MS installed on new MAC but Word & Excel both say I need to activate acct and I cannot utilize them

Question

I have a paid acct and a non-profit grant with MS. Got a new MAC and everytime I pull up word/Excel I get a prompt that states I have to activate acct to utilize.This is frustrating. I am so far behind on work for both my job and the rescue (5019c03)

Answer 1

Hi, Lani Nash

Thanks for reaching out to Microsoft Q&A forum.

Sorry for this unwanted experience that you're encountering. This usually happens when Office on the Mac is signing in with an account that does not actually hold the license, or when old activation and license files were carried over during Mac setup and Office can’t verify your subscription correctly.

Here are some suggestions you can try:

Make sure Word and Excel are using the correct account, then re-sign in

Open Word > on the top menu choose Word > About Microsoft Word and look for “License” and “Belongs to”. If it does not match the email that owns your paid plan or nonprofit grant, sign out of Office completely and sign back in with the right one. Activation is tied to the exact Microsoft account (or work or school account) that has the license assigned.

Also confirm the license online: sign in at account.microsoft.com and check that your Office or Microsoft 365 license appears under your account.

Clear old activation files with Microsoft’s License Removal Tool (best after a new Mac setup)

If you migrated data from an old Mac or restored a backup, old credentials can block activation. Run Microsoft’s official “remove Office license files” tool, then reopen Word or Excel and sign in again. This works because it wipes the corrupted or mismatched license cache so Office can create a fresh activation on the new Mac.

Release the old Mac from your subscription device list, then activate again

If your subscription still lists a previous Mac, remove it from your subscription or devices page, restart the Mac, and sign in again in Word. It forces Microsoft’s activation service to re-link your license to the new machine.

If the nonprofit grant is managed by an organization, confirm the license is actually assigned to your account

For work or nonprofit managed accounts, an admin must assign the Microsoft 365 Apps license. If the grant account shows no license, your org’s Microsoft 365 admin or support contact will need to fix the assignment.

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

---

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. 

Answer 2

Have you actally attempted to activate the software?

Activate Office for Mac

ActivateTroublshoot