Microsoft 365 education - sorry something went wrong please contact IT department for licenses

Question

I am trying to set up the free trial for office 365 education to verify my academic institution, however everytime I try to sign in using the link from the website to 'get started' with office 365 education I am met with an issue saying 'we are sorry there was a problem etc.' I have tried everything to fix this including multiple devices, multiple browsers, clearing the browser cache and talking to microsoft support (which I couldn't access as the Ghana support number came up with 'this number is unreachable').

Answer 1

Hello @Diana Baffour,  

Thank you for reaching out to the Q&A forum! 

Can you please confirm if you are seeing the same error message as shown in below screenshot: 

I hope you take note that this error usually means that Microsoft does not recognize your school email as eligible for the Microsoft 365 Education offer, or that your email already exists inside a Microsoft 365 tenant where an admin must assign you a license before you can continue. 

---

To help you further, could you please provide a bit more information: 

1.Is the email you are using to register provided by your school or educational institution

I've sent you a private message to help protect your personal information. Please take a moment to check it out and send me the full email address.        

Note: To access private message platform, please reload this thread page and select "View messages" as below screenshot.      

2.Are you a student or part of your school’s IT department? 

3.Have you ever signed up for Microsoft 365 Education before using this same email? 

4.Especially, could you also try signing in to the Harmony Portal (My Account) using that same account and share a screenshot of the Subscriptions page? 

Please understand that our initial response may not always resolve the issue immediately. However, with your help and more detailed information, we can work together to identify the root cause and find a solution.          

Looking forward to hearing from you.

---

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

It sounds like you're experiencing a frustrating issue while trying to set up the free trial for Office 365 Education. The error message you are encountering could be related to several factors, including account verification issues or problems with the sign-in process itself.

Here are some steps you can take to troubleshoot the issue:

1. Check Your Academic Institution's Eligibility: Ensure that your institution is eligible for the Office 365 Education program. You can verify this by checking with your institution's IT department.
2. Use a Valid School Email Address: Make sure you are signing in with a valid school email address that is recognized by Microsoft.
3. Try Different Browsers and Devices: Since you've already tried multiple devices and browsers, ensure that they are all updated to the latest versions.
4. Clear Cache and Cookies: Although you mentioned clearing the browser cache, ensure that you also clear cookies, as this can sometimes resolve sign-in issues.
5. Contact Microsoft Support: If you are unable to reach the Ghana support number, consider using online support options or forums where you can get assistance from Microsoft representatives or other users who might have faced similar issues.
6. Check for Service Outages: Sometimes, Microsoft services may experience outages or maintenance. Check the Microsoft 365 service health status online to see if there are any ongoing issues.

If the problem persists after trying these steps, it may be necessary to escalate the issue through your institution's IT department, as they may have additional resources or contacts with Microsoft to help resolve the issue.

---

References:

• How can students get a free Microsoft 365 subscription? - Microsoft Q&A