Excel 365 for mac will not allow editing just happened

Question

Excel 365 for mac will not allow editing just happened

Mick Wordley 5

I have Microsoft 365 for mac installed, and is current

Today I cannot edit it (read only), the documents in excel are set at read and write

It is sales@<removed PII>.com.au, I am totally stuck.

I received emails from Microsoft: Security alert, so I changed password, still cannot edit.

I need help

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5 answers

Your answer

Answer 1

David Reiter 0

I had the same issue on macOS Tahoe 26.6.

Microsoft online assistance (real people chatting with me via my paid O365 subscription) led me to a solution that I had not seen in another forum. The assistance was very helpful.

The solution was to toggle in System Settings -> Files & Folders -> Microsoft Excel -> buttons back-and-forth. In my case I only had the iCloud Drive toggle switch. Toggling that single switch back-and-forth and then closing/reopening the Mac Excel app allowed me enter cell/formula bar data again.

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Answer 2

Mick Wordley 5

I am on Tahoe 26.5.2, on a new mac air

Jonathan Deives 78,790 Reputation points Independent Advisor

2026-07-17T03:04:10.61+00:00

Try following the steps I mentioned below.
Jonathan Deives 78,790 Reputation points Independent Advisor

2026-07-17T23:57:28.43+00:00

Does the problem persist after the steps, or are you able to use it now?

Answer 3

Mick Wordley 5

I am on Tahoeb26.5.2, on a new mac air

Jonathan Deives 78,790 Reputation points Independent Advisor

2026-07-17T02:35:52.3033333+00:00

Uninstall your current Office apps:

Uninstall all Office apps completely
Open Finder > Applications
Select all Microsoft Office apps (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, OneNote, etc.)

Download and install through your Microsoft account:

Go to account.microsoft.com/services**
Sign in with the Microsoft account linked to your subscription
Find your Microsoft 365 subscription and click Install
Once installed, open any Office app and sign in with the same Microsoft account to activate.

Also install the latest version of the Microsoft AutoUpdate app. There is a link in the support article at https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/lifecycle/officeinstall/update-office-for-mac-automatically

If the problem persists, please let me know.

Answer 4

Mick Wordley 5

And.. did you get it working ?

I can only edit and save in 365 for mac excel in the web version, all my 365 office ius up to date, it just happened yesterday with no warning apart from getting massage from Microsoft, saying "we think that someone else may have accessed your account"

Totally stuck , I can edit in the web version, which accesses my account, but it is a very long way around, compared to how I use my licensed application on my mac , just paid for

And I can't seem to contact Microsoft .... at all, just forums

Sigh.

Mick

Jonathan Deives 78,790 Reputation points Independent Advisor

2026-07-17T02:33:10.2066667+00:00

Since you didn't answer the initial question, I assume you are using macOS below version 12.

If you are using a version of macOS earlier than macOS 12, that's actually the reason. Since July 13, 2026, older macOS versions like Mojave can't receive the renewed activation certificate, so Office ends up in that same reduced functionality mode, even though the app itself (16.54, the last build for Mojave) installs and opens fine.

Your options going forward are using Word, Excel, and PowerPoint on the web for free through microsoft365.com, or moving to a device running macOS 12 or later.

For reference and more information:
https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/lifecycle/officeinstall/update-m365-office-macos-ios

Answer 5

Jonathan Deives 78,790 Independent Advisor

Which macOS version are you using?

Since there was a licensing update on July 13, 2026, this could be related to your issue depending on your macOS version.

prmdtys 0 Reputation points

2026-07-17T01:32:32.6366667+00:00

Same thing happened to me, can not edit and view only.

Excel and macOS on the latest version, also already subs to ms365