Processes in Microsoft 365 for setting up Office apps, redeeming product keys, and activating licenses.
This usually means the Apple App Store purchase is active, but it is linked to a different Microsoft account than the one currently signed in to Excel. The 0x0 error on Mac can also occur when Office needs updating or the current macOS/Office combination is no longer supported.
Try this in order:
- Sign out of Office completely
- In Excel or another Office app, sign out.
- Then sign back in with the Microsoft account that was most likely used when the Apple purchase was first associated.
- If multiple Microsoft accounts exist, use Sign in with another account.
- Restore the Apple purchase again
- In the Office app, use Activate previous purchase / Restore previous purchase.
- This is the recommended step for Apple-purchased Microsoft 365 subscriptions when Office cannot validate or associate the purchase.
- Confirm the subscription is active in Apple
- If Apple shows the Microsoft 365 subscription as active, continue with the restore flow.
- If it has expired, renew it first.
- Check whether the correct Microsoft account has the license
- Sign in to
https://account.microsoft.com/services. - Select Install Microsoft 365 or Office.
- If a Microsoft 365 or Office license appears there, that is the correct account to use in Excel.
- If no license appears, search all email accounts for the Microsoft purchase/confirmation message to identify the associated account.
- Sign in to
- If Office still cannot activate, reset Office credentials on the Mac
- Open Spotlight.
- Search for and open Keychain.
- Search for Office.
- Delete the data license file.
- Then try activation again.
- Address the 0x0 error
- If Office was installed from microsoft.com, update using Microsoft AutoUpdate: Finder > Applications > Microsoft AutoUpdate > Update All.
- If Office apps were installed from the App Store, open App Store > Updates and update the Office apps there.
- Microsoft’s resolved guidance for 0x0 / License Not Found on macOS also requires macOS 12 or higher.
- If the purchase still cannot be associated
- For Apple-purchased subscriptions, use the restore-purchase article first.
- If the issue persists after restoring and signing in with the correct Microsoft account, contact Microsoft Support.
Important:
- If the subscription was purchased through Apple, billing is managed by Apple.
- The association problem is usually caused by signing in with the wrong Microsoft account at the time of activation.
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