Need help with unwanted Office 365 Activation Requirement for MS Office Student and Home 2021

Regardless of the version you have installed, regardless of whether you entered a long license key or not, you have to sign into your Microsoft account to verify your license.

Their default is to assume you have 365 because that’s what they want you to have. However, it is asking you to sign into your Microsoft account to verify your license for whichever version you are using.

Your install lost its product key, and MS always assumes 365 is what you should activate.

It's been a few years now since I've used MS Office, but isn't there a way to enter your 2021 perpetual license product key?

Hopefully, if you are running something earlier than Sonoma, Microsoft hasn't changed the activation servers so that activation is not possible on anything earlier than Sonoma.

That is a very good point! MS is blocking the activation since Tahoe is more than three OS releases beyond 2021's release.

But, I remembered there is a way around this. It has to do with the activation data being stored on the user's own computer. As long as Office 2021 can find that, it will be active.

Rather than retyping the info, it's all here:

https://discussions.apple.com/thread/255975418?answerId=261195359022&sortBy=oldest_first#261195359022

This is only helpful if the data needed from backup can still be accessed.

Contact Microsoft for support of their software. That is not an Apple product.

Be sure you installed Office 2021, then activate it with your product key.

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/download-and-install-or-reinstall-office-2021-office-2019-or-office-2016-7c695b06-6d1a-4917-809c-98ce43f86479

It may be a single piece of code that changes its behavior depending on whether you activate it with a Microsoft 365 subscription key, or a Microsoft 2021 one-time purchase key.

You could try activating it with the latter. Hopefully, if you are running something earlier than Sonoma, Microsoft hasn't changed the activation servers so that activation is not possible on anything earlier than Sonoma.

I got that.

Microsoft Office is a Microsoft product.

If your product key isn't working, you need to contact Microsoft.

Lanoble (author)

As historic early MS Word and Office 2001 for Mac user, some

keep reappearing online; one method, avoid branded MS items.

Renewing subscription (Office for Mac) - Microsoft Q&A - microsoft.com

//learn.microsoft.com/en-us/answers/questions/...renewing-subscription-(office)

Microsoft Q&A user documentation | Microsoft Learn

https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/answers/support/

an ad? for MacOS from MS Search site:

MS® Office Sale | Certified Download Center

Use search engines and alternatives to MS? might help locate

free replacement to ms office: it can open, edit, create, etc.

Home | LibreOffice - Free and private office suite -

[Based on OpenOffice] - Compatible with Microsoft

• https://www.libreoffice.org/

• https://www.libreoffice.org/download/download-libreoffice/

.duck-duck-go site or default : helps to filter some debris.

Lanoble:

Should you find either Libre / Open Office vs MS Office

options, I'd choose one; either? I'm not ms fan. Would

likely D/L Libre Office, with newer macOS than I've now.

fair MS offer for MacOS from MS Search site:

MS® Office Sale | Certified Download Center

.with lengthy URL under blue text to DL page.

already studied most duckduck search results