Office 365 won't recognize my account and activate it

Question

Hello.

I am a student and have always had Free Microsoft 365 Office apps. When I log in through the Microsoft free education page, it says that I already have a license associated with my student email, but on my Mac Word, Excel, PowerPoint and other apps, when I click on Activate with my same student account, it says I don’t have the right to the free subscription and it asks me to pay for the license. What can I do? I have quit the applications, logged out and restarted my laptop, and it still won't work.

Answer 1

Hi @Arman Martirosyan

Thank you for reaching out to Microsoft Q&A forum.

Based on the information you shared, I understand that you have a free Microsoft 365 Education license that you've confirmed is active for your student email online. However, when you try to activate the desktop apps (Word, Excel, PowerPoint) on your Mac, it says you don't have the right subscription and asks you to pay.

I have a few questions and suggestions that might help identify the problem:

• Correct Account: Just to double-check, are you sure you are logging into the Mac desktop apps with the exact same student email address that you used to check the license online?
• Web App Access: Are you able to successfully use the Office web apps (at Office.com) with your student account?
• Check Your License Type: If you can use the web apps successfully, it's very likely an issue with the type of license your school has assigned you. I suggest you contact your school's IT department and ask them to confirm which specific license is assigned to your account. For students to use the desktop M365 apps, they usually need a license like "Microsoft 365 A3" or "Microsoft 365 A5".
• Conflicting Licenses on Mac: One other thing to ask: do you have any other Microsoft accounts (like a personal account or one from a previous job/school) signed in on your Mac? Sometimes, having multiple licenses or accounts on one machine can cause activation conflicts.

Please let me know if you have any updates.

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Answer 2

To take advantage of a student subscription, provided by your school or university, you need to sign in with the student e-mail. Is that what you are trying to do?