Error Accessing Project for Office (Plan E5) on project.microsoft.com

User Guide: Installing Project 2021 with Volume License alongside Office 365

Introduction:

This guide will help you understand how to install Project 2021 using a volume license when you cannot use Project Office Plan 5 on the web. It outlines the necessary steps to successfully install Project 2021 and subsequently reinstall Office 365 applications.

Prerequisites:

• You must have a volume license for Project for Office 2021.
• You should have administrative privileges on your system.

Steps to Solve the Issue

1. Download the Microsoft Office Deployment Tool

• Download the Office Deployment Tool from Download Microsoft Deployment Toolkit (MDT) from Official Microsoft Download Center

2. Prepare the Configuration File

• Open Notepad++ (or any text editor that supports XML).
• Change the language to XML for better readability.
• Copy the following XML configuration into the file:

• Save this file as project-x64.xml.

3. Run the Installation

• Open PowerShell with Administrator privileges.
• Navigate to the directory where you downloaded the Office Deployment Tool. Replace <tool kit directory path> with the actual path

cd "<tool kit directory path>"

• Download the Project 2021 installation files:

.\setup.exe /download .\project-x64.xml

• Once the download is complete, check the size of the Data directory to ensure the files have been downloaded.
• Install Project 2021:

.\setup.exe /configure .\project-x64.xml

Note: This installation will remove all Office 365 application from your system

Reinstall Office 365

• Once Project 2021 installation is complete, go to portal.office.com/account and download the Office 365 installation file.
• Install Office 365 from the downloaded file.
• You will now have both Project 2021 and Office 365 installed on your system.

Conclusion

By following these steps, you can successfully install Project 2021 using a volume license alongside Office 365 applications. If you encounter any issues during the process, ensure that all paths and file names are correct and that you have the necessary administrative privileges

Dear AZQureshi,

Thank you for posting back.

• I'd like to convey that "Project for Office (Plan E5)" license is for viewing and editing shared projects. It only allows to view and perform limited edits of plans built in Project for the web.
• You cannot create projects or roadmaps without an appropriate Project subscription (Project Plan 1, Project Plan 3, or Project Plan 5).
• Please check this support article Office 365 User access to Project for the web and Roadmap

• Regarding your question If I need Project Plan 3 or Project Plan 5 to access Project for the web, where I can download the Microsoft Project Software? If you want to download Project Desktop application, you need to have Project Plan 3 or Project Plan 5. To install Project Desktop application, please check this support articleInstall Project

Hope it helps! Let me know if you have any other concerns.

Have a nice day.

Sincerely,

Tina | Microsoft Community Moderator

AZQureshi --

The application you are wanting to use is Project for the Web, not Project for Office. In fact, there is NO Project for Office application at all. To use Project for the Web, you need your M365 administrator to provide you with a Project Plan 1 license. The Project for Office (Plan E5) license you describe is the WRONG license for the tool you want to use. Hope this helps.

Thank you Tina

How do I use my Project for Office (Plan E5)?

If I need Project Plan 3 or Project Plan 5 to access Project for the web, where I can download the Microsoft Project Software? I would like to use my Project for Office (Plan E5)

Please share the link and the installation procedure.

Regards

Dear AZQureshi,

Thank you for posting in Microsoft Community. We are happy to help you.

I understand your concern. Per my experience, this error message usually appears when a user tries to access Project for the web (project.microsoft.com) but he doesn't have Project for the web license.

I notice you have Project for Office (Plan E5) license. I'd like to convey that this license doesn't provide access to Project for the web.

As mentioned in this support article Microsoft Project FAQs | Questions About Project

Project for the web is available in Project Plan 1, Project Plan 3, and Project Plan 5.

This means you need to have Project Plan 1 or Project Plan 3 or Project Plan 5 in order to get the Project for the web license.

Do you have any of these Project plans? If not, you may purchase one by checking this support article Compare All Planner Options and Prices| Microsoft Planner

By the way, if you are not a Microsoft 365 Administrator, you may contact your Administrator to get this Project license.

If you are not sure who is Administrator, please check this article How do I find my Microsoft 365 admin? - Microsoft Support

Let me know if you have any other concerns, I'll be glad to help you further.

Thanks for your time and cooperation! Have a nice day!

Sincerely,

Tina | Microsoft Community Moderator