After entering password, Microsoft tries to create passkey, gets stuck and must force quit (on Mac)

Question

I have been trying to log into my Office 365 on a MacBook Air through Word. I have done this many times before. I enter my username and password, and after pressing enter it immediately goes to a page where it says it is opening a security window to create a passkey. I then get stuck there; it does not proceed no matter how long I wait. I also can't go back or cancel. The only way to get off that page is to force quit. I have tried several times and can never get past it. I can't figure out how to prevent it from trying to create a passkey, or get it to just do it so I can get through and use Office.

I tried Googling the issue. I tried one suggestion (clearing Keychain access of any attempts at passkeys and trying again). It didn't work. I also tried logging into Microsoft.com, but encountered the same issue. I had to force quit the Safari page to get out and try something else.

I even changed my password; it is still doing it.

I am out of ideas.

Answer 1

Follow these steps on the Mac to get past the stuck sign-in/passkey screen and restore normal Office sign-in.

1. Quit Office and clear Office sign-in items from Keychain

1. Quit Word and all other Office apps.
2. Open Keychain Access (Finder > Go > Utilities > Keychain Access, or search via Spotlight).
3. In the search box, run these searches and delete the listed items:
   • Search Exchange → for each result, check the Account field; delete all entries for the Microsoft 365/Exchange account.
   • Search adal → delete all items of type MicrosoftOffice15_2_Data:ADAL:<GUID>.
   • Search office → delete Microsoft Office Identities Cache 2 and Microsoft Office Identities Settings 2.
   • Search Office (capitalization doesn’t matter) → delete any remaining Office-related password entries (expect 2–6 entries).
4. Close Keychain Access.

These steps remove cached tokens and identities that can cause repeated or broken authentication flows in Office for Mac.

2. Make sure Office is in the default /Applications folder If Office apps were moved out of /Applications, the embedded sign-in and keychain prompts can misbehave.

1. In Finder, open Applications.
2. Ensure Word, Excel, Outlook, etc. are under /Applications (not inside a subfolder like Downloads or a custom folder).
3. If they are elsewhere, drag them back into /Applications and then start Word from there.

If you previously clicked Deny on any keychain prompts, follow the guidance in Office for Mac repeatedly requesting keychain access to restore keychain permissions, then choose Always Allow when prompted so the sign-in flow can complete.

3. Try sign-in again

1. Start Word from /Applications.
2. Sign in with the Microsoft 365 account.
3. When macOS prompts for keychain access, select Always Allow (you may see this up to three times per app).
4. If the passkey creation prompt appears again, wait a short time; if it still hangs, close Word, repeat the Keychain cleanup, and try once more.

4. If the sign-in page keeps looping in a browser as well If the same behavior occurs in Safari when signing in at Microsoft sites, it indicates a broader authentication issue rather than Word only. In that case, after the Keychain cleanup and ensuring Office is in /Applications, test sign-in again. If the sign-in page continually reappears across devices and apps and the environment uses AD FS, the AD FS server may require the update documented in Several issues after you install security update 2843638 or 2843639 on an AD FS server.

If, after these steps, the passkey screen still freezes both in Word and in Safari, contact Microsoft Support or use Microsoft Community for further account-specific investigation, as public guidance cannot access or modify account or device security configuration.

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References:

• Outlook 2016 for Mac repeatedly prompts for authentication
• Can't sign in to an Office 2016 for Mac app
• What to try if you can't install or activate Office for Mac
• Office for Mac repeatedly requesting keychain access
• How to troubleshoot issues that you encounter when you sign in to Office apps for Mac, iPad, iPhone, or iPod Touch when using Active Directory Federation Services
• Having problems getting text codes to confirm my account - Microsoft Q&A
• How to fix the issue with MS Office asking you to log in every time you open an Office app - Microsoft Q&A