Microsoft Office 365 stopped working properly

Question

Microsoft Office 365 stopped working properly

paul 0

As of today my Microsoft Word is no longer able to Edit my documents, I haven't done any updates or received any notifications as to why.
I just went to make an invoice and i couldn't edit or type in template or older invoices.

Super frustrating.

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3 answers

Your answer

Answer 1

Bob Jones AKA CyberTaz MVP 437.7K

As Apple announced several moths ago they now support only the 3 most recent current versions of macOS – Tahoe, Sequoia & Sonoma as of this date. Accordingly, Microsoft has withdrawn or modified support for all bu the last 3 editions of Mac Office & MS365. It sounds like you have been affected by these developments.

If you provide the macOS Version Number you are using as well as the Version Number & type of License of your Office software I'm sure someone can advise which options are available to you.

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Answer 2

John Korchok 235.9K Volunteer Moderator

If you are running Big Sur or earlier, Microsoft has reduced Office to view-only status. Here is Microsoft's page announcing their abandonment of users on older Macs, with disingenuous advice about upgrading your macOS version: Update Microsoft 365 or Office on your macOS or iOS device

If you are running Monterey or newer and are using Office 2021 or better, you may be experiencing a bug in a recent update. Please try the steps on this page: Unknown Error 0x0 or License not found error in Microsoft 365 or Office running on macOS

paul 0 Reputation points

2026-08-05T19:38:44.4166667+00:00

Thanks John.

I am running Big Sur, unfortunately it sounds like I am unable to Update past Big Sur on my 2013 Macbook Air.

If this is the case then I am super disappointed as there is nothing at all wrong with the computer and Office was working fine until I went on it this week. I also don't have regular efficient internet coverage with my work so that rules out using Office online. I guess it means I can no longer do my time sheets and invoicing using Office.

Is there an older vesion of Word I can download or can anyone recommend another offline word processor and spreadsheet program that I might be able to use.

Answer 3

Sorry, there is no longer any desktop version of Office that can be activated on your computer. Both Microsoft and Apple seem to expect you to throw out perfectly good computers because they got tired of supporting them.

As alternatives to Office for Mac under Big Sur, you can use Word for the web or Google Docs. For desktop software, take a look at open-source LibreOffice, which has good compatibility with Office file formats.

If you're adventurous, Open Core Legacy Patcher allows you to run newer versions of macOS on older Macs. You can install up to Sequoia (Tahoe is not supported). I have a 2011 MacBook Pro running Sequoia and the current edition of Office.