M365 features are not showing (incl. Copilot Pro) for the usual user account, but everything works fine for a new user account

Question

M365 features are not showing (incl. Copilot Pro) for the usual user account, but everything works fine for a new user account

Anonymous

(post has been rephrased due to later findings)

Hello fellow community members,

First of all, it is not an easy issue, I have spent litterally WEEKS on this issue by my own and with several support tickets.

I even was forwarded to the Office "Technical support" level, who reviewed the chat session I had with level 1 support and just closed the session "as is", kicking me out (thanks Karl, I saw your name when you wanted to write something you didn't send) : I know it's not an easy issue but it's not a way to treat a client. I'm honestly doing my best to apply the guidance again and again, even from scratch.

NB: The issue impacts the M365 Office installed applications, as Web versions work as expected

(new user account / working fine <=> administrator account
current user account / problematic <=> normal user account)

Since I bought the Copilot Pro subscription recently, the most straightforward symptom is :

With the same M365 account :

- Copilot appears and can be used when starting Word as a new user account (O365HomePremRetail = vNext)

- Copilot does NOT appear when starting Word as my usual user account (O365HomePremRetail = Legacy)

Here is a screen when starting Word "as new user account" :

The lesser straightforward symptom is :

- when I start Word as the problematic user, even if I'm already authenticated (profile with name is visible in the top-right corner) I get a popup suggesting me to authenticate (screenshot shows an account is connected, and Copilot does not appear near "Components")

And after authenticating successfully with the same M365 account, the error code 29 appears :

(going through the "connect to check your subscription" process or not does not change how Word behaves)

List of what was verified/tested, by myself and by support, unsorted :

- The Microsoft 365 account I use has a currently valid Family licence

- M365 apps are installed via the setup listed on the M365 subscription page ("install" button that provides OfficeSetup.exe SHA-1 sum is B15AE8A2E60F811EAFA580AE49FFE6AFD81C5458)

NB : I tried to install it directly using a fully authenticated administrator account, and another time using the normal user account + accepting the admin elevation when asked

Before installation I successfully removed all Office/M365 apps from the computer, several uninstall/reinstall tries, uninstalling them via control panel and via the MS Support / Fix tool to remove all Office components (https://aka.ms/SaRA-OfficeUninstallFromPC that gives SetupProd_OffScrub.exe, SHA1 A236FFD2C90D5F4E9CEBBC53FA60B17949950CC8, complete cleanup process took 30 minutes ~) : there was no more "Office" / "Microsoft 365" installations when I installed via OfficeSetup.exe

Computer is running Windows 11, 23H2 with all updates 22631.3085, and Microsoft 365 apps / Word shows version 2312 (build 17126.20132 Office "Démarrer en un clic")
I already tried using the Microsoft Support Fix/Repair tool https://aka.ms/SARA-OfficeActivation-OF that gives SetupProd_Act.exe, SHA-1 B3B53C99EBE9A8D9F5416403FC7B7D2F1703CB98, to try to fix any licencing issue, the tool run "successfully" but did not fix the issue

- I tried disconnecting / reconnecting the Microsoft 365 account from within Word : when connecting for the first time after a fresh install it correctly shows a message telling that the licence has been correctly activated

Here is a screenshot of the "Account" screen when starting Word as administrator (+ I was clicking on the profile button to verify the account) :

Here is a screenshot of the "Account" screen when starting Word as normal user :

- I compared which application was effectively being run, using ProcExp (Sysinternals), when running as normal user and as admin :

(when running ProcExp as admin, the popup balloon doesn't show on screenshot, but Command Lines are the same than when running as normal user)

- I initially used a Windows 11 LOCAL ACCOUNT as normal user, and I willingly converted it to a Microsoft Account using the "Connect" feature, but using a Microsoft Account did not fix the issue, I tried to get back to a Local Account to see if it changed anything, but it did not, so I'll get back to converting it to a Microsoft Account again

(==> THIS may have initially caused the issue when I converted the local account to a microsoft account, as I was NOT having the issue before <==)

- I used OSPP.VBS /dstatus and /unpkey to remove any unused licence activations (as guided by support level 1), the only remaining one is the M365 subscription :

(exact same information when running OSPP.VBS as normal user / as administrator)

- I tried using OSPPREARM.EXE (I took the initiative myself to test it), the result was that the very next time I ran Word there was no more "check your license again" screen, but Copilot was still NOT visible, then I closed Word and started it again, the popup reappeared (= back to the same state)

NB: when trying to rearm again an error message says that I need to reinstall my operating system to be able to rearm again

- I used vNextDiag.ps1 to display license status (I found this by myself, support never suggested using this tool) :

Running as normal user :

Running as administrator (THERE IS SOMETHING DIFFERENT HERE THAT MAY BE A CLUE BUT I DON'T KNOW WHAT TO DO WITH IT YET) :

==> I'm currently investigating this specific clue as "missing vnext license" / how to switch from legacy to vNext for o365homepremretail, etc., I have no clue what this means yet<==

My current exploration step is

https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/office/troubleshoot/activation/reset-office-365-proplus-activation-state

"You might need to perform tasks such as the following for your organization:

Tenant to tenant migration
Repurpose a device for a different user
Change the license mode for Microsoft 365 on a device"

I'll get back to update the post if I find more information..

