Apps Activation Remedy – Mac
July 19, 2019 | by iaur | posted as Apps, Microsoft 365
Scenario
- User is not able activate Word, Excel, etc.,
- Read-Only when opening desktop apps
Checklist
Method 1
- Close all running Office applications
- clear credential caches and reactivate office 2016 for mac to see if there is any improvement.
open finder > applications > utilities > keychain access and remove the following application passwords.
a. ADAL
b. microsoft office identities cache 2
c. microsoft office identities settings 2
d. search for all occurrences of adal in the keychain and remove all those entries if present.
3. open finder > click go on the top menu bar> go to folder> input the following path: ~/library/containers/
right-click each of the folders below if present, and then click move to trash.
ubf8t346g9.ms
ubf8t346g9.office
ubf8t346g9.officeosfwebhost
open finder > click go on the top menu bar> go to folder> input the following path: ~/library/preferences/
com.microsoft.office.licensing.plist
right-click each of the folders below if present, and then click move to trash.
4. Download and run the license removal tool
5. Open the .pkg file from your Mac’s Downloads folder.
Note: If you get an “unidentified developer” error, try opening the file by holding Control + clicking the file > Open.
6. Select Continue and follow the prompts in the setup wizard.
Caution: We recommend you double-check that you have the correct account info ready by logging into Office.com/signin and checking for the license you want to activate with.
7. When you’re ready to complete the license removal, select Install. You may need to enter your Mac’s local admin account password.
After the tool successfully removes licenses, select Close.
8. Now launch any Office app and sign in to activate with the email account associated with your Office for Mac license. If you’re troubleshooting an issue, you may need to reinstall Office before signing in.
After you’ve successfully activated, restart your computer and then you’re good to go!
Note: If your account has both an Office 365 for Mac license and a one-time purchase associated with it, you’ll be prompted to choose which license you want to activate with. We recommend always choosing Office 365 for Mac if available.
Method 2
- Exit all open Microsoft Office applications. This includes Outlook and Microsoft OneNote.
- On the menu bar, click Go, select Utilities, and then double-click Terminal.
- Type the following text, and then press Enter in the Terminal Window:
killall “Office365ServiceV2”
Note If you receive the message “No matching processes belonging to you were found,” the Office365ServiceV2 service is not running. Go to the next step. - In Terminal, type the following text, and then press Enter:
cd ~/Library/Group\ Containers/UBF8T346G9.Office - In Terminal, type the following text, and then press Enter:
ls -a | perl -n -e ‘print if m/^[e|c]\w/’ | xargs rm - Open Outlook or OneNote, and verify that you can sign in and activate successfully.
Method 3
To remove com.microsoft.office.licensingV2.helper, follow these steps:
1. On the Go menu, click Computer.
2. Double-click your hard disk icon. The default name will be Macintosh HD.
3. Open Library, and then open PrivilegedHelperTools.
4. Drag com.microsoft.office.licensingV2.helper to the Trash.
Method 4
To remove subscription files, follow these steps:
1. On the Go menu, click Home.
2. Open Library.
Note: The Library folder is hidden in Mac OS X 10.7 and later. To display this folder, hold down the OPTION key while you click the Go menu.
3. Open Preferences and then open ByHost.
4. Arrange files and folders in alphabetical order.
5. Drag all files that begin with “com.microsoft” to the Trash.
Method 5
- try uninstalling office 2016 for mac completely then re-install and re-activating office 2016.
if the issue persists, could you help us collect the following information?
- does this issue occur to all office 2016 for mac applications or the specific applications?
- did your office applications work properly before for that user?
- a screenshot about the detailed symptom of the error message. to upload screenshots, please click use rich formatting in this thread and select the insert/edit media icon.