How can I get office 365 to work?

need to fix this issue

Hi Tom Longaker,   
It's wonderful news that the issue has been resolved. I sincerely apologize for any miscommunication earlier, and I truly appreciate your effort in finding a resolution. I believe that many users may encounter similar issue, and your case could serve as a valuable reference for them.   

Therefore, I would make a brief summary of this post so that other forum members could easily find useful information here:  

Issue Description:  

Office 365 apps (Word, Excel, Outlook) crashed on startup with the error:

“We're sorry, but Word has run into an error that is preventing it from working correctly. Word will be closed as a result.”

Similar errors occurred in Excel and Outlook. Standard repair, reinstall, and version rollback did not resolve the issue.

Solution Shared by Tom

1. Uninstall Office from Apps & Features or Programs and Features.
2. Delete remaining folders: C:\Program Files and C:\Program Files (x86) C:\ProgramData C:\Users\%USERNAME%\AppData\Local\Microsoft C:\Users\%USERNAME%\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft
3. Clean the registry (carefully): Remove Office-related keys under: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft
4. Reinstall Office from the official Microsoft 365 portal.

As other users will also search information in this community, your valuable vote will definitely also help other users who have similar queries easily to find the correct channel and useful information more quickly. 

 Thank you again for sharing your resolution, Tom! Wishing you smooth performance with Office going forward.

Warm regards,
Liora.

Dear Tom Longaker,

Welcome to Microsoft Q&A. 

Dear Tom,

Thank you for sharing the steps you’ve already tried, that helps narrow down the root cause.

This error usually points to corruption in the Office Click-to-Run components or user profile. Reverting to an older version or standard repairs often doesn’t resolve it because the underlying service or cache remains broken.

Recommended steps, please try these steps in order:

1. Check Click-to-Run Service

Press Win + R, type services.msc, and press Enter.

Locate Microsoft Office Click-to-Run Service.

• Ensure it’s Running and Startup Type = Automatic.
  

2. Clear Office Cache

• Close all Office apps.
• Delete these folders: Shell%localappdata%\Microsoft\Office\16.0 %appdata%\Microsoft\Office
• Restart your computer.

3. Additional Checks

• Start Word in Safe Mode: winword /safe
• If it works, disable problematic add-ins under File > Options > Add-ins.

Temporarily disable antivirus software.

Ensure Windows is fully updated.

I truly appreciate the time you’ve spent trying to resolve this, but if it still fails, you may to manually uninstall Office and then start fresh with a reinstall via your associated account.

I hope this information helps point you in the right direction. If you run into any issues while trying the steps, or if something still doesn’t feel quite right, please don’t hesitate to reach out again. I’ll do my best to support you however I can.  

Looking forward to hearing back from you with any updates or additional details. 

Warm regards, 

If the answer is helpful, please click "Accept Answer" and kindly upvote it. If you have extra questions about this answer, please click "Comment".    

Note: Please follow the steps in our documentation to enable e-mail notifications if you want to receive the related email notification for this thread.   

To resolve the error you're encountering with Office 365 applications like Word, Excel, and Outlook, you can try the following troubleshooting steps:

1. Run as Administrator: Close all Office applications. Right-click on the Office app (e.g., Word) and select Run as administrator. Then, check if the issue persists.
2. Microsoft 365 Activation Troubleshooter: Use the Microsoft 365 activation troubleshooter to help resolve activation issues. Make sure you are using the same Windows device where Office is installed. You can find this troubleshooter in the Get Help app on your device.
3. Repair Office: Since you mentioned trying repairs, ensure you are using both the online and local repair options. Go to Control Panel > Programs > Programs and Features, select your Office installation, and choose Change to access the repair options.
4. Check for Updates: Ensure that your Office applications are up to date. Go to any Office app, click on File > Account > Update Options > Update Now.
5. Reset Microsoft 365 Activation State: If the problem persists, consider resetting the activation state for Microsoft 365 Apps for enterprise. Instructions can be found in the Microsoft documentation.
6. Uninstall and Reinstall: If none of the above methods work, you may need to uninstall Office completely using the Microsoft 365 Uninstall troubleshooter, restart your device, and then reinstall the correct version of Office.
7. Check Subscription Status: Ensure that your Microsoft 365 subscription is active and that you have the necessary licenses assigned. You can check this in the Microsoft 365 Admin Center under Billing > Your products.

If these steps do not resolve the issue, consider reaching out to Microsoft Support for further assistance.

References:

• Microsoft 365 Apps activation error: "We've run into a problem with your Office 365 subscription"
• "Microsoft Office cannot verify the license for this product" error when you start an Office app