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How can I use Microsoft Office on two user accounts on one IMAc?

Dear all,


I have installed Microsoft Office 2011 on my IMac which I have recently bought. I did this on the (at that time) only user account in place: the administrator account.


A little time after this my wife and I decided it would be much easier to us to make an additional user account on the same computer for my wife (also with administrator rights), so we could have our own settings, desktop preferences etc. So now we have two user accounts/profiles on one Imac, so far so good.


But when my wife signs in on her account, she is not able to use Microsoft Office 😐. Office seems to be only available to the user account on which it has been installed initially: 'my' account.


Can anyone help us out here and tell us how we can make Office available to my wife's user account as well? I understand that the licence of Office is restricted to one computer, but what about two accounts on the same IMac? I mean, it is still one computer, one 'home', one family etc.


We would appreciate your help here!



Kind regards,

Jurjen

iMac

Posted on Jul 3, 2013 11:27 PM

Reply
14 replies

Jul 3, 2013 11:41 PM in response to Kappy

Well, in those threads, the respective OP's stated that they wanted to be able to use Office with other accounts on their mac, which is this OP's question as well. In those threads, WZZZ states that the license is related to the computer, and not the users. Unless I am too tired and reading wrong, which is possible since it's past 2:30 am where I am.

Jul 3, 2013 11:53 PM in response to Gozotxu

I just created a second user on my mac and then opened word, excel and powerpoint without any problems. I did have to go through some initial setup screen for the new user but that was just to place files referencing the new user name in that users user folder. MS does not require a license for each user account on the same computer. The software license is tied to the machine not to any one specific user or user account. So I'm not sure what Kappy is referring to.


Since Office 2011 for mac is installed into the Applications folder that is on the root of the drive all you have to do is open that Applications folder in Finder and then Drag the program icons to the Dock and that will place a icon in the dock for that user. Then just open them. The MS Office apps are located in a folder called Microsoft Office 2011.

Jul 3, 2013 11:55 PM in response to Kappy

And that is incorrect. The License is for a Computer. Since only one user can use the computer at a time thenn the license covers that user on that computer.

Kappy wrote:


Quite sure. I don't see the relevance of that other discussion to the licensing issue. Have you ever tried this with Office? I have, and it does not work. It doesn't work in your home, and it doesn't work if you live on the other side of the globe as long as there is an Internet connection.

Jul 4, 2013 10:54 AM in response to Gozotxu

As long as you installed MS Office into its default location (the top level /Applications folder) it will be available to all user accounts on the Mac.


As far as licensing is concerned you only have to enter the license code once, which you should do right after installing MS Office, in the same admin account you installed it from, by opening any one of the MS Office applications. There is no additional licensing required for additional user accounts on the same Mac.


Each user account is able to run the Office apps. The only thing you will have to do is go through an initial setup screen in each user account (but this setup does NOT involve entering any additional license codes).


You may have problems if you installed MS Office in a particular user account (i.e. NOT in the top level /Applications folder).

Jul 4, 2013 1:13 PM in response to MartinR

All of this is essentially correct, but not more than one user can use the program at the same time. My remarks related to the use of Office on different computers. Since only one user can use the Mac at the same time this would not be a problem as long as Office was not open in both user accounts at the same time which could occur when using Fast User Switching. All the Office applications look for themselves throughout the Internet to be sure not two users are on the same license.

How can I use Microsoft Office on two user accounts on one IMAc?

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