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I cannot Activate Microsoft 365 to create and edit in excel - read only

LouisR 0 Reputation points
2026-01-14T20:13:54.7933333+00:00

As the title says - I cannot Activate Microsoft 365 to create and edit in excel - read only, even though I have a M365 account.

I can create and edit with a sharepoint link but not on the desktop app.

Microsoft 365 and Office | Excel | For business | iOS

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  1. Ryan-N 13,335 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator
    2026-01-14T21:09:43.58+00:00

    Hi @LouisR,

    Welcome to the Microsoft Q&A forum.

    Thank you for reaching out to us. Please allow me to provide you with the following information:

    Please check the following details:

    1. Verify Sign-In Ensure you are signed in with the correct email account that has editing permissions and Edit rights on the SharePoint link:

    File > Account

    User's image

    1. Sign Out and Sign In Again Try signing out and then signing back in.
    2. Check License Confirm that your account has been assigned the appropriate license for the application. (These steps require an account with admin rights on the tenant)

    If you are not a tenant administrator, please contact your administrator (possibly your organization’s IT department) for assistance with the following steps:

    Note: Some licenses only provide Office Web services and do not include Office Apps.

    • Step 1: Go to https://admin.microsoft.com using an account with admin rights on the tenant.
    • Step 2: Click Users > Active Users > your account name. User's image
    • Step 3: Click Licenses and Apps. User's image User's image

    Check the following:

    • If no license is assigned, assign the correct one.
    • If a license is already assigned, remove it and reassign it.
    1. Clear Credentials
    • Sign out of all accounts in Office apps, then close all Office applications.
    • Open File Explorer, paste the following path, and delete all files and folders: %localappdata%\Packages\Microsoft.AAD.BrokerPlugin_cw5n1h2txyewy
    • Go to Settings > Accounts > Access work or school.
    • Check if you see your Work/School account under Access Work or School.
      • If yes, select it and click Disconnect, then click Connect and sign in again to register the device.

    Clear credentials in Credential Manager:

    • Open Control Panel on your computer.
    • Go to User Accounts → Credential Manager.
    • Under both Windows Credentials and Generic Credentials, find entries related to your Microsoft 365 account.
    • Select and delete these entries. User's image
      • Restart your computer and try adding the account in Office again.

    Advanced Options

     I hope this information is helpful. Please follow these steps and let me know if it works for you. If not, we can work together to resolve this.   

    Thank you for your patience and your understanding. If you have any questions or need further assistance, please feel free to share them in the comments on this post so I can continue to support you.

    I look forward to continuing the conversation.

    If the answer is helpful, please click "Accept Answer" and kindly upvote it. If you have extra questions about this answer, please click "Comment". 

    Note: Please follow the steps in our documentation to enable e-mail notifications if you want to receive the related email notification for this thread. 

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  2. AI answer

    2026-01-14T20:14:44.45+00:00

    To resolve the issue of not being able to activate Microsoft 365 and encountering read-only mode in Excel, you can try the following troubleshooting steps:

    1. Sign out of Microsoft 365 and sign back in:
      • Open Excel or any Microsoft 365 app.
      • Click on your name or profile picture at the top.
      • Select Sign out and then sign back in using your Work or School account, not a personal Microsoft account.
    2. Check if you have the correct version of Office installed:
      • Ensure that the version of Microsoft 365 you have is compatible with your license. If you are using a Work or School account, confirm that you have a license assigned.
      • If necessary, uninstall the current version and install the correct one using the Microsoft 365 Uninstall troubleshooter and then reinstall the correct version.
    3. Update Microsoft 365:
      • Open a Microsoft 365 app, go to File > Account, and select Update options > Update now to ensure you have the latest updates installed.
    4. Check for license assignment:
      • If you are an admin, go to the Microsoft 365 Admin Center and check that the user has the necessary licenses assigned. If not, assign the appropriate licenses.
    5. Remove Office credentials:
      • Go to Credential Manager in Windows, remove any credentials related to Microsoft Office, and then restart your device.

    After performing these steps, try activating Microsoft 365 again to see if the issue is resolved.

    AI-generated content may be incorrect. Read our transparency notes for more information.

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