If you already know how to jump to a potential solution, feel free to post, but be sure to read the post entirely to see which steps I already tried :)

Locked Question. This question was migrated from the Microsoft Support Community. You can vote on whether it's helpful, but you can't add comments or replies or follow the question.

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5 answers

Answer 1

Another test I performed :

completely remove M365/Office from the computer
cleanup all HKCU / ... / Office keys from all users
remove all links between my local users and the Microsoft account (i.e. convert as local user, disconnect / delete credentials etc)
create a new user directly as the Microsoft user I use for the M365 sub
install M365/Office as admin, and do not run it yet
login as the M365 user, start Word, authenticate + proceed with the Office activation
everything works fine

So...

I took an extreme measure that was certainly going towards a success : I moved every data from my previous user account to this new account, and nuked the previous account, took me 48h

Problem solved

May this be helpful to anybody else struggling with this issue.

Don't waste time...

Answer 2

The search for "missing vnext license" / how to switch from legacy to vNext for o365homepremretail were a dead end.

So I reinstalled M365/Office and monitored HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\16.0\Common\Licensing\LicensingNext in BOTH the Administrator account and the normal user account.

After uninstalling the whole Office/Microsoft365 apps, I also went on the "associated devices" in my microsoft account and removed all the displayed entries (2 with the same name as my workstation, probably 1 for the admin account and 1 for the user account), so it was completely clean from any association with the PC.

Then I did :

freshly installed Office (obviously with the administrator account), without starting any app after the installation finished
exported LicensingNext from the administrator account HKCU -> imported into the normal user account HKCU
now as normal user (Microsoft account) : I start Word, go through the activation process, and I see the following keys are created :
HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Office\16.0\Common\Licensing\LicensingNext: LicenseIdToEmailMapping + CIDToLicenseIdsMapping (xxxxx = CWW_9xxxxxxx), as well as "o365homepremretail" = 2
vNextDiag.ps1 -list says : "o365homepremretail = vNext" and a vNext License is displayed with LicenseId = CWW_9xxxxxxxx

- I am able to see Copilot inside Word as a normal user account at that time ! (this is the wanted behavior)

I can see that in HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Office\16.0\Common\Licensing: the keys NextUserLicensingLicenseIds + NextUserLicensingLicensedUserIds are populated according to the values inside Licensing\LicensingNext\CIDToLicenseIdsMapping

But now, if I just restart Word still using the normal user account, I see :

changes to registry

HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Office\16.0\Common\Licensing: keys NextUserLicensingLicenseIds + NextUserLicensingLicensedUserIds are now EMPTY

HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Office\16.0\Common\Licensing\LicensingNext: o365homepremretail = 0

vNextDiag.ps1 -list says : "o365homepremretail = Legacy"
the activation popup is displayed on Word, and if I close it and go the the "Account" screen I see a RED square around the registration status that says that the product is not activated
if I restart Word and try to go through the activation process, I get the "error code 29" again behavior, Word looks like it is kinda activated, but Copilot no longer appears

So to sum it up : even if I succeed in activating Office with the normal user account, when I restart Word something "downgrades" the license from "vNext" to "legacy" (o365homepremretail: 2->0) and it kind of "loses" the activation status partially, but I have no clue what triggers this, and this weird behavior was never triggered when I use my administrator account to use Word.

Perhaps something could be "bugged" inside my microsoft account (?) but I can't understand why it would work with my administrator account.

I'm stuck at this point... if you read until this point, congratulations, feel free to throw any hint you could think of :)

Answer 3

Anonymous

No, it's because you're using a Mac...it has nothing to do with "Microsoft's end" when you're using a platform that can't support any native Microsoft applications on purpose. Your logic is wrong here.

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Answer 4

Anonymous

I am on Mac, this issue is a lot worse here, office apps refuse to activate or even work. There is some problem from Microsoft's end.

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Answer 5

Last test :

completely remove Microsoft365/Office from the computer
delete HKCU...\Office from all users
remove any associated device from the M365 subscription page
create a brand new LOCAL test user, with all default Windows 11 config options
install OfficeSetup.exe as administrator, and do not run it
switch to the test user, start word, authenticate with the account holding M365 Family subscription and Copilot Pro
activate Word, then restart Word
I can see the product is correctly activated, there's no glitch when restarting Word multiple times, and Copilot Pro works...

So my last guess is that something from my common user account HKCU is messing with the licensing...

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M365 features are not showing (incl. Copilot Pro) for the usual user account, but everything works fine for a new user account

5 answers