I have to activate MS Office 2021 every time I open Excel, Word or PowerPoint

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Level 1

4 points

I have to activate MS Office 2021 every time I open Excel, Word or PowerPoint

I recently purchased a new Mac Book Air with the M1 chip and Big Sur. None of my older Microsoft Office apps worked any longer, so I purchased MS Office Home and Business 2021. It is not compatible with Big Sur and I have to run it with Rosetta. I also have to activate it every time I open one of the apps. Is there a fix (currently or on the horizon) that will allow my computer and/or Microsoft to retain the activation information so that I can easily use the programs again?

Thank you in advance for any suggestions and assistance.

MacBook Air 13″, macOS 11.6

Posted on Nov 14, 2021 1:08 PM

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Answer 1

Barney-15E

Level 10

116,224 points

Nov 14, 2021 1:23 PM in response to Murray1255

It is not compatible with Big Sur and I have to run it with Rosetta.

It is the M1 chip that it is not compatible with. It’s been well over a year since M1 Macs were introduced and longer since all the other software developers were advised about them so I have no idea why Microsoft couldn’t put out a universal app, but they put out a 32 bit app five years after Apple announced full 64 bit.

I also have to activate it every time I open one of the apps.

you should contact Microsoft support. They have a license reset tool they should be able to provide you with in order to reset your license but I’m not sure that that is what is wrong.

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Answer 2

Nov 14, 2021 1:45 PM in response to Murray1255

Office 2021 for Mac requires the build 16.53 or later to use the Universal2 binary support, allowing it to run native on Apple Silicon Macs with Big Sur or later. Update Office 2021 for Mac to the 16.53 build or later. Microsoft 365 has been a Universal2 binary distribution since v16.44 in Dec. 2020.

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Answer 3

Murray1255 Author

Level 1

4 points

Nov 14, 2021 1:48 PM in response to Barney-15E

Thank you so much for your response. I came to the forums as I’m currently stuck in the “you have to go to them” loop. Microsoft says it’s Apple and Apple says it’s Microsoft. Hopefully one side will just decide to do something to fix it. And now there is the Monterey OS upgrade. Im terrified to update again! :-)

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Answer 4

Barney-15E

Level 10

116,224 points

Nov 14, 2021 3:38 PM in response to Murray1255

Apple doesn’t manage their licensing scheme. I’m running 2019 on an M1 Mac and it doesn’t constantly ask for activation, so it is something with their license management that isn’t writing the data.

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Answer 5

tbirdvet

Level 6

14,321 points

Nov 14, 2021 4:13 PM in response to Murray1255

Office 2016 works fine (although no longer have MS support). Seems like Office 2021 should work. I have it on both M1 and Intel Mac.

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I have to activate MS Office 2021 every time I open Excel, Word or PowerPoint

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