Word read only

Question

Word read only

ANTARA AGGARWAL 0

I have been using a student account to use microsoft 365 for 2 years now. Two days ago, suddenly, microsoft word stopped letting me edit my documents and locked them in a read only mode. I use the microsoft word app on mac. It said that I need to activate my microsoft 365 to be able to create and edit but it already is activated. All of my microsoft 365 apps have stopped working and I need help fixing it. Please reach out as soon as possible. Thanks.

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2 answers

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Answer 1

Dear @ANTARA AGGARWAL,

Thank you for posting your question in the Microsoft Q&A forum.

Based on your description, Microsoft Word and other Microsoft 365 apps on your Mac are showing a message to activate and are currently in read-only mode, even though they worked previously.

In this situation, your Microsoft 365 Education license may have expired or been removed by your school.

Try to check your subscription status

Go to: account.microsoft.com/services
Confirm that your Microsoft 365 subscription is still listed as active

If your subscription is not active or the issue continues after the step above, please contact your school IT administrator. Since Microsoft 365 Education licenses are managed by your institution, only your school can verify if your license is still assigned or they can reassign or reactivate your access.

Note: Please understand that as forum moderator, my primary goal is to provide helpful guidance and support through general troubleshooting steps. While I don’t have access to internal systems or test devices required to resolve backend issues, I truly appreciate your understanding of these limitations. I genuinely hope the information I share helps guide you in the right direction, and I'm always here to assist as much as I can within my scope.

I hope my information above can help you resolve the issue, please feel free to reach out if you have any other questions.

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ANTARA AGGARWAL 0 Reputation points

2026-06-30T07:00:49.3233333+00:00

I have already checked the subscriptions list and microsoft word is still listed under allowed apps. It's not just word, no app under Microsoft 365 is working. They all say the same thing that I need to activate microsoft 365 but when I click on the activate button, a black box shows up with word written on top but nothing else opens or shows on it.
Darren-Ng 11,855 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator

2026-07-01T04:27:57.5633333+00:00

Hello,

Could you please confirm whether you have already graduated? If not, please contact your school’s IT or administrator and ask them to reassign the license to your account.

Answer 2

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