Required to activate Microsoft 365.

Question

Why am I being asked to activate Microsoft 365 when I have a perpetual license, Office 2024?

Answer 1

Hello,

Is your perpetual license purchased via Microsoft, or via Apple App store?

If it is via Microsoft, please uninstall all your Office apps. Then, Please use the instruction here: https://support.microsoft.com/office/how-to-remove-office-license-files-on-a-mac-b032c0f6-a431-4dad-83a9-6b727c03b193 Download and run the license removal tool.

After that, use this instruction to reinstall. Please go to https://www.office.com

Sign into the Microsoft account you used for the subscription. Click on Apps on the left.

Then on the upper right, click on "Install apps". This will now download the installer file. Once downloaded, click on the file to install. It will install the Desktop version of the apps for you then.

https://support.microsoft.com/office/download-install-or-reinstall-microsoft-365-or-office-2024-on-a-pc-or-mac-4414eaaf-0478-48be-9c42-23adc4716658

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If it was purchased via Apple App store, still run the uninstall and license removal tool as well, but then please download the app from Apple App store instead.

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If it was purchased via third party, I need the full name of your Office 2024 license, for example, is it Office Home 2024, Office Pro Plus 2024, etc?

Answer 2

On a Mac, being prompted to “activate Microsoft 365” even though a perpetual Office 2024 license was purchased usually means the installed apps are still tied to a Microsoft 365 subscription or are the Mac App Store versions that only work with Microsoft 365.

Key points from the documented behavior:

1. Mac App Store versions require Microsoft 365
   When Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Outlook are downloaded from the Mac App Store, they require a Microsoft 365 subscription to create and edit documents or send/receive email. One‑time (perpetual) licenses such as Office 2019/2016 and volume licenses are not compatible with these Mac App Store apps and will run in reduced functionality mode with a message about needing to activate.
2. Perpetual licenses must use Office apps downloaded directly from Microsoft
   Perpetual (one‑time) Office licenses, including Office 2024, can only be used with Office apps installed from Microsoft’s own installers, not from the Mac App Store. If a one‑time license is used with Mac App Store apps, a yellow bar appears stating “Action Required: We've detected a one-time purchase license” and the apps stay in reduced functionality mode.
3. Old work/organization license may still be present
   If Office was previously activated through an employer’s Microsoft 365 subscription, the Mac may still have that license information cached. In that case, the apps continue to look for a Microsoft 365 subscription and prompt to activate it, instead of using the new perpetual license. Removing the old Office license and then installing/activating Office 2024 with the correct installer resolves this.

In practice, the fix is to remove any old Microsoft 365/organization license from the Mac, uninstall any Mac App Store versions of Office, then download and install the Office 2024 apps directly from Microsoft and activate them with the Office 2024 product key/account.

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References:

• Microsoft Office activation and the Mac App Store
• Why does office 2024 home for mac require activating microsoft 365 subscription? - Microsoft Q&A
• Word program without annual subscription - Microsoft Q&A