Have to login every time I open Excel, Powerpoint, Word

Cathy 20 Reputation points
2026-06-18T23:01:06.89+00:00

I had this problem in the past, and things have been fine until my Microsoft account automatically renewed and defaulted to a setting that requires a password. I have to login every single time I open Powerpoint, Word, Excel, etc. Please help! I don't ever want to have to login to these individual programs.

Microsoft 365 and Office | Subscription, account, billing | For home | Windows
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AI answer

2026-06-18T23:01:19.7233333+00:00

To stop Microsoft 365 apps (Word, Excel, PowerPoint) from asking to sign in every time, follow these steps on Windows:

  1. Confirm you are signed in correctly in an Office app
    • Open Word or Excel.
    • Go to File > Account.
    • Under User Information, make sure the correct Microsoft account (the one with the active subscription) is shown and signed in. If not, click Sign In and enter that account.
  2. Clear corrupted identity cache (fixes repeated sign‑in prompts)
    Close all Office apps first, then:
    1. Open File Explorer and go to:
      C:\Users\<YourUserName>\AppData\Local\Microsoft
    2. Delete the folders IdentityCache and OneAuth.
    3. Reopen Word/Excel, sign in once with the subscription account, and check “Keep me signed in” or similar option when prompted.
    This removes corrupted login tokens that commonly cause Office to ask for credentials every time.
  3. Make sure the correct account is associated with the subscription
    If there is any doubt which account the subscription is tied to, verify it at File > Account in Word/Excel, where the licensed account is shown under Product Information.

After these steps, Office should keep the sign‑in and stop prompting on every launch.

References:

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  1. Norah-L 11,245 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator
    2026-06-19T03:58:40.96+00:00

    Hello Cathy

    From what you described, after your Microsoft 365 subscription renewed, Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and other Office apps started asking you to sign in every time you open them.

    First, you may want to check whether Windows is still holding an old Microsoft 365 or work/school account on the device. This can sometimes cause Office to keep asking you to sign in.

    Please try these steps:

    1. Open Control Panel > Credential Manager > Windows Credentials, then remove old entries related to Microsoft 365, Office, or an organization account you no longer use.
    2. Go to Settings > Accounts > Access work or school, and disconnect any old work/school account that should no longer be linked to this PC.
    3. Restart the computer.
    4. Open the apps then sign in once with the Microsoft account that has the active subscription. If you see a “Stay signed in” or “Remember” option, select it.

    Also, please make sure your Office apps are up to date. Open any Office app, such as Word or Excel, then go to File > Account > Update Options > Update Now.

    If the prompt still appears every time, you can then consider uninstalling and reinstalling Microsoft 365 to refresh the Office installation and bring them back to default.

    Please let me know what happens after trying these steps, and I'll be glad to continue looking into it with you.

    If the answer is helpful, please click "Accept Answer" and kindly upvote it. If you have extra questions about this answer, please click "Comment".

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