My excel won't let me save, asking me to purchase 365 although my subscription is valid

Since the subscription is valid through November 2026, the most likely issue is that Excel on the Mac is not seeing the correct license, or the Office update/licensing components are stuck.

Try this in order:

1. Confirm the subscription is active on the correct account
   • For Microsoft 365 Family or Personal, check Services & subscriptions and make sure the active Microsoft 365 subscription appears under the same Microsoft account used in Excel.
   • If the wrong account is signed in inside Office, the apps can show activation prompts even when the subscription is valid.
2. Refresh the license in an Office app
   • Open Word or another Office app.
   • In the menu bar, select Word (or the app name) > About Word > More Info… > Refresh License.
   • Then close all Office apps and reopen them.
3. Check whether Office is in reduced functionality mode because of OS/app support
   • On affected devices, Office apps can open and print files but cannot edit, save, or create new files.
   • The documented fix is to update macOS first, then update Office apps to supported versions.
4. If Office updates keep failing, update again from inside an Office app
   • Open any Office app.
   • Select Help > Check for Updates.
   • In Microsoft AutoUpdate, select Automatically, then select Check for Updates.
   • If updates install, reopen Excel and test saving again.
5. If Excel still asks to purchase Microsoft 365, reinstall Office
   • First, completely uninstall Microsoft 365 using the uninstall support tool if using a Windows PC, or follow the Mac reinstall path from the Microsoft account install page for Mac.
   • Then reinstall from the Microsoft account that owns the subscription by going to Services & subscriptions and selecting Install.
   • This is the documented fix when subscription features are not available in Office apps.
6. Mac-specific licensing check
   • A reported Mac fix for Excel showing No License Found was re-enabling the Microsoft Office Licensing item in macOS Settings > General > Login Items & Extensions, then signing out/in again.
   • This is from a similar case and is useful when Excel alone is failing to recognize the license.

About the workbook after the force quit:

• The Excel save process uses a temporary file before replacing the original file.
• If saving was interrupted, the current edited version may still have been only in memory, and the last unsaved changes can be lost.
• If the original file was not overwritten, the original file usually remains intact.
• If Excel shows Document not saved or similar, try saving the currently open workbook to an alternative drive or folder immediately after Excel is working again.

If the problem is happening only in Excel while Word or PowerPoint still work, that strongly points to an Excel licensing/component issue rather than the subscription itself.

• Microsoft 365 subscription features aren't available in Office apps
• Update Microsoft 365 or Office on your macOS or iOS device
• There is a serious disk error on when attempting to save, copy and paste or create auto recovery files in Office for Mac
• Troubleshoot why Excel doesn't save changes
• Excel is no longer registered and can't access some server so it won't let me save anything - Microsoft Q&A
• Can not "save" or "save as" documents or files. I am prompted to renew my subscription which I did but still does not work - Microsoft Q&A