Personal trial is blocking and causing issues with Microsoft 365 at work and Athabasca University for my on-line course

The expired personal Microsoft 365 trial is causing the subscription and “unlicensed/illegal use” notices. When a trial ends, Office on that device eventually goes into reduced functionality mode and shows Unlicensed Product or subscription warnings. Documents can still be opened and printed, but editing and creating new documents is blocked unless Office is activated with a valid subscription.

To stop the blocking notices and regain full editing using the university or work subscription, the Office apps on the device must be activated with one of those valid accounts instead of the expired personal trial. The key actions are:

1. Sign in with the correct account
   • Open any Office app (for example, Word).
   • When the subscription or “sign in to verify your subscription” notice appears, choose Sign in.
   • Sign in with the Athabasca University Microsoft 365 account or the North Vancouver School District work account (whichever is intended for that device).
   • Office will then activate against that subscription if it is active.
2. If Office stays in “Unlicensed Product” or similar state
   • Follow the guidance for Unlicensed Product and activation errors in Office:
     • Confirm the subscription used (university or work) is active by checking its status.
     • Make sure the correct account is the one signed into Office.
     • If there are multiple Office copies installed, remove the extra one to avoid activation conflicts.
3. If the expired trial was the only subscription on that device
   • When a free trial is cancelled or expires, Office eventually runs in View Only mode and shows Unlicensed Product notifications. In that state:
     • Files can be opened and printed.
     • Files cannot be edited or newly created until Office is activated with a valid subscription.
   • To keep using Office on that device, install and sign in with the Athabasca University or work subscription instead of the personal trial.
4. If the subscription notice is about payment or verification
   • If the message is ACCOUNT NOTICE. We’ve run into a problem with your Microsoft 365 subscription and need your help to fix it, it is usually due to a payment or subscription problem on the personal trial. That personal subscription can be left expired; instead, sign in with the university or work account so Office uses that subscription.
5. If activation still fails
   • Use the Microsoft Support and Recovery Assistant on the same Windows PC to diagnose and fix activation issues, as described in the Office activation troubleshooting steps.
   • If that does not resolve the problem, deactivate/uninstall Office from the device, then reinstall it while signed in with the university or work account so that installation is tied only to a valid subscription.

Once Office is activated with a valid Athabasca University or work subscription, the expired personal trial will no longer control activation on that device, and the blocking/unlicensed notices will stop. The personal trial itself does not delete or erase documents; it only limits editing when no active subscription is available.

References:

• A subscription notice appears when I open a Microsoft 365 application
• Unlicensed Product and activation errors in Office
• Cancel your free trial of Microsoft 365 Family
• Office error "Account Notice: We've run into a problem with your Microsoft 365 subscription"