Microsoft office needs to be activated

Question

After upgrade from Windows 10 to Windows 11 I cannot use excel and other office tools, that are included in the Start vision. I bought office from AGM some years ago, and therefore do not have a code as is requested. I may send the AGM letter to verify if you send med an email. The excel sheet is noe blocking my PC; it is not possible to move or close it.

The message "PRODUCT NOTICE Excel hasn't been activated" appear at the top of the excel sheet together with a box saying "Activate", but it does not function. The whole sheet is "dead", but allows me to see the content at the top.

Answer 1

Hello

Can you go to any Office Apps, like Word, Excel, etc, go to Files > accounts, what's the name of the product listed here? See example below.

Answer 2

Follow these steps to regain access to Excel and activate Office after the Windows 11 upgrade.

1. Close the frozen Excel window

• Press Ctrl+Shift+Esc to open Task Manager.
• Go to the Processes tab.
• Find Microsoft Excel (or EXCEL.EXE), select it, and choose End task.
• Repeat for any other Office apps that are open.

2. Start Excel as administrator Running Office as administrator can fix permission issues that block activation.

• On Windows 11:
  1. Make sure all Office apps are closed.
  2. Select Start.
  3. Type Word (or Excel).
  4. In the search results, right‑click Word (or Excel) and select Run as administrator.
  5. Select Yes when asked for permission.
  6. When Office opens, use the Activate button or sign in if prompted with the account used to buy Office.

3. Sign in with the correct Microsoft account If prompted to sign in:

• Enter the same Microsoft account that was used when Office was originally purchased and activated.
• If the wrong account is used, Office shows a message like “We couldn’t find any Office products”. In that case, sign out and try another account that might be associated with the purchase.

4. Check for multiple Office installations Multiple Office versions can cause activation to fail.
5. Open Control Panel:
   • On Windows 11: In the taskbar search box, type Control Panel, select it, then choose Programs and Features.
6. In Programs and Features, use the Search Programs and Features box (upper‑right) and type office.
7. If more than one Office version appears, right‑click the one that is not used and select Uninstall.
8. Restart the PC.
9. Open an Office app again and activate/sign in if prompted.
10. If activation still fails, run an online repair as described in Repair an Office application (see reference link in the context article) and try again.
11. Update Office After activation starts working, install the latest Office updates, as they can contain activation fixes. See Install Office updates in the referenced article for the exact steps.

If activation still does not work after these steps, use the Guided support link in the referenced article to run Microsoft’s automated Office activation troubleshooter.

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References:

• Unlicensed Product and activation errors in Office