I'm having problems accessing my documents

Question

First my account got blocked, which was very confusing as I input all of my information and verified my email and was using it completely issue free earlier this morning. Now I can't access my files which are extremely important and time sensitive. It keeps telling me to resign in and wait a few minutes, so I do, but then it keeps telling me the exact same thing.

Answer 1

Hi, Brooklynn A

Welcome to Microsoft Q&A forum.

Sorry for this frustrating experience that you're encountering. Here are some recommendations for you to resolve this issue:

1) First, confirm if your files are safe (fastest reassurance)

If your documents are in OneDrive, they are often still there even when Excel can’t authenticate.

• Go to OneDrive on the web and sign in: https://onedrive.live.com
• Check “Recent” and the folder you normally save to.
• If you can see the files there, download the urgent ones from the browser as a temporary workaround while you fix the Mac sign-in loop.

2) If the account was blocked, clear the security lock first

This loop can happen when the account is temporarily locked or flagged and Office keeps failing silently in the background.

• Try signing in to your Microsoft account in a browser first (Safari or Chrome).
• If you’re prompted for security verification, complete it. If verification fails repeatedly, try:
  • Private browsing window
  • A different browser
  • A different network (for example, mobile hotspot)

(Once the account is unblocked in the browser, Office on the Mac usually starts working after you refresh credentials.)

3) Break the macOS sign-in loop (most common fix on Mac)

On macOS, this is usually caused by stale tokens saved in Keychain.

Step A: Quit everything Microsoft

• Quit Excel, Word, PowerPoint, Outlook, OneDrive, and Teams.
• Also check the menu bar for the OneDrive cloud icon and quit OneDrive from there.

Step B: Remove Microsoft sign-in tokens from Keychain

• Open Applications > Utilities > Keychain Access
• In the top-right search box, search each of these terms one by one and delete matching items (only items clearly related to Microsoft/Office/OneDrive):
  • Microsoft Office
  • ADAL
  • MSOID
  • OneDrive
  • Office
• After deleting, restart your Mac.

This forces Office to rebuild clean authentication tokens on next sign-in.

Step C: Sign back in cleanly

• Open Excel.
• Go to Excel > Preferences (or File > Account depending on version) and sign in.
• If you use OneDrive sync, open OneDrive and sign in there too.

4) If OneDrive sync is stuck, reset it (macOS)

If Finder shows OneDrive folders but they will not open or sync, OneDrive may need a reset.

• Quit OneDrive
• Reopen OneDrive and sign in again
• If it still loops, try unlinking and relinking:
  • OneDrive menu bar icon > Settings > Account > Unlink this Mac
  • Then sign in again and choose your OneDrive folder location

5) If Excel opens but files won’t open, try these Mac-specific checks

A) Open from OneDrive web

If the file opens in OneDrive web but not in Excel desktop, that points to local authentication or local cache issues, not file corruption.

B) Safe Mode test (quick isolation)

Boot macOS in Safe Mode and try again. If it works in Safe Mode, something running normally (login items, security software, old add-ins) is interfering.

C) Update Excel and OneDrive

If you can open any Office app:

Open Microsoft AutoUpdate from the Help menu in an Office app and install all updates.

6) Check for a service issue (rare but possible)

If sign-in works on no devices and keeps saying to wait, it can be a temporary Microsoft service incident. There are public status pages you can check.

Hope this helps. Feel free to get back if you need further assistance.

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