from 365 1 month free to office pro 2021 cant edit/save docs.

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from 365 1 month free to office pro 2021 cant edit/save docs.

Harry DaVee II 0

got new laptop needed excel. accepted 365 1 mo free then ended. uninstalled 365 and while signed into microsoft acct i redeemed office pro 2021 key and downloaded/installed. rebooted then opened excel and can not edit or save just keeps telling me 365 subscription expired and need to buy. went to microsoft acct subscriptions and only thing listed is 365. what the he##! rebooted, repaired office 2021 install online, no help. any ideas?

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Answer 1

Hi Harry DaVee II,

Thanks for posting your question on Microsoft Q&A.

I am sorry that you have met the mismatch of your subscription. I understand that you have uninstalled the old one-month free subscription, and install the new Office Pro-2021, but cannot use Word, Excel, etc.

In order to troubleshoot the mismatch situation, you have to remove the old subscription to active the new license. Please help me following this step to remove it from your Windows PC.

1. Sign out of Office everywhere

In Word or Excel:

Open any Office app
Go to File → Account
Select Sign out
Close all Office apps
Reopen Excel — it should now ask you to sign in again

2. Remove old licenses stuck on the machine

Download Microsoft’s official license removal tool: You can download it directly from Microsoft's website: https://aka.ms/SaRASetup.
Run it, choose Office → I have a problem with Office activation
Let it remove all old licenses
Reboot your laptop

Run the tool to completely remove Office. After running the SaRA tool to remove all traces of Office, there should be no Office applications left. Reinstall the version of Office linked to your M365.

3. Reactivate Office 2021

After reboot:

Open Excel
Sign in using the same Microsoft account that shows Office 2021 under Services & Subscriptions
If prompted, enter your Office 2021 product key again
Excel should now activate as Office LTSC / Office Professional 2021 (perpetual license)

The last check after troubleshooting is verified you have active the license correctly. Please go to: File → Account. You should not see Microsoft 365 mentioned anywhere. Instead, you should see Product Activated – Office 2021.

In case the above troubleshooting did not solve your situation, means that you have met another circumstance that we need to discuss and find another solution for you. If that is the case, you can help us share your error message on your end as well.

Hoping that you can solve the problem on your end. And the above instruction is helpful for you.

Thanks, and sincerely,

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

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Harry DaVee II 0 Reputation points

2025-12-17T05:17:18.0166667+00:00

signed out in excel all office apps closed. downloaded Microsoft's website: https://aka.ms/SaRASetup and ran it but it said this "to enhance support for micro 365 cust's and eliminate requirement to download sup/recovery assistant we have integrated it into Get Help a built in windows feature which provides a broader range of troubleshooters. to continue visit run troubleshooters in Get Help". i ran the activation trouble shooter and it said "Failed" search community for possible answers. then i ran uninstall office and it said "There was a problem uninstalling Microsoft 365 applications with the uninstall troubleshooter." those were the only ones i could run. anything else?
Anonymous

2025-12-17T07:05:24.5333333+00:00

Hi Harry DaVee II,

Thanks for updating, based on your words, it means that you are unable to run the above troubleshoot.

Hence, before we run it again. Could you please help me check and clear if the Office 365 fully gone? Sometimes Windows keeps components of 365 even after uninstalling.

Open Settings → Apps → Installed Apps

Remove anything named:

Microsoft 365 Apps

Office Click‑to‑Run

Office Hub

Microsoft Office Desktop Apps

Then reboot and try activation again.

After rebooting and active once again, try the above troubleshoot one more time.

I hope it will be resolving your case this time.

Thanks, and sincerely,

Answer 2

Harry DaVee II 0

signed out in excel all office apps closed. downloaded Microsoft's website: https://aka.ms/SaRASetup and ran it but it said this "to enhance support for micro 365 cust's and eliminate requirement to download sup/recovery assistant we have integrated it into Get Help a built in windows feature which provides a broader range of troubleshooters. to continue visit run troubleshooters in Get Help". i ran the activation trouble shooter and it said "Failed" search community for possible answers. then i ran uninstall office and it said "There was a problem uninstalling Microsoft 365 applications with the uninstall troubleshooter." those were the only ones i could run. anything else?

Harry DaVee II 0 Reputation points

2025-12-17T05:58:03.1133333+00:00

since the above didnt work i uninstalled office 2021 from control panel as i did before then tried to run the uninstall tool again and it starts but immediately says "press any key to exit" results said Failure! going to try and sign in again and download it but i have less and less faith in microsoft since Win95.
Harry DaVee II 0 Reputation points

2025-12-17T23:08:15.8233333+00:00

i checked that before i rebooted and for credentials. i downloaded office 2021 again from microsoft and it took the key then downloaded same as last time. i opened excel and the top of the header says unlicensed product. i signed in and same thing. today i opened excel and it asked to activate so i picked online and it said error, .... product key not valid. no idea why micro would accept the key and download but not to activate it. you would think it would say not valid before downloading.
Anonymous

2025-12-18T02:59:56.8033333+00:00
Hello Harry DaVee II,

Since the removing is not work on your case. I would like to confirm a critical situation. Could you please help me check if the license attached to your Microsoft account?

Please visit this link https://account.microsoft.com/services in order to check the subscription of your account, please share me the license name on your end.

If your key is Office 2021 Professional, you must install the perpetual version:

Go to https://setup.office.com

Sign in using the same account that redeemed the key.

Download Office 2021 (NOT Microsoft 365)

Run the installer and let it finish.

Please share with me the result after checking. In case the activation is all correct, but the Excel still do not run, we will reset the Office licensing system as the last option to check if it can work on your case.

Wish your case can be resolved smoothly.

Sincerely,
Anonymous

2025-12-19T07:14:12.66+00:00

Hello Harry DaVee II,

Is there any update on this thread?

If you have any further updates on this issue, please feel free to post back.
Harry DaVee II 0 Reputation points

2025-12-19T07:35:06.58+00:00

Only thing that showed up was 365 expired. it never showed office 2021 since it said key was invalid so i just paid for a yearly 365 subscription. i think were done here. i couldnt wait i needed office to keep running my business.
Harry DaVee II 0 Reputation points

2025-12-22T00:22:28.3+00:00

im just so tired of microsoft charging way too much money for subscriptions on so many items, its rediculous!
Anonymous

2025-12-26T06:33:27.5533333+00:00

Hello Harry DaVee II,

I do apologize for all the things that has happened to you.

I understand that you are tired of this situation. This question still opens for another fellows that can bring the troubleshoots to resolve the issue for you.

In case you still need clearing the exist files in order to reinstall the license, please let me know, so I can share the command to help you clear it manually.

Kindly also check the license details in order to avoid the mismatch of the license and your account, which can be caused the specific mismatch for your case.

Thanks, and sincerely,

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from 365 1 month free to office pro 2021 cant edit/save docs.

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