Word won't associate purchase with Microsoft account on iMac (works fine on my other Mac)

Christopher Navratil 25 Reputation points
2026-08-02T23:58:34.89+00:00

I have an active Microsoft 365 subscription (originally purchased via the Mac App Store on Dec 14, 2021, renews annually). It works correctly on my MacBook, but on my iMac (running macOS Tahoe 26.5.1), Word will not open my existing subscription.

The error I get is: "Your purchase was successful but we were unable to associate it with your Microsoft account," and it then prompts me to purchase a new subscription instead of recognizing my existing one.

About Word on the iMac shows "License: Not activated."

Steps I've already tried on the iMac, all unsuccessful:

  • Signing out and back in with the correct Microsoft account
  • Using "Restore previous purchase"
  • Deleting Microsoft/Office entries from Keychain Access, then restarting
  • Attempting "Refresh License" (not available — no license found)
  • Multiple restarts

Since the same account works fine on my other Mac, this seems to be a device-specific licensing/association issue rather than a problem with the account or subscription itself. I also noticed Microsoft's support site currently shows a notice about an active issue with Microsoft 365/Office activation on macOS — wondering if this is related.

Can anyone help me get my existing subscription properly associated with this iMac?

Microsoft 365 and Office | Install, redeem, activate | For home | MacOS
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Answer accepted by question author
Kai-H 26,760 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator
2026-08-03T08:54:10.08+00:00

Hi, Christopher Navratil

This looks like a local licensing cache issue on the iMac, especially since the same Microsoft 365 subscription works on the MacBook. The activation notice may be related, but I could not verify that the current service issue specifically causes this purchase-association error.

Here are some suggestions you can try:

Confirm the subscription is still shown as active under System Settings > Apple Account > Media & Purchases > Subscriptions. Also make sure the App Store is signed in with the same Apple ID used for the original purchase.

Quit all Office apps, then use the official Office license removal tool. Deleting Keychain entries manually may not remove all local licensing files. Restart the Mac afterward.

Remove Word, reinstall it from the Mac App Store, open it, sign in with the Microsoft account already used on the working MacBook, and select Restore previous purchase. If the subscription was originally purchased through a different Office app, restore it from that same app.

If the same message remains, contact Microsoft Support and provide the Apple purchase receipt. They will need to check the account association on the licensing side.

Please be advised that this is a user-to-user support forum. Moderators and contributors, including external Microsoft employees, are not allowed to directly interfere with Microsoft product features or access back-end systems. Our role is limited solely to providing technical guidance on reported incidents, requests, or ideas.   

Thank you for your patience in reading, I hope this information has been helpful to you. 

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