How to reactivate Microsoft Office 2019

Question

Today, I opened a Word document to edit but it opened up into read only mode and prompted me to activate Microsoft Office 365.

I believe this is due to me using my university email for Office use and since I've graduated it may have been terminated? Thus, I checked my Microsoft account (current one) to reinstall 'Office Home and Student 2019' which was under the 'Products you've purchased' tab. However, once the package was installed, my Office Word still prompts me to activate Microsoft 365.

How do I fix this and gain access into Word?

Thank you.

Answer 1

Hello

Because you previously used the university's license, you would need to remove the license from the system first.

Select Finder > Applications > Utilities > Keychain Access.

Right-click the university account that you want to remove.

Select Delete [account name].

After that, 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 to clear the cached organizational credential, this should then allow you to sign in using your personal Microsoft account.

Answer 2

Word is still tied to the old university Microsoft 365 subscription instead of using the Office Home & Student 2019 license. The fix is to ensure the correct account and license are used, and to reactivate Office with that account on the Mac.

Use these steps:

1. Verify the Office 2019 license is in the correct Microsoft account
   1. Close all Office apps on the Mac.
   2. Go to the Services & subscriptions page: https://account.microsoft.com/services
   3. Sign in with the personal Microsoft account that shows Office Home and Student 2019 under “Products you’ve purchased” or Subscriptions.
   4. Confirm that Office Home and Student 2019 appears there. This is the account that must be used in Word.
2. Make Office stop using the old (university) account
   1. Open Word on the Mac.
   2. If Word shows an activation or subscription prompt, choose Use another account or similar.
   3. Sign out of any account that looks like the old university email.
   4. When prompted to sign in, enter the personal Microsoft account confirmed in step 1 (the one that owns Office Home & Student 2019).
3. Reactivate Office 2019 on the Mac
   1. After signing in with the correct account, Word should detect the Office 2019 license and activate.
   2. If there is a choice of products, select the perpetual Office 2019 license rather than Microsoft 365.
4. If activation still fails
   • Use the official reactivation/activation guidance:
     • For general reactivation help, use the guided walkthrough: https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?linkid=2202046
     • For Mac-specific activation instructions, follow Activate Office for Mac from the reactivation article.
   • If Word still shows Unlicensed Product or keeps asking for Microsoft 365, follow the “Unlicensed Product and activation errors in Office” troubleshooting flow, which includes checking the right account and subscription status.

Once Word is signed in with the personal account that owns Office Home & Student 2019 and the product is activated, it will leave read-only mode and allow full editing and saving again.

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References:

• Reactivate Microsoft 365 or Office
• Unlicensed Product and activation errors in Office
• How to reinstall Office & Student 2019 - Microsoft Q&A