OFFICE STUCK AT "We're getting things ready" (Office for Windows)

Anonymous
2015-12-22T06:24:08+00:00

I activated my Office 365 Home Subscription and clicked the install button on the page. It downloaded an .exe file and so I clicked it, then an orange box popped up saying "We're getting things ready" and it has been like this for 30 minutes. What do I do? Could this be linked to the fact that I bought the subscription key thing in the U.S. and activated it in the Philippines through telephone activation because it was region locked? (They sent me an email with a link where it just required me to sign in and then it went to the install page)

Using a brand new Surface Pro 4 256gb i5 model

Update: Got past the first orange popup by forcing it to quit and restarting my surface then I got an error and then proceeded to click the help link on the error message then it made me download something and run that thing then now I downloaded the install .exe file again and ran it. Now I'm at the bigger white "Installing Office" with "We'll be done in just a moment" popup with the loading bar thing. I'm stuck at 15%. How long does this usually take and does it require internet? I have **** internet right now because of something called "Asia Pacific Downtime Blah Blah" my ISP keeps telling me.

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

Locked Question. This question was migrated from the Microsoft Support Community. You can vote on whether it's helpful, but you can't add comments or replies or follow the question.

0 comments No comments

114 answers

Sort by: Newest
  1. Anonymous
    2018-02-18T11:38:12+00:00

    I have had this problem adding an account to Outlook. And I discovered a 'hidden' ahurm, Window asking for that accounts credentials, which when entered, fixed it.

    Was this answer helpful?

    1 person found this answer helpful.
    0 comments No comments
  2. Anonymous
    2018-01-15T17:30:51+00:00

    I have just about had it with this total crap. "WE're setting up your account" and then you just DON"T ....

    Hours and hours WASTED

    Was this answer helpful?

    1 person found this answer helpful.
    0 comments No comments
  3. Anonymous
    2017-10-25T15:18:36+00:00

    I am stuck at the 'We're getting things ready' for over 24 hours when I am trying to add an account to my outlook. Is this normal?

    Same thing is happening to me! I'm determined to fix this since there is NO help given elsewhere for this issue.

    I've also tried the Offline installer but still didn't work for me, gave the same "We're getting things ready" for hours to no end.

    Then I tried the Support and Recovery Assistant for Office 365 tool to install Office 2016 and it worked! Unfortunately the tool itself requires Internet connection to prepare, then it will still use Internet connection to install Office (so my offline installer was worthless). But to me this tool was worth it.

    Using the tool, the "We're getting things ready" shows only for less than a minute, then immediately changes to installing... (which takes a long while, but at least there's a progress bar with visible movement).

    Was this answer helpful?

    10+ people found this answer helpful.
    0 comments No comments
  4. Anonymous
    2017-10-24T09:17:25+00:00
    • I've used the uninstall tool to completely remove Office (the tool says "Cannot detect Office installation" but then asks to restart and I restarted).
    • I've turned off Avast antivirus.

    I also used the offline installer for Office 2016 ProPlus 32-bit (https://support.office.com/en-us/article/Use-the-Office-2016-offline-installer-f0a85fe7-118f-41cb-a791-d59cef96ad1c#OfficePlans=Office\_for\_business), however even using Offline installer it's still stuck at "We're getting things ready".

    This is very frustrating. Why Microsoft chose to use a neverending, ambiguous loop for an installer instead of a clear progress/error/diagnostics message is beyond me.

    Was this answer helpful?

    10+ people found this answer helpful.
    0 comments No comments
  5. Anonymous
    2017-10-23T10:07:57+00:00

    Having the same problem... Have tried running as administrator - any more suggestions?  I'm loathe to do anything that removes my existing Office package until I know this is going to work, as I can't be stuck without it for any length of time!!  However, it may be that this is necessary?

    Was this answer helpful?

    0 comments No comments