Processes in Microsoft 365 for setting up Office apps, redeeming product keys, and activating licenses.
This usually indicates an Office activation or licensing problem, or a damaged Office installation.
Try these steps in order:
- Sign in with the correct Microsoft account If Office prompts for sign-in, use the account that was used to buy or activate Office. Using the wrong account can cause Office to show that it cannot find any Office products.
- Check the license/subscription status
Go to
https://account.microsoft.com/services/and confirm that the Office license or Microsoft 365 subscription is listed there.- If the subscription has expired, renew it.
- If no license appears, the signed-in account is likely not the one associated with Office.
- Check for multiple Office installations More than one installed copy of Office can cause activation conflicts.
- Run an Online Repair
The in-app Repair Now prompt may only do a quick repair and may not fix the problem.
On Windows:
- Open Settings
- Go to Apps
- Find Microsoft Office
- Select it, then choose Modify
- Run Online Repair
- If Office shows subscription notices A notice to buy, renew, or reactivate Microsoft 365 often means there is a payment or subscription issue that must be fixed before Office will activate again.
- If Office still shows Unlicensed Product or activation errors Use the guided activation troubleshooting steps in the Office activation article.
If nothing is done, Office can enter reduced functionality mode, where documents can still be opened and printed, but not edited or created.
- Unlicensed Product and activation errors in Office
- A subscription notice appears when I open a Microsoft 365 application
- All microsoft office applications Excel, Word, Outlook, Etc. open with error and cannot be used - Microsoft Q&A Dialog Microsoft <application name>
- Release notes for Monthly Channel releases in 2016