Cannot activate Office Apps with High Sierra

Sorry, I mean office apps like the ones you’ve mentioned, outlook, word, excel etc. I’m using office 365.

I could force quit everything except Finder where there doesn't seem to be an option to quit, only relaunch. I tried opening Word and nothing has changed - I still cannot activate it.

Thanks, but unfortunately this did not work for me. Microsoft won't update the version that works with my (older) OS to allow me to activate my subscription. I can access online, but the formatting features are difficult to navigate and I need to be able to work offline too, so looks like I'm going to have to use alternative word processing software. Really hope Microsoft addresses this issue. I'd pay more for a permanent version with 1yr of updates like used to be available.

Thanks, but unfortunately this did not work for me. Microsoft won't update the version that works with my (older) OS to allow me to activate my subscription. I can access online, but the formatting features are difficult to navigate and I need to be able to work offline too, so looks like I'm going to have to use alternative word processing software. Really hope Microsoft addresses this issue. I'd pay more for a permanent version with 1yr of updates like used to be available.

I don’t think that Microsoft will address this issue so I have emailed the CEO of Microsoft and asked him for help. He is Satya Nadella (satyaN@microsoft.com). This is the text of my email:

“Dear Mr Nadella,

I am emailing you in the hope that you might be able to direct my query to someone who can resolve a problem, all other attempts having failed.

I have an old but good condition  Macbook Pro with a clean version of High Sierra having been installed.  I have an Office 365 account and downloaded and installed Office (version 16.43). When first trying to use any of the Apps (Word, for example), I get a welcome page telling me all the great things that are now available and then a window to enter in my Microsoft account email address. After entering this, I then get a blank window where, when logging in to my account from a browser, I would need to enter my password. The blank screen never changes. I am far from being the only one affected by this problem as the following thread shows:

https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/msoffice/forum/all/cannot-activate-office-apps-with-high-sierra/5ebfc96a-6c37-46f5-87e1-edf624c8b027?page=2&messageId=9b0f4da6-bb88-43e3-b46e-01f3280f82b3

In this day and age when we are constantly being exhorted to avoid waste, protect the environment and conserve resources, it is surely not right for companies like Microsoft to force us to abandon perfectly serviceable technology, both hardware and software. I am not expecting life-time support, accept limitations and recognise that bells and whistles aren’t there but it is not asking much to expect that otherwise working devices are not prevented from doing so by what seems like purely administrative limitations.

I look forward to your being able to help resolve this dilemma.

Best regards”

My suggestion is that anyone else who is affected by this problem should also email Mr Nadella - it might not do any good at all but, then again, it might.

The email address of the Microsoft CEO has been removed “for privacy” but just go to this URL:

https://forums.windowscentral.com/threads/does-anyone-have-contact-information-for-microsoft-executives.475316/

Hi guys,

I also went through the massive trouble of attempting to install Office in a High Sierra machine just recently. After a lot of back-and-forth, looking for as much info as I could gather from forums like this, I finally got a procedure that allowed me to do it - however, it takes a lot of steps to get there as it basically requires you to man-in-the-middle the whole thing to get an auth code generated and replied back to the Office App. Also, it worked to get all apps authenticated except for MS Teams.

I don't provide any guarantees that this will work for you. If you want to try it, make sure that you know what you're doing, and try it at your own risk: https://gist.github.com/rafaelfonte/56b9fb80daed8c586433e82859ccb876

This procedure involves intercepting the authentication window request url that is called just before the page goes blank with a local proxy tool, going to that URL in your browser, copying the auth code URL and then forcing the authentication window to that URL via a HTTP redirect. Still, a lot more hassle than what should at all be expected, just to overcome limitations from software that is poorly maintained by Microsoft when it comes to supporting users on legacy platforms that were working fine just a few years prior.

Also, I haven't taken any screen captures of URLs or such while doing it. What's documented there comes out of memory alone. I might come back to it later to fill in a few more details in the future.

(EDIT: Just reviewed the doc to make it easier to follow and made a few corrections to make it more clear).