I have a legal copy of Office 2021 on Mac but its recently stopped working, forcing me to sign up for 365

Question

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I purchased a legal copy of Office 2021 for Mac last year.

All has been working fine until recently when all features were disabled, with the error message "Activate Microsoft 365 To Create and Edit".

I don't wish to sign up to a 365 membership, especially as I paid outright for office 2021, with a valid product key.

How can I get this working again? I cannot contact Microsoft by phone and there doesnt appear to be an option to re-install from my login.

Would really appreciate some help here.

2 answers

Answer 1

To resolve the issue with your Office 2021 for Mac, you can try the following steps:

Check Your License: Ensure that you are signed in with the correct Microsoft account that is associated with your Office 2021 license.
Remove Office License Files: Sometimes, old license files can cause issues. You can remove these files by following the instructions in the article on how to remove Office license files on a Mac.
Reinstall Office: If the problem persists, consider uninstalling and then reinstalling Office 2021. You can find the instructions for downloading and installing Office on a Mac in the Microsoft support documentation.
Check for Updates: Make sure that your Office applications are up to date. You can check for updates through the app itself.
Contact Support: If you still cannot resolve the issue, you may need to reach out to Microsoft support through their online support options, as phone support may not be available.

By following these steps, you should be able to reactivate your Office 2021 without needing to sign up for a Microsoft 365 subscription.

Answer 2

Thanks for sharing the details! Try to Force macOS to Flush Corrupted Identity Caches

Sometimes the Office identity cache (not the license file) corrupts and makes Office think you're on a subscription.

Quit all Office apps

Open Keychain Access

In login keychain → search for:

Delete anything that contains these keys

Restart your Mac

Open Word → sign in only if your Office 2021 license is tied to your MS account

This resolves most “keeps asking for 365 subscription” problems.

See if this helps. If you need further assistance just let me know.

Best regards,

Kimberly