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locked out of my account

Nellie Laughlin 0 Reputation points
2026-05-19T21:34:25.4+00:00

I have a new computer, a Neo, and transferred everything from my old computer, a MacBook Air, to my new computer. On my new computer, Excel automatically activated but word did not. I clicked on activate in the upper right hand corner of a blank word document. I got a message that I needed to use my gmail account rather than my edu account. I don't want to use my gmail account; I use my edu account for everything. But I was locked out of my account and now I can't activate word.

I would like to activate word and use my edu account.

thank you.

Moderator's note: Moved from Microsoft 365 and Office | Install, redeem, activate | Other | Other

Microsoft 365 and Office | Install, redeem, activate | For education | MacOS
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  1. Teddie-D 16,370 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator
    2026-05-20T01:24:23.46+00:00

    Hi @Nellie Laughlin 

    Since Excel activated automatically on your new MacBook Neo, it sounds like your Microsoft 365 license may still be recognized on the device. However, Word may still be using cached credentials transferred from the old MacBook Air. 

    To better understand the issue, could you please clarify the following: 

    • What exact message did you receive when trying to activate Word? 
    • Are you currently able to sign in to your edu account at the Microsoft 365 portal? 

    In the meantime, please also try the following troubleshooting steps: 

    1.Sign out of Office completely  

    -Open Word, go to Word > Sign Out, then quit Word.  

    -Repeat this for all other Office apps (Excel, PowerPoint, OneNote, Outlook).  

    -Reopen Word and sign in again using the account that originally activated Office. 

    2.Remove corrupted activation files  

    -Quit all Microsoft apps.  

    -Open Finder.  

    -Click Go > Go to Folder.  

    -Paste this exactly and press Enter: ~/Library/Group Containers/  

    -Delete this folder: UBF8T346G9.Office.  

    This does NOT delete documents. It only removes corrupted license data.  

    -Restart your Mac.  

    -Open Word > Sign in again with your edu account.  

    If the issue still persists, please uninstall the current Office apps. Then, download and reinstall the package directly from the https://portal.office.com/account/?ref=Harmony#installs.  

    If none of the above resolves the issue, please sign in to: https://portal.office.com/account#subscriptionsand let me know which license is currently assigned to your edu account. 

    Please know that while our initial response might not resolve the issue right away, your input is incredibly valuable. With a bit more detail, we’ll work together to find the best solution for you.           

    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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