Excel not saving on Mac

Question

This is my problem and I have installed and reinstalled and upgraded the version of office several times. How do I speak with someone at Microsoft?

Answer 1

Solution: I had not activated my Home office account yet.

For some reason Excel would allow me to open new and old documents but never save. When I tried to save it would say I needed to activate my account. It did not give me a link or tell me how to do this. So I decided to try word to see if it had the same problem. When I opened word there was an error message just below the menu bar in yellow saying I needed to activate the account. I followed the link and boom. Word would allow me to save. Then I opened Excel and it allowed me to save.

I am still curious as to why this situation ever arose. My 2021 Mac version of office was working just fine until one day it stopped allowing me to save. I upgraded to Home office 2024 for Mac and the problem persisted until I activated it. How my 2021 version of Excel became deactivated, I will never know

Answer 2

Hi @McMee,

Thank you for posting your question in the Microsoft Q&A forum.

Since this issue can arise from many causes and different situations, for further assistance, could you provide more detailed information about this situation? I appreciate your understanding and cooperation.

• Can you edit cells or everything is not editable?
• Does this happen with every Excel file, or only one specific workbook? If there is only specific one, where is the file coming from?
• Is the issue only in Excel, or also in Word/PowerPoint?
• Does the title bar show “Read‑Only” or “View Only” anywhere?
• On the Mac file, right‑click the file > Get Info > Sharing & Permissions >check if you have “Read & Write”?
• Where are you trying to save it? (Desktop/Documents, OneDrive/SharePoint or external drive.)
• In Excel Preferences > Save, what is the default save location and is it a location you don’t own or can’t write to (company-managed folder, shared folder, restricted directory)?
• What is the exact Microsoft license that you're using?
• Which macOS version and Excel version are you on?

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

Thank you for your understanding and cooperation. I look forward to hearing from you.

Answer 3

Can I purchase a support plan so I can speak with an expert? I need this fixed.