Why do I keep having to 'sign-in'? It won't let me purchase.

take my money, stop the nonsense 0 Reputation points
2026-03-03T06:19:11.5633333+00:00

Hi,

I am being sent on a continuous sign-in loop and occasionally it lets me in but I don't have a subscription because I did a disk cleanup on my Mac and now I cannot access my Microsoft Office 2019 programs. I am being prompted to buy a subscription (NO) and I want to make the one-time purchase of the Office suite but it wants me to sign-in again (and endlessly) using a passkey. I hate passkey but I begrudgingly set it up for this and it still won't work. Just take my money and give me the programs back - I am a teacher and I need them (and I STILL DONT WANT 365 - they are garbage versions of the programs!)
Help!

Moved from Microsoft 365 and Office | Excel | For education | MacOS.

Microsoft 365 and Office | Install, redeem, activate | For home | MacOS
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  1. AI answer

    2026-03-03T06:19:26.9266667+00:00

    To get back to a one-time-purchase Office and stop the sign-in loop, follow these steps in order:

    1. Confirm that Office 2019 is (or was) really a one-time purchase on the account
      • Go to Subscriptions and sign in with each Microsoft account that might have been used.
      • If Office 2019 (or another one-time Office license) does not appear under that account, the email being used is not associated with that license.
    2. Turn off any Microsoft 365 subscription offers
      If a Microsoft 365 trial or subscription is attached to the account and is confusing activation, turn off recurring billing so it will not keep trying to use 365:
      • Sign in to Subscriptions.
      • For any Microsoft 365 subscription shown, select Turn off recurring billing.
    3. Buy a new one-time Office license (if needed)
      If there is no existing Office 2019/one-time license on any account, a new one-time purchase is required:
      • Purchase a one-time Office product (for example, Office 2021 one-time purchase) from the official Office site or store.
      • After purchase completes, do not choose Microsoft 365; choose the one-time Office product.
    4. Install Office and switch the license to the one-time purchase
      After the one-time purchase is associated with the correct Microsoft account:
      • On the Mac, sign out of all Office apps.
      • Open Word, Excel, or PowerPoint. When prompted to sign in, use the same Microsoft account that shows the one-time Office license under Subscriptions.
      • If the app still offers Microsoft 365, use the in-app option to switch your license to the one-time purchase associated with that account.
    5. If Office keeps asking to sign in on Mac
      If there are repeated sign-in prompts or “authentication expired” type behavior on Mac, there may be a local keychain/credential issue. Follow the steps in the keychain-reset article referenced in the context to clear Office’s stored credentials and then sign in again with the account that owns the one-time license.

    If the purchase flow itself keeps looping sign-in in the browser, try:

    • Ensuring cookies are enabled and not blocked.
    • Using a different browser or a private/incognito window.
    • Verifying that the Microsoft account profile (name, address, phone, etc.) is fully filled out before attempting the purchase again.

    References:

    AI-generated content may be incorrect. Read our transparency notes for more information.

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