i am not able to open excel. its saying Microsoft office cant verify the licence

Dipaliii Thakar 0 Reputation points
2026-09-16T02:51:19.5533333+00:00

Screenshot 2026-09-16 081929

this is how it shows when i try to open microsoft excel what should i do now?

Microsoft 365 and Office | Excel | For business | Windows
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  1. Jade Ng 15,665 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator
    2026-09-16T03:49:24.9466667+00:00

    Dear Dipaliii Thakar,

    According to your description, I understand that you’re currently unable to open Excel because you’re receiving the following message: “Microsoft Office cannot verify the license for this product.”

    To help me provide the most accurate solution for the licensing issue, could you share a bit more detail about your setup? 

    • Are you signed in to Office with a personal Microsoft account or a work/school account?
    • If you have a work/school account, can you check if other users encounter the same issue? 
    • Do all Office apps show the same error, or is it only happening when opening documents from email? 
    • What is your office version?
    • Does this occur with one specific file or multiple files? 

    In this case, please try the following steps:

    1. Close all Microsoft Office applications.
    2. Open Control Panel > Programs > Programs and Features.
    3. Select Microsoft 365 or Microsoft Office from the list.
    4. Select Change/Modify.
    5. Run Quick Repair first.
    6. Once completed, restart your computer and try opening Excel again.

    For reference: Repair an Office application

    In the meantime, if you're using any of this Office version:

    User's image

    Then you can check this article that may be helpful for your case: "Microsoft Office cannot verify the license for this product" error when you start an Office app

    I also recommend checking whether the issue occurs when opening other Office applications, such as Word or PowerPoint. If you receive the same license error in those applications, please let me know.

    Additionally, please help me check your current Office 365 license:

    1. Visit this link: https://portal.office.com/account/?ref=Harmony
    2. Once signed in, navigate to the Subscriptions section
    3. There, you should be able to view details related to your active Office 365 plan.
    4. Then take a screenshot and share it with me.

    Thank you for your patience, and please let me know how it goes.

    Looking forward to your response so I can get this sorted out for you as soon as possible. 

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