I am asked to activate microsoft 365

Question

I am asked to activate microsoft 365

Lakshmi Desiraju 60

I have a paid version of Office 2024 installed on my imac, but when I go to use excel or word, I cannot save my document because I am asked to activate microsoft 365. Excel clearly shows that I have home office 2024. How can I get rid of the Microsoft 365 message?

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Answer 1

John Jefferson Doyon 86,980 Independent Advisor

Thank you for letting me know.

I’d suggest is to uninstall any existing Office apps on your Mac to avoid conflict:

Here are the steps: https://support.microsoft.com/Microsoft-365-Activation-Licensing/how-to-remove-office-license-files-on-a-mac

Then, to reinstall Microsoft Office:

Go to https://account.microsoft.com/services again.
Sign in using the same Microsoft account linked to your license.
Find your Microsoft Office 2024 and click the "Install".
That will download the installer for the Office apps, just run it and follow the steps.

If anything’s unclear or the "Install" option still doesn’t show, feel free to let me know. I’ll be happy to walk you through it!

Thanks!

Lakshmi Desiraju 60 Reputation points

2026-09-08T21:32:30+00:00

That finally worked. Thank you for your help, John!
John Jefferson Doyon 86,980 Reputation points Independent Advisor

2026-09-08T21:40:05.8633333+00:00

Thanks! Did my steps help you, or did the AI Assist answer help? Or both?
Lakshmi Desiraju 60 Reputation points

2026-09-09T00:56:44.62+00:00

Your steps helped. I had uninstalled and reinstalled Office one time prior to this and did not expect it to work this time either. I had to give it another try though. Lo and behold, it worked!
John Jefferson Doyon 86,980 Reputation points Independent Advisor

2026-09-09T10:10:49.78+00:00

Glad to assist!

If all is resolved, feel free to mark the answer for this thread. Otherwise, if anything related to this issue is still unresolved, please let me know.

Thanks!

Answer 2

John Jefferson Doyon 86,980 Independent Advisor

Hi, @Lakshmi Desiraju

To help narrow down the issue:

Where did you purchase the license? Was it from the Microsoft website or a third-party seller?
What is the exact product name you bought?
Can you also check this: https://account.microsoft.com/services and sign in. Do you see the specific product license listed there?

Click "Add comment" to let me know.

Thanks!

Lakshmi Desiraju 60 Reputation points

2026-09-08T15:17:18.42+00:00

Yes, my home office 2024 is listed in my microsoft account. I originally downloaded the software from Microsoft.

Recently I bought a one note/one drive subscription from Microsoft 365. I think this is creating the problem for me. I uninstalled it, but the problem persists.

When I signed out of Excel, restarted the computer and tried to log in to activate my home 2024 subscription, this is the message I got is shown on the attached screenshot

Answer 3

This usually happens when Office is using the wrong license state, even though Office Home 2024 is installed.

Try this in order:

Sign out of the Office app that is showing the message
- In Excel or Word, use the Mac menu bar and select Excel > Sign Out or Word > Sign Out.
- Restart the iMac.
- Open the app again and sign in with the Microsoft account associated with the Office 2024 purchase.
If the message still appears, remove old Office license files
- Run the License Removal Tool.
- Then open any Office app and sign in with the account associated with the new Office license.
- After that, on the top menu select Help > Check for Updates.
If Office still says Microsoft 365 is required, remove and reinstall the apps
- Close Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Outlook.
- Open Finder > Applications.
- Locate the Office apps, control-click them, and choose Move to Trash.
- Reinstall Office using the Microsoft installer package, then activate it with the perpetual one-time Office license.
Avoid the Mac App Store build for this scenario
- If Office was installed from the Mac App Store, remove it and reinstall the Microsoft-downloaded installer package instead.
If activation prompts continue after reinstall
- Quit the Office app.
- Restart the app.
- If the prompt keeps returning, open Spotlight > Keychain, search for Office, delete the data license file, and run the license removal tool again.

Expected result: after the license is reset and the correct installer is used, Word and Excel should activate as Office 2024 and allow saving and editing without requiring a Microsoft 365 subscription.

References: