Office Home 2021 locked me out; reinstall not working either

Question

My Office 2021 (permanent license) has locked me out. I followed all instructions to remove program info and reinstall, which has been done. Unfortunately am still locked out. Signed out of the product and attempted to sign back in but will not let me sign back in with password. Support guidance for Office 2021 does not conform to the menus in my version. Need help!

Answer 1

Hi,

You say its locked out - do you mean it isn't activated?

Please add picture or pictures to understand the issue.

To attach a screenshot, see below:

 

• Press Windows key + Shift + S together on the keyboard and Drag the cursor to capture the required area.
• The screenshot will be copied to the clipboard. Please press Ctrl+V in the editor to paste it, then confirm to attach the image.

 

Alternatively, you can press the PrtScn key on the keyboard, if it exists, to directly copy the Entire screen, which you can paste using CTRL+V.

 

I’m eager to hear back and work together to find a solution.

Answer 2

Use the following steps to get Office Home 2021 working again.

1. Confirm the correct Microsoft account

• Office 2021 one-time purchases are linked to a single Microsoft account and licensed for one install only.
• Go to the Microsoft account dashboard and sign in.
• Verify that the Office Home 2021 product appears under Services & subscriptions. If it does not, the product is associated with a different Microsoft account, and that account must be used to activate.

2. Reinstall Office 2021 from the correct place If Office is corrupted or partially removed, a clean reinstall is needed.

For a standard one-time purchase (not Microsoft Store preinstall):

1. Sign in to the Microsoft account dashboard with the account that shows Office 2021.
2. From the Overview page, select Office apps.
3. Find the Office 2021 product and select Install.
4. Run the downloaded installer:
   • In Edge/Internet Explorer: Open file
   • In Chrome: Setup
   • In Firefox: Save File, then run it
5. Approve Do you want to allow this app to make changes to your device? by selecting Yes.
6. Wait for the installer to complete until the "You're all set! Office is installed now" message appears, then close.

For devices where Office 2021 came pre-installed and activates without a product key or account:

1. Open Microsoft Store from Start.
2. Go to Library > Apps (or All).
3. Turn off Show installed products only if present.
4. Locate the Office product and select the cloud icon.
5. Let the installer download and complete setup.
6. Fix activation/“locked out” status If apps show Unlicensed Product or similar after reinstall:
7. Open Word or Excel.
8. When prompted to sign in, use the same Microsoft account confirmed in step 1.
9. If the wrong account was used previously, sign out inside the Office app, then sign back in with the correct one.
10. If activation still fails, use the guided support for activation issues from the activation article.
11. If installation keeps failing If there were problems during reinstall:
12. Restart Windows and try the install again.
13. If still failing, run the Office uninstall troubleshooter to fully remove remnants:
    • Use the Uninstall tool from the install-troubleshooting article.
    • Follow the prompts, restart when requested.
14. After the uninstall completes, reinstall Office 2021 again from the account page as in step 2.

If menus or options differ slightly from documentation, always start from the Microsoft account Services & subscriptions page and install from there; this ensures the correct build and activation flow for Office Home 2021.

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References:

• Download and install or reinstall Office 2021, Office 2019, or Office 2016
• Learn more about product keys, Workplace Discount Program, and volume licenses
• Unlicensed Product and activation errors in Office
• Reinstall Office from the Microsoft Store app
• Reactivating Microsoft 365 or Office
• Troubleshoot installing Office