Lost access on Desktop to Word Excel

Question

Lost access on Desktop to Word Excel

Richard Harrington 0

I'm using a Mac. My Microsoft account shows an active Microsoft 365 Basic subscription renewing at £1.99/month. Word and Excel were working until about five days ago. They now say 'No Microsoft 365 subscription found'. Services & subscriptions shows only Microsoft 365 Basic."

Priya V 5 Reputation points

2026-09-04T11:46:38.6066667+00:00

Hi,

Microsoft 365 Basic does not include the desktop versions of Word and Excel. If they were working previously, try signing out of all Office apps and signing back in with the same Microsoft account that has the subscription.

If the apps still show "No Microsoft 365 subscription found", check Word > Account to confirm you're signed in with the correct account. You may also need to reactivate Office or reinstall the apps.

If you need the desktop versions of Word and Excel, you'll need a Microsoft 365 Personal or Family subscription, as Basic only includes storage and web/mobile app benefits.

Hope this helps! 👍

1 answer

Your answer

Priya V 5 Reputation points

2026-09-04T11:46:38.6066667+00:00

Hi,

Microsoft 365 Basic does not include the desktop versions of Word and Excel. If they were working previously, try signing out of all Office apps and signing back in with the same Microsoft account that has the subscription.

If the apps still show "No Microsoft 365 subscription found", check Word > Account to confirm you're signed in with the correct account. You may also need to reactivate Office or reinstall the apps.

If you need the desktop versions of Word and Excel, you'll need a Microsoft 365 Personal or Family subscription, as Basic only includes storage and web/mobile app benefits.

Hope this helps! 👍

Answer 1

DaveM121 929.6K Independent Advisor

If you log into your Microsoft account on the Services and subscriptions section and it is indicated your subscription is to the cheap £1.99/month Microsoft 365 Basic, that is causing the problem.

Microsoft 365 Basic only entitles you to 100GB of OneDrive storage online and the use of the free Office apps in a web browser, it is only the Microsoft 365 Personal, Family or Premium subscriptions that include installing the Office apps locally on your computer.

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