Cannot get rid of the ACTIVATE ACCOUNT

[---] I have two accounts now! Under two emails I use, one for work, one personal. None of the suggestions worked. I need to find out how I am paying for these so I can cancel Microsoft altogether and use something else. I am not sure if I did this through APPLE or otherwise since I cannot even find that. SO frustrating.

@Diana Dickinson

Organization (business) and individual subscriptions are always kept separate, using different accounts. Immediately cancel the version you do not need.

As far as I can tell, you didn't follow up on the question asked by EmilyS726 in August.

The version of your operating system is crucial (following the mid July updates/changes from Microsoft).

If your Mac can't be updated to the most recent version of macOS, you may not be able to run the most recent version of Office. Specifically, you need macOS 12 or later and you need an Office license that supports Office 16.83 or later. See https://www.brandwares.com/bestpractices/2023/03/most-recent-office-you-can-run-best-practices/ for more.

Hi, diana Dickinson

Reinstalling Office does not always remove damaged licensing information, so the apps may continue showing Activate Account. The same message also appears if the installed apps do not match the license or the wrong Microsoft account is being used.

Here are some suggestions you can try:

Sign in to Microsoft account Services and subscriptions and confirm that the Office or Microsoft 365 product is listed. Use that exact account when signing in to Word. Microsoft 365 Basic does not include the desktop Office apps.

Quit all Office apps, then run the official Office License Removal Tool for Mac. Restart the Mac, open Word, and sign in again with the account that owns the license. This removes license files that a normal uninstall may leave behind.

If Office was purchased as a one-time license but downloaded from Apple’s Mac App Store, remove those apps and reinstall Office directly from the Services and subscriptions page. Mac App Store Office apps require a Microsoft 365 subscription.

If it still fails, please provide the macOS version, exact Office product name, where it was purchased, and any activation error code.

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

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

Note: Please follow the steps in our documentation to enable e-mail notifications if you want to receive the related email notification for this thread.