365 still showing after Office 2024 installed

Question

I bough a lifetime Office Home subscription, but 365 is still showing a yearly subscription is needed

Answer 1

1

If you are using Office on an Apple Mac device, uninstall all versions of Office that may be installed, then download the Licence Removal Tool and use that to remove the Office licence, then download and install Office 2024 from your Microsoft account online.

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/how-to-remove-office-license-files-on-a-mac-b032c0f6-a431-4dad-83a9-6b727c03b193

2

If you are using Office on a Windows PC, try using the Office Scrub Tool from Microsoft to remove all traces of any previous Office installation, restart your PC and then download and install Office 2024 from your Microsoft account online.

https://aka.ms/diag_officeuninstall

Answer 2

The Office apps are still tied to a Microsoft 365 subscription or the wrong license on the device. To use the lifetime Office Home 2024 purchase without 365 prompts, the old 365 licensing must be removed and the correct product reinstalled/activated under the account that owns Office 2024.

Follow these steps:

1. Remove old Microsoft 365/Office licensing and apps
   • Uninstall any existing "Microsoft 365" or trial/old Office versions from the device (for example Microsoft 365, Office Trial, Office Home and Student 2021/2024, or the work/school 365 installation).
   • On Mac, also remove the old license as described in the guidance "Remove Office license" (this is what fixes the scenario where Office 2024 still asks to activate 365 after a work 365 license was removed).
   • Restart the device.
2. Confirm Office Home 2024 is associated with the correct Microsoft account
   • Go to the Services & Subscriptions page: https://account.microsoft.com/services.
   • Sign in with the same Microsoft account that was used to redeem or buy Office Home 2024.
   • Verify that “Office Home 2024” (or the exact one‑time purchase name) appears under Services & subscriptions. If it does not appear, check any other Microsoft accounts that might have been used.
3. Download and install the correct Office 2024 build
   • On the Services & Subscriptions page, next to Office Home 2024, select Install > Install on this device.
   • This installer is for the one‑time purchase (non‑subscription) version.
   • Run the downloaded installer and complete setup.
4. Activate Office with the correct account
   • Open Word or Excel.
   • When prompted to sign in, use the same Microsoft account that shows Office Home 2024 under Services & subscriptions.
   • In File > Account, the product name should show Office Home 2024 (or similar) and “Product Activated”, and subscription notices should stop.

If subscription notices still appear after this, check for:

• Any remaining “Couldn’t Verify Subscription” or “Account Notice” bars, which indicate the app is still trying to use an old Microsoft 365 subscription. In that case, sign out of all accounts in the Office app’s Account page, then sign back in only with the account that owns Office Home 2024.
• Any expired or suspended Microsoft 365 subscriptions on the account (visible on the Services page). These can trigger “Account Notice” messages until the apps are fully switched to the perpetual license.

If the account only has Microsoft 365 Basic, note that this plan does not include desktop Office apps; only Microsoft 365 Personal or Family do. In that case, the desktop apps will continue to ask for a qualifying license, and only the one‑time Office 2024 license (properly installed and activated as above) will stop those prompts.

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References:

• A subscription notice appears when I open a Microsoft 365 application
• Office error "Account Notice: We've run into a problem with your Microsoft 365 subscription"
• Unlicensed Product and activation errors in Office
• I forgot the account I use with Microsoft 365
• Microsoft 365 subscription features aren't available in Office apps
• Microsoft 365 Customer Service and Support
• Why does office 2024 home for mac require activating microsoft 365 subscription? - Microsoft Q&A
• How can I install Home Office 2024 with my Microsoft Account with your directions. - Microsoft Q&A
• No license associated with my email account - Microsoft Q&A