FAMILY SHARING 365 ACCESS

If the shared member cannot use Word and has not successfully joined the family sharing setup, use this path:

1. Verify that the subscription is eligible for sharing.
   • Only the subscription account holder can share it.
   • Sharing is available only for an active Microsoft 365 Family or Microsoft 365 Premium subscription.
   • It can be shared with up to five other people.
2. Recheck the sharing invitation.
   • Sign in to the Microsoft account Sharing page: Microsoft account, Sharing page.
   • On the Sharing tab, select Start sharing.
   • Send the invitation again by email or by link.
   • The invited person must accept the invitation using the same Microsoft account and email address that was invited.
3. Check whether the invitation was actually accepted.
   • If the invitation is still pending, resend it.
   • If the invited person did not receive it, confirm the preferred email address was used and check the junk mail folder for a message with "Microsoft 365" in the subject.
4. Check whether he is already in another family group.
   • If he gets an "It looks like you're already in a family group" message, he must leave that other family group before joining this one.
   • Sharing works only after he joins the subscription owner’s family group.
5. If he was removed, left the family group, or sharing stopped, restore sharing.
   • If someone leaves the family group, shared subscription benefits are lost.
   • Remove him from the family group if needed, add him again, and resend a new invitation.
6. If Word still says activation is required after joining, confirm the correct account is being used in the Office apps.
   • A common cause is account mismatch, where the app is signed in with a different account than the one that accepted the family sharing invitation.
7. For direct support.
   • Use Contact Microsoft Support or Contact Microsoft Support.
   • Support agents cannot send password reset links or change account details.

For the Mac scenario specifically, one reported case showed a Word activation problem with error 0x0 on Mac related to a July Office update, and checking the macOS version was the next step in that case.

References

• How to share your Microsoft 365 Family subscription
• Troubleshoot sharing a Microsoft 365 subscription
• Share your Microsoft 365 subscription
• Microsoft 365 subscription sharing FAQs
• Roles, permissions and data sharing in Family Safety
• Family 365 account subscription error - Microsoft Q&A
• family members lost access - Microsoft Q&A
• Microsoft Word stopped working on my husband's computer in our shared Microsoft 365 Family Subscription - I am admin - Microsoft Q&A