I bought Microsoft Office 2024 but my apps is still showing view only

Question

I bought Microsoft Office 2024 but my apps is still showing view only

Kiamco, Mia Mae 0

Hello! I just bought Microsoft Office 2024. Went ahead and uninstalled old apps and reinstalled apps via the purchase i made. however, when i open the apps (like excel), i logged in and it is saying my account only has a view only.

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Answer 1

Norah-L 6,685 Microsoft External Staff Moderator

Hello Kiamco, Mia Mae

From what you described, you recently purchased Office 2024, uninstalled the older version, and reinstalled the apps, but after signing in, the apps are still showing in view‑only mode.

Sometimes, corrupted keychain entries can prevent Office from recognizing a valid license. Try this first to refresh the local sign‑in/credentials:

Close all Office apps
Open Keychain Access (Spotlight search)
In the search box, try keywords such as Microsoft, Office, ADAL, or Microsoft Identity, then remove related saved credentials
Reopen Word/Excel and sign in again.

If the issue continues, you may also want to try this method to help clear any leftover or conflicting activation data from previous Office installations and allows a clean reactivation:

Run the Office License Removal Tool
Restart your Mac
Then reinstall Office from your Microsoft account (under Services & Subscriptions, and sign in again.

Note: The license removal tool only clears saved activation/licensing data on your Mac, it does not delete your purchase or invalidate your license. However, please make sure you still have access to the correct Microsoft account associated with your original Office purchase, as you will need to sign in again to reactivate it after running the tool.

Hope this could help. Please let me know how it goes!

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Kiamco, Mia Mae 0 Reputation points

2026-05-23T14:23:01.2866667+00:00

Hello. I would like to clarify something. When I bought the Office 2024, somehow Microsoft let me log in with my previous university credentials. The account is tied to [REMOVED PII].edu which is the old email (now it is just [REMOVED PII].edu). I tried to redeem it and it did say i did but when i try to sign in using [REMOVED PII].edu to activate the redeemed Office 2024, it says the account does not exist.
Kiamco, Mia Mae 0 Reputation points

2026-05-23T14:23:22.5033333+00:00

I have also tried the suggested actions above and it did not resolve it.
Kiamco, Mia Mae 0 Reputation points

2026-05-23T14:25:11.1666667+00:00

I ended up making another account and buying Office 2024 again and that installed with no issues in my laptop. Now i am wondering if i can get a refund for the first purchase (Order#[removed]). My last resort is to dispute that charge through my credit card company.
Norah-L 6,685 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator

2026-05-24T02:59:02.2133333+00:00
PII caution: Please note that this is a public forum for users. Do not post any private information here for your privacy and security.

Hi Kiamco, Mia Mae

For the refund request, you may first want to review these official Microsoft articles:

Microsoft subscription refund policy

How to get a refund on a Microsoft subscription

These explain how refund eligibility works (for example, it may depend on timing and whether the product has been used) and the steps to check if your purchase qualifies.

If you’re not able to request a refund through your account or need help reviewing your order, I’d recommend contacting Microsoft Support directly, as they can check the order details and assist further.

Since this is a user‑to‑user community forum, we can only share suggestions based on our findings and personal experiences and we don’t have access to billing systems.

Here is how to reach out to the Support Team (live chat):

Go to: https://support.microsoft.com/home/contact

In the search box, enter a short description of your issue, for example: Get help with Office Home 2024 refund...

Hit "Get Help"

Scroll down and select Sign in to contact support for further assistance (please sign in using a personal Microsoft account). Then follow the on-screen prompts to reach Support Team.

Note: Chat support may not always be available at the moment due to a temporary service issue. If that happens, trying again later or at a different time may help.

Hopefully your issue will soon be addressed. Thank you so much for your patience!

Best regards.

Answer 2

The apps are in view-only mode because the license associated with the signed-in account is not being recognized as a fully activated Office 2024 license.

To resolve this on macOS, use these steps:

Confirm the correct license is tied to the account
- Go to the Microsoft account dashboard for services and subscriptions: https://account.microsoft.com/services.
- Sign in with the same Microsoft account used to purchase Office 2024.
- Verify that an Office 2024 product (for example, Office Home 2024 or Office Home & Business 2024) appears under Services & subscriptions and that it is active.
- If Office 2024 does not appear, the purchase may be associated with a different Microsoft account; sign out and try any other Microsoft accounts that might have been used.
Make sure the apps installed match the license
- If the Mac apps were installed from the Mac App Store under a different Apple ID or as a different Office product, remove them and reinstall the correct build.
- To remove the current Office apps on Mac:
  1. Close Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Outlook.
  2. Open Finder → Applications.
  3. Control-click Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Outlook and choose Move to Trash.
- Then download the appropriate Office installer for perpetual (one-time) licenses from Microsoft (for example, the Office 2024 for Mac Installer if that matches the purchased product) and install it. Once installed, sign in with the same Microsoft account that shows the Office 2024 license.
Reactivate the apps with the correct account
- Open one of the Office apps (such as Word or Excel).
- If prompted to sign in, use the Microsoft account that shows the Office 2024 license under Services & subscriptions.
- After sign-in, go to File → Account (or the equivalent Account view on Mac) and confirm that the product information shows the Office 2024 license and that the product is activated.

If the apps still show view-only after confirming the correct account and reinstalling, contact Microsoft support using the Microsoft 365 Customer Service and Support channel so they can verify the license status on the account and correct any activation issues.

References:

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I bought Microsoft Office 2024 but my apps is still showing view only

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