microsoft office issue

Question

my Microsoft office 2013 is no longer working... I think it's a licensing error, and it couldn't repair either

It's quite frustrating

Answer 1

Follow these steps to fix Office 2013 licensing/activation issues and repair failures on Windows:

1. Check for licensing/activation problems

• If Office shows Unlicensed Product or similar, sign in with the same account that was used to buy or activate Office.
• If the wrong account is used, Office activation fails and features are disabled. See the guidance in Unlicensed Product and activation errors in Office for signing in with the correct account.

2. Repair Office properly (full Online Repair) If the built‑in “Repair now” dialog does nothing, run a full repair from Control Panel instead of relying on the quick in‑app repair.

For Windows 8/8.1, 7, or Vista:

1. Open Control Panel.
2. Under Programs, select Uninstall a program.
3. Select the Office 2013 product, then choose Change.
4. If the installation is Click‑to‑Run:
   • Choose Online Repair (this is the full repair) and then Repair.
   • Use Quick Repair only if Online Repair is not possible; Quick Repair only detects and replaces corrupted files.
5. If the installation is MSI-based:
   • In Change your installation, select Repair, then Continue, and follow the prompts.

If the small “Repair now” dialog still appears and does nothing, ignore it and rely on this full Online Repair instead, as recommended.

3. Fix “Microsoft Office cannot verify the license for this product” If the error message explicitly says Microsoft Office cannot verify the license for this product when starting Word, Excel, Outlook, or PowerPoint, do the following.

A. Check the SoftwareProtectionPlatform registry entry

1. Open Registry Editor (regedit).
2. Navigate to: HKEY_USERS\S-1-5-20\Software\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion
3. Look for SoftwareProtectionPlatform under CurrentVersion:
   • If present, skip to section B (stop running the app in compatibility mode).
   • If missing:
     1. On another device where Office works, open Registry Editor and go to: HKEY_USERS\S-1-5-20\Software\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\SoftwareProtectionPlatform
     2. Right‑click SoftwareProtectionPlatform and select Export to save it as a .reg file.
     3. Copy this .reg file to the problem device and double‑click it to Merge.
     4. On the problem device, go to the same key: HKEY_USERS\S-1-5-20\Software\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\SoftwareProtectionPlatform
     5. Right‑click SoftwareProtectionPlatform and select Permissions.
     6. Under Group or user names, ensure NETWORK SERVICE exists; if not, select Add, type network service, and select OK.
     7. Select NETWORK SERVICE and ensure Allow is checked for Full control, then select Apply > OK.
     8. Restart the device and try opening an Office app again.

B. Stop running Office in compatibility mode

1. Close all Office apps.
2. Locate the Office 2013 executables (e.g., WINWORD.EXE, EXCEL.EXE, OUTLOOK.EXE):
   • MSI-based installs:
     • <drive>\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office15
     • <drive>\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Office\Office15
   • Click‑to‑Run installs:
     • <drive>\Program Files\Microsoft Office\root\Office15
     • <drive>\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Office\root\Office15
3. Right‑click the affected app (for example, WINWORD.EXE) and select Properties.
4. If the Compatibility tab is present:
   • Clear Run this program in compatibility mode for.
   • Select Change settings for all users.
   • On Compatibility for all users, clear Run this program in compatibility mode for.
   • Select OK twice.
5. If the Compatibility tab is not present:
   • Select Cancel to close Properties.
   • Right‑click the executable (for example, OUTLOOK.EXE) and select Troubleshoot compatibility.
   • Select Troubleshoot Program.
   • Clear all options and select Next.
   • Select No, I am done investigating the problem, then Next, then Close.
6. Restart the device and test Office again.
7. Install the latest Office 2013 updates For errors like “Word has run into an error that is preventing it from working correctly,” Microsoft fixed known issues in the October product update (15.0.4763):
8. Open any Office 2013 app (if it will start).
9. Go to File > Account (or Office Account in Outlook).
10. Under Product Information, choose Update Options > Update Now.
11. If Update Now is missing, choose Update Options > Enable Updates, then Update Now.
12. If repair still fails

• Ensure the Office license is correctly associated with the Microsoft account (see the activation article in the references).
• If Online Repair and the compatibility/registry fixes do not resolve the issue, a full uninstall and reinstall using the account’s Services & subscriptions page may be required, as shown in the similar scenarios in the references.

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References:

• "Microsoft Office cannot verify the license for this product" error when you start an Office app
• You may receive an error when running Office 2013 in Windows 10: "We're sorry, but Word has run into an error that is preventing it from working correctly."
• Error code 0-3 when installing Office
• Unlicensed Product and activation errors in Office
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