Unable to edit in Microsoft 365 on Mac

How to resolve an issue where Microsoft 365 applications do not allow for editing in macOS.

Issue

A user is using Microsoft 365 for personal use and receives an error message when attempting to access any Microsoft Office application.

Your account username@email.grcc.edu doesn't allow editing on a Mac.

 

Environment

• Microsoft 365
• macOS

 

Resolution

Reinstall 365

Start with doing an uninstall/reinstall of Microsoft 365 which will often resolve the issue.

Check for valid 365 License

1. In a web browser, navigate to portal.office.com
2. Click on My Account
3. Look under the subscription panel
4. Verify that "The latest desktop version of 365" appears

Activation Process

1. Open Word
2. Click the option to Activate 365
3. Sign in with their Microsoft 365 credentials

Manually activate 365

1. Launch MS Word
2. Navigate to the What’s new window and hit the Get Started button.
   
3. Now sign in to your 365 account and let the activation complete.
4. Repeat with all Microsoft Office applications.

If manually activating does not work, There may be corrupt files in your Mac’s Library folder.

1. Launch each Office app installed on your Mac, click on the application name (eg Word) menu and choose Sign Out. Then quit the application.
2. In the Finder, click on the Go menu and choose Go to Folder
3. In the box, type: ~/Library
4. Click on the Group Containers folder
5. Locate the following three files/folders and drag them to the Trash
   1. UBF8T346G9.ms
   2. UBF8T346G9.Office
   3. UBF8T346G9.OfficeOsfWebHost
6. Empty the Trash and launch an 365 application to check if you can now edit documents.