How to fix Office 365 or Office 2019 “Activation” or “Unlicensed Product” Problems

Microsoft Office

How to deal with common Microsoft Office issues such as activation and reinstalling.

Please read the following self-help guide. If you still have problems, please bring your computer to our office in Subiaco and we will fix the issues for you for a small fee.

The latest versions of Microsoft Office (Office 365 and Office 2019) both need activating by logging into an Office 365 account.

This is normally achieved upon installation, however we have noticed that Windows or Office automatic updates can sometimes result in the products being “Disabled” or requiring “Activation

These problems can occur in any or all of the Office products such as Word, Excel, Access, Powerpoint, Publisher, OneNote, Outlook, Infopath or Lync; by displaying one of the following messages (or similar)

“Unlicensed Product”

Office 365 Word Unlicenced product

“Product Deactivated”

microsoft office deactivated

“We’re sorry, something went wrong and we can’t do this for you right now. Please try again later”
office365-sorry-something-went-wrong

or similar.

You can re-activate Office 365 or Office 2019  in a number of ways as follows

1) Repair Office 365 or Office 2019

In Windows 7 or 8 locate “Control Panel” > “Programs” > “Programs and Features”

office 365 control panel change

 

Highlight “Office 365 ProPlus” (do not click on it) and select the “Change” button

office 365 repair

 

Select “Quick Repair“. If this does not fix your problems try “Online Repair” and failing that move to Step 2) below

In Windows 10

win 10 control panel

Right-click the Start button Windows Start button in Windows 8 and Windows 10 (lower-left corner), and select Control Panel pop-up menu.
1a) From Category view, under Programs, select Uninstall a program.

1b) Right-click the Microsoft Office product you want to repair, and select Change.

NOTE: If you have a suite such as Office 365 Home or Office Home and Student 2013 or 2019, search for the suite name, even if it’s just a particular application you want to repair such as Word or Excel. If you have a standalone application such as Word or Excel, search for the application name.

1c) From the How would you like to repair your Office Programs screen, select Online Repair to ensure everything gets fixed, and then select Repair. You can select Quick Repair which runs faster but only detects and then replaces corrupted files. Online Repair does an uninstall and complete repair but takes longer.

1d) Follow the instructions on the screen to complete.

2) Reinstall Office 365 or Office 2019

From any of the office products click on the left arrow in the top left of the product, then click on “Office Account

office365 account login

 

Click on “Manage Account” to login to your Office 365  or Office 2019 account

office365 sign in page

 

Once signed in, navigate to “software

office 365 software download

Then click on “Install“. This will downlaod a file that needs to be executed by clicking on it. This will start the “Office 365 reinstall

If you have an earlier version of Office, click on the following links to check if it can still be used or needs a new version.

Can I still use Office 2016?

Can I still use Office 2013?

Can I still use Office 2011 for Mac?

Can I still use Office 2010?

 

3) Further Reading

You will also find more useful links and information at the following Microsoft links

https://support.office.com/en-US/Article/Repair-an-Office-application-7821d4b6-7c1d-4205-aa0e-a6b40c5bb88b

http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/support/activate-office-2013-programs-HA102819770.aspx

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2899838

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/gg702620(v=office.15).aspx

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/gg998767(v=office.15).aspx

http://office.microsoft.com/en-in/project-help/repair-or-remove-office-HA010357402.aspx

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/950929