Why does signing out suddenly de-activate office?

Anonymous
2020-07-16T15:23:12+00:00

I have office 365. I used to be able to sign out of an office application and the application still worked. I recently made the mistake of updating the office application where Office 365 is now Microsoft 365. It now seems I HAVE to sign in and stay signed in on my own computer where I downloaded and installed my office products to keep using MS Office. When I sign out, the office product deactivates. I don't want to be signed in to use the product that I paid for. It now means that everyone in my family who use the same computer also use my Office account with my name on each office application. Why did this policy change and can we get the previous policy back?

At https://www.reddit.com/r/Office365/comments/fyzfe6/how_to_logout_from_office_365_word_without/ a user commented:

"Yes you used to be able to sign out of Office 365 and it would still stay activated based on the original MS account that has the Office 365 subscription on it... BUT NOW since they changed the name to Microsoft 365 the NEW installers/program are different and if you sign out then it will deactivate Office and make you sign back in... if you updated from an older install then it still seems to let you log out even with the newest updates... but if you did an Online repair then you will be forced to stay signed in... once signed in with a valid subscription account you can sign in with any another microsoft account instead and it will keep the activation still.."

Please revert this manner of using Office products that have been paid for.

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

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  1. Anonymous
    2020-07-23T21:06:14+00:00

    Yes, but in the past all that meant was that Office 365 online features were not available. Which is what I expected to see and what many people still see. Yes we were prompted to sign back it, because MS is "happier" that way, but signing out did not completely deactivate Office 365.

    There is no sense splitting this particular hare / hair. MS has changed the rules.

    On the same page it says

    <snip>

    What happens if I sign out of Office?

    You might lose some subscription features if you sign out. We recommend that you stay signed in to Office on the devices you use the most.

    </snip>

     .

    Here is another page that explicitly says what I expect to see

    https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/important-news-about-your-microsoft-365-subscription-06828297-4f1d-4059-8748-365d8e658968?ui=en-us&rs=en-us&ad=us

    .

    <snip>

    What if I'm not connected to the Internet?

    Microsoft 365 works without an Internet connection for 30 days. You'll see warnings if you haven't connected in awhile. After 30 days, Microsoft 365 will run in read-only mode. To enable editing, connect the device to the Internet.

    </snip>

    Talk about splitting hairs.  I did another test. I signed out of Office, unplugged my computer from the internet, closed then restarted Word.. Now it works just fine. I was able to create a new document and save it to my HD. Editor appears to work, but dictate gives a misleading message that only implies there is a problem connecting to the internet.  

    .

    So it is adhering to the "letter of the law" not the spirit. It is still an unannounced change in behaviour, without a adequate informational message to indicate the fix to the problem. Either sign in or unplug the internet...

    <sigh>

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  2. Stefan Blom 353.7K Reputation points MVP Volunteer Moderator
    2020-07-23T21:16:38+00:00

    I'm just saying that the wording indicates that signing out actually changes the activation status. 

    I completely agree with you that this is new behavior.

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  3. Anonymous
    2020-07-23T21:33:40+00:00

    Fair enough.

    .

    They don't pay enough inhouse testers, and apparently they don't have enough "insider" crash test dummies, so MS is testing this change in production to see how much feedback they get.  It makes the consipracy nut in me perk up and wander what additional information signing in provides their spyware, pardon me, "telemetry".  Just saying ... <g>

    .

    To the other people who have encountered this "new & (dis)improved" "feature", you should submit feedback to MS expressing your rapturous joy at the "improvement".  I sent in a "frowny face" since my Win10 Feedback Hub <cr>applet has not worked for months ... so I can't share a link to my feedback.

    .

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  4. Anonymous
    2020-07-24T04:57:55+00:00

    Rohn, it is not that new.  I  gave you a link to that article months ago.  It only signs you out 'deactivates' installations if you have more than 5.

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  5. Anonymous
    2020-07-24T06:47:11+00:00

    I only have one ....

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