365 Log in issues

Question

365 Home/student 2019 Desktop
(updated 3/23/26 per Geek Squad)
Purchased 2/12/26
365 Home 2024 Laptop
when I try to open it gives me the obtion to select either one.
When I select Miscrosoft Office Home 2024 I receive a message Sorry, something went wrong. You don't have permission to update the license. Please contact support person for mote information.

Both licenses are linked to the same email @gmail.com. Does one of the accounts need a different email address (@yahoo.com) Please help

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Moderator note: personal information removed

Answer 1

Hello Laurie Phillips,

I understand that you are having issue with logging in. I truly understand how you feel. Let me assist you go through this situation.

You do not need to switch to a different email address (Yahoo, etc.) just to fix this. What usually causes “Sorry, something went wrong. You don’t have permission to update the license” is one of these:

• Office is signed in with the wrong Microsoft account (even if it’s also a Gmail address).
• There are multiple Office installs / leftover trial versions on the PC, which can create activation/license conflicts.
• Office 2024 sometimes keeps using an older cached license, so it won’t “switch” until that cache is cleared.

Below is the fastest “best practice” fix path (Windows).

1. Confirm which Microsoft account actually owns the license

On the laptop, sign in to the Microsoft “Services & subscriptions” page with the same Gmail address and confirm you can see your Office/Microsoft 365 product listed there. If it’s not listed, you’re in the wrong account. It explicitly recommends trying all personal email addresses you may have used for the purchase.

2. Sign out of Office completely, then sign back in

• Open Word (or Excel)
• Go to File > Account
• Click Sign out (for every account shown)
• Close all Office apps
• Reopen Word and Sign in with the account that shows the active license in Step 1

1. Remove activation conflicts (multiple Office versions)

Activation can fail when you have multiple copies of Office installed and recommends uninstalling the versions you aren’t using.

Do this:

Settings > Apps > Installed apps (or Control Panel > Programs and Features)

Uninstall anything like:

• Old Office trials / “Microsoft 365 (trial)”
• Extra Office versions you don’t need on that device

Then reboot and open Word again.

4. If it still won’t switch to Office Home 2024: clear the local license cache (common Office 2024 fix)

This is a known workaround when Office 2024 keeps showing/using the wrong license:

• Close all Office apps
• Open File Explorer and paste this path in the address bar: %LocalAppData%\Microsoft\Office\Licenses
• Delete the folder named 5 (only that folder)
• Reopen an Office app and sign in again, then select Office Home 2024 when prompted

This exact “delete folder 5” approach is documented as the fix for Office 2024 license switching issues.

5. Repair Office (if license update still fails)

If the license update is still stuck after the above, an Online Repair is commonly recommended for “cannot update license” type problems.

Windows: Settings > Apps > Installed apps > Microsoft 365/Office > Modify > Online Repair

I hope this will help with your situation. Please feel free to reach back if you have further update or more questions.

Best Regards,

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Answer 2

The error indicates a licensing/account mismatch, not that a different email address is required.

Key points from the error and setup:

• The message “You don't have permission to update the license” typically appears when the signed‑in account in the Office apps does not match the account that owns the license, or when Office is trying to use the wrong product/license on that device.
• Both licenses can be associated with the same email address; a second email address is not required.

Use these steps to fix it:

1. Confirm the correct account and licenses
   • Go to the Microsoft account services page (Subscriptions) and sign in with the gmail.com address.
   • Verify that the Office/365 products purchased (Home/Student 2019 and Home 2024) are listed under that same account.
   • If they are not listed there, that email address cannot be used to activate those products and the correct account must be used instead.
2. Sign in to Office with the right account
   • Open any Office app (Word, Excel) on the device.
   • Go to Account (or File → Account).
   • Under User Information, sign out of all accounts listed.
   • Close all Office apps.
   • Reopen an Office app and sign in only with the gmail.com account that shows the valid subscriptions on the Subscriptions page.
   • When prompted to choose a product, select the one that matches the license for that device (for example, Office Home 2024 on the laptop that has that license).
3. Check for multiple Office installs
   • Having more than one Office version installed can cause activation and licensing conflicts.
   • In Windows, go to Settings → Apps → Installed apps (or Apps & features).
   • Uninstall any duplicate or older Office installations that are not needed (for example, if both Office 2019 and Microsoft 365 apps are installed on the same device and only one license is owned for that device).
   • After uninstalling, restart the device and then open an Office app and sign in again with the correct account.
4. If Office still shows unlicensed or errors
   • Follow the activation troubleshooting steps:
     • Ensure the subscription is not expired.
     • If Office still will not activate after signing in with the correct account and removing extra copies, use the activation troubleshooting flow for the installed version (Microsoft 365 or Office 2019/2024) as described in the activation article.

There is no requirement to move one of the licenses to a different email address. The important part is:

• The device must be signed into Office with the same account that actually owns the license shown on the Subscriptions page.
• Only one active Office installation per device should be used to avoid conflicts.

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References:

• I get a "Couldn't Update License" error in Microsoft 365
• Unlicensed Product and activation errors in Office