When I try to open excel 365 in desktop get a message that cannot sign in.

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When I try to open excel 365 in desktop get a message that cannot sign in.

Maxine Hunter 20

When I try to open excel 365 in desktop get a message that cannot sign in. When I try to sign in with personal email it is not recognised as personal or work. Can only sign in with work email. I am logged into microsoft with my personal email which I have a personal 365 subscription.

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Answer 1

EmilyS726 212.1K Independent Advisor

Hello

Is this only affecting Excel, or is it also affecting Word, Powerpoint, etc?

Can you go to https://account.live.com > Subscriptions, can you confirm the full name of the Microsoft 365 plan?

Just want to make sure you launched it as the app itself, not by opening a certain Excel file shared with you, right?

May I also ask your personal Microsoft account email address, don't share the whole address, just the domain part, such as outlook.com, gmail.com?

Maxine Hunter 20 Reputation points

2026-02-24T00:50:20.9+00:00

Thank you. Its the same issue in Office, Excel and PowerPoint. The subscription is Microsoft 365 Personal and the domain is hotmail.com
EmilyS726 212.1K Reputation points Independent Advisor

2026-02-24T00:52:37.41+00:00

Can you please go to Settings > Apps > Installed Apps, look for Microsoft 365 or anything Office, uninstall.

Then go through the following:

Can you go to your Windows Settings > Accounts > Access Work or School (note, it is the briefcase icon, not the little person icon). Then see if the organization email address is still listed? If so, click on it and then disconnect it. ==================

Hold down Windows + R keys, copy and paste the following path into the run box (one at a time please), and press enter to launch the folder. When it is launched, delete everything in the folder. If you run into any sub folder that will not allow you to delete, go into that sub folder, and delete from within.

%LocalAppData%\Packages\MSTeams_8wekyb3d8bbwe

%LocalAppData%\Packages\Microsoft.AAD.BrokerPlugin_cw5n1h2txyewy

%LocalAppData%\Microsoft\OneAuth

%LocalAppData%\Microsoft\TokenBroker

%LocalAppData%\Microsoft\IdentityCache

=========================

Restart the computer after that. Please go to https://www.office.com

Sign into the Microsoft account you used for the subscription. Click on Apps on the left.

Then on the upper right, click on "Install apps". This will now download the installer file. Once downloaded, click on the file to install. It will install the Desktop version of the apps for you then.

https://support.microsoft.com/office/download-install-or-reinstall-microsoft-365-or-office-2024-on-a-pc-or-mac-4414eaaf-0478-48be-9c42-23adc4716658

Answer 2

If you are unable to sign in to Excel 365 with your personal email, it may be due to the fact that the domain associated with your personal email is not recognized as a valid account for Microsoft 365. You can only sign in with a work email if the domain is hosted in Azure and hasn't been linked to a personal account.

Here are a few steps you can take to troubleshoot the issue:

Ensure that you are using the correct email address associated with your personal Microsoft 365 subscription.
If you are logged into Microsoft with your personal email but still cannot access Excel, try signing out and then signing back in using a private browsing session.
If the problem persists, you may need to contact Microsoft support for further assistance.

Additionally, if you are experiencing issues related to security software or Windows Filtering Platform (WFP) drivers, these could also affect your ability to sign in. You might want to check if any security software is blocking the sign-in process.

References:

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