7719c2cedd17

I've tried disconnecting and reconnecting to Wifi. No avail, I always get these screens when attempting to reactivate using my existing Office 365 subscription:

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Upgrading OS is not an option right now, so I am stuck with Office 2011.

Maybe there really is some server issue on your end?

I might add that I did nothing to cause this error to happen (it started today, 7/7/21). No reinstall, migration, etc. It just stopped working, as if the plug was pulled on MS end on my version.

Rob

Microsoft 365 and Office | Install, redeem, activate | For home | Windows

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Anonymous
2021-07-11T16:10:11+00:00

Hi Jim,

I restored the application and preferences from Time Machine. I performed the steps in

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/troubleshoot-office-for-mac-2011-issues-by-completely-uninstalling-before-you-reinstall-ba8d8d13-0015-4eea-b60b-7719c2cedd17

as follows:

  1. Restored Microsoft Office 2011 folder from Applications
  2. Restored com.microsoft.... files from Library -> Preferences and Library -> Preferences -> ByHost (Select Library from Go dropdown menu in Finder while pressing Option key) [note: I was missing a registration.plist file, but restoring that alone did not help]
  3. Restored com.microsoft.office.licensing.helper.plist from Macintosh HD -> Library -> LaunchDaemons
  4. Restored com.microsoft.office.licensing.helper from Macintosh HD -> Library -> PrivilegedHelperTools

[Note, since I had a 365 subscription, I guess that's why I never had a com.microsoft.office.licensing.plist to restore from Macintosh HD -> Library -> Preferences, but if you purchased a standalone copy, I guess it would be there too]

  1. Remove Icons from Dock
  2. RESTART MACHINE

The office apps now start nicely as before. I'm on 14.7.1, which is not the latest, but I don't dare make any changes at this point!

Thanks for the pointers.

Rob

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  1. Jim G 134K Reputation points MVP Volunteer Moderator
    2021-07-08T21:48:41+00:00

    Hi R&B&B

    I'll try to tackle some of your list.

    1. I don't know why this thread got assigned to Microsoft Office 2011

    That's easy. It's because your inquiry is about Office 2011. Office 2011 was sold mostly as a stand-alone product. It wasn't until the last few months of its product life that you could purchase an Office 365 subscription and get Office 2011.

    If you had an Office 2011 product via an Office 365 subscription, your installation was upgraded at no charge to Office 2016 when that product was introduced.

    1. System date & time are correct. That's good.
    2. 14.7.7 is the final update version for Office 2011. That is the version of Office 2011 you should use if you are using Office 2011
    3. Your connection to the internet works. That's good.
    4. Office 2011 runs in Mac OS 10.9. That's good
    5. Since you were unable to use the Office 2011 removal tool, return to the web page you cited and scroll down to the part where it says: "Manual removal of Office for Mac 2011" then follow the instructions.

    There is a good reason why you can't connect to the activation server. It was shut off when all support for Office 2011 ended back in October 2017.

    To run Office 2016 for Mac you need Mac OS 10.10 Yosemite or later, which you do not have. If your hardware allows an upgrade to 10.10, then you can use Office 2016 if you upgrade Mac OS.

    If you're maxed out at 10.9 then you can't use any current update to LibreOffice (a competing free office software suite) either. However, LibreOffice does let you download and install prior builds atthis site. This is the option I recommend for OS 10.9

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  2. Anonymous
    2021-07-08T08:55:39+00:00

    2011 is not supported on ios 64Bit

    Any key is version specific

    Have you attempted to install 365?

    In the MS Account, services & subs, is 365 shown?

    https://office.com/myaccount

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  3. Anonymous
    2021-07-08T19:59:46+00:00

    I just want to reiterate the following.

    1. I don't know why this thread got assigned to Microsoft Office 2011, I have a Microsoft 365 Family subscription.
    2. I've checked my system date, time and timezone and all is correct.
    3. I've downloaded and installed the very latest and final Office 2011 (14.7.7) version on my Mac, still cannot activate.
    4. I've disconnected and reconnected my WiFi; everything else works except for the Office activation.
    5. Most importantly, I am running Mac OS 10.9 Mavericks which DOES support 32 bit applications, I have been running this OS for 7 years and purposely do not upgrade it because of the Office 2011 installed on it. This OS predated Catalina, Big Sur, and Mojave by a few years so that is definitively NOT the issue in this case.
    6. There was no period of time where I was not connected to the internet for even a week, let alone the 30 days needed for the product to go into View Only mode. There seems to be no reason for this product to not be able to be activated.

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  4. Anonymous
    2021-07-08T14:03:56+00:00

    OS X 10.9 (Mavericks) supports 32 bit and 64 bit.

    No doubt my copy of Office 2011 is 32 bit, I still have the original install dmg, which I reinstalled yesterday without issue, until it was time to connect to the subscription.

    I cannot install the 365 provided by the MS Account, it is not compatible with my OS.

    Here is a screenshot of my subscription from account.microsoft.com (the link you gave above does not work).

    Attempting to download software gives me this:

    Please don't say that there is no longer any support for Office 2011. The product was working just fine two days ago.

    Unless you are definitively telling me that somehow my original copy of Office 2011 was tied to a subscription code which may have changed, and I would need to download fresh software to continue.

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