Can't activate MS 365

Question

Can't activate MS 365

Harold Appel 0

Is it possible to activate Office 365 on my MacBook mid 2014 running the latest MacOS 11.7.11 or has my subscription failed?

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Answer 1

DaveM121 918.2K Independent Advisor

If your version of MacOS is Big Sur (11.7.11), then the error you are seeing is caused by an update on the 13th of July, many people are seeing the exact same error, if you are unable to upgrade your MacOS to a newer compatible version, your Office apps will go into Read Only mode, on the link below they provide full details on that update.

https://support.microsoft.com/office/update-microsoft-365-or-office-on-your-macos-or-ios-device-f418ae5d-bb5f-4078-b3d9-9340f5dd084e

If you are unable to upgrade your MacOS version to 12 or greater, then the only option available would be to use the free online version of the Office apps in a web browser.

Harold Appel 0 Reputation points

2026-07-29T15:39:55.45+00:00

So MS decided that my subscription would suddenly no longer work on my old MacBook. Why not let me use an older version of 365? I went to the archive and reinstalled a correct ild version. No longer can be activated. This seems rather unfair.
DaveM121 918.2K Reputation points Independent Advisor

2026-07-29T15:42:58.4233333+00:00

This is indeed a bad situation, I can only indicate what is causing the problem, after they made that update, the previous workaround to install an older version of Office will no longer work
Harold Appel 0 Reputation points

2026-07-29T15:58:49.9+00:00

Thanks, DaveM121. I didn’t mean to criticize your helpful answer which was much clearer than the message from Microsoft. Just venting my frustration.
DaveM121 918.2K Reputation points Independent Advisor

2026-07-29T16:00:51.0166667+00:00

No problem at all Harold, I really do understand how frustrating this is after that update.