Issue with a legacy student licence

Question

A long time ago I had a student licence. For years I have purchased Microsoft 365 Family. Word, Excel and PowerPoint are all using the correct licence. But Outlook appears to be referring back to my old student licence and when I try to View Account it says I can't.

Answer 1

I have uninstalled Outlook and also Office. I have 2 email accounts within Outlook.

One is ******@gmail.com and the other is ******@outlook.com.

the outlook email address references the correct licence. The gmail email address is still looking at the student licence.

Answer 2

Outlook is likely still associated with the old student license while the other apps are correctly using the Microsoft 365 Family subscription. When an app is tied to a license that is no longer valid, it can show license errors or block access to account details.

To resolve this, remove the legacy/student license association and ensure Outlook is activated with the Microsoft 365 Family account, using one of these approaches (depending on the device and how Outlook is installed):

1. Sign out of all Office apps, then sign back in only with the Microsoft 365 Family account that owns the subscription. This aligns with guidance that Office apps must be signed in with the account that has the correct license.
2. If using Outlook for Mac and a work/school student license was previously used, add an account that has a valid license for desktop Outlook (for home use, Microsoft 365 Personal or Family). Once Outlook is activated by a properly licensed account, additional accounts can be added regardless of license status.
3. If the old student license was part of a Microsoft 365 Education subscription that has since been reclaimed, Outlook will show reduced functionality and unlicensed notifications until a valid Microsoft 365 subscription (such as Family) is used to activate it.

If Outlook continues to reference the old license after signing out/in with the correct account, uninstalling and reinstalling Office, then activating only with the Microsoft 365 Family account, will typically clear the legacy license reference.

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References:

• I get a "Couldn't Update License" error in Microsoft 365
• How licensing and access works in Outlook for Mac
• Manage graduating student licenses and content in Microsoft 365 Education
• Unlicensed Product and activation errors in Office