Word for iPad won't activate

Anonymous
2014-03-29T03:20:57+00:00

I downloaded Word, Powerpoint and Excel for iPad yesterday and purchased a 365 Home Certificate. I tried to activate Word and am always given the message "Cannot Activate. This account doesn't have a paid Office 365 subscription." Then I tried activating Powerpoint and Excel -- knowing if you activate one, they're all activated -- and those won't activate either.

I have the receipt and Order ID from Apple and their phone support has been great, including today, Saturday. But ultimately, they can't help, because it's up to the developer (Microsoft). Everything is fine on the Apple side.

I have done everything possible, from rebooting, to reinstalling, to resetting my network connections, without success. So I tried to call Microsoft Support (through a link Apple kindly supplied) only to find they don't work on weekends.

I've searched the internet for solutions, but the program is so new that I appear to be the only one so far with a problem -- or maybe no one's buying a 365 Home subscription for the first time.

Any thoughts that don't include all the things I've already done would be appreciated.

Thank you,

Don

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Microsoft 365 and Office | Install, redeem, activate | For home | Windows

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Anonymous
2014-07-08T14:32:22+00:00

Go to settings and look for the app there..  Do u see it?...  If so try doing a Word reset" and then reload or open from AppStore page..  Report back..

This worked for me on my iPad. These are the full steps I used:

  • Open up Settings
  • Scroll all the way to the bottom in the left hand pane, select Word
  • In the right hand pane, select Reset Word
  • Turn on Delete Login Credentials
  • IF you already have Word running on your iPad, as I did: Double-press the iPad's home button to bring up all currently running programs, swipe back and forth until you see Word, flick the Word screen up to stop the program 
  • Press the iPad's home button to get back to the home screen
  • Select Word
  • Swipe all the way through the introductory screens until it says "Sign in now" - select Sign in
  • Enter your e-mail address, selected "Next"
  • Sign in to your Microsoft account with your e-mail and password, select "Sign in"
  • Select "Buy Office 365"
  • At the bottom, select the "Restore previous purchase" link
  • Enter your iTunes password

Yeesh.

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  1. Anonymous
    2014-04-03T09:40:23+00:00

    I have the exact same problem. been trying to activate my iPad Office in the last few days without success.

    This is really frustrating, I would assume a company this big will have this kind of issue fixed before launching to the public.

    btw, I purchase my Ipad office 365 through HK app store.

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  2. Anonymous
    2014-04-03T07:22:24+00:00

    Hi Mark,

    If your live account says you dont have a subscription, it would mean that the association of your apple purchase with your live id failed for some reason.

    Try logging in with your live account and then goto the "Buy" page again from within the app, only this time instead of buying hit "I already Have a subscription". This essentially tells apple that I have bought this previously and would like to try the association of subscription with my live id again. If this doesnt succeed in activating, let me know and I will work with you to fix it.

    Thanks for your patience,

    Sumesh

    (Microsoft Office Engg.)

    Hi Sumesh,

    I did as above - the response: "your purchase was successful but we couldn't activate the app.Please try again later to restore your purchase."

    Please let me know what to do next,

    regards,

    Mark

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  3. Anonymous
    2014-04-03T03:22:09+00:00

    Looking ay your offer type, it doesnt seem like you have office apps as part of your subscription.

    You can login into https://portal.microsoftonline.com using your business account and it will show your offer details in there.

    -Sumesh

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  4. Anonymous
    2014-04-03T03:09:53+00:00

    Can you tell me a time frame when you last tried to activate?

    Also are you fine with me contacting you directly?

    -Sumesh

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