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Microsoft Office Apps allow me to "view only" on MacBook Pro with M1 chip but seem to load correctly on older macs?

Hi all,

I'm having a very frustrating battle with my new MacBook Pro (M1, 2020 running Big Sur 11.0.1). I have a Microsoft office subscription that allows me to download the office suite of apps. I am able to do this but when I open the apps and log in, the apps allow me to 'view only' making them completely useless for any kind of functional work value.


After many, many conversations with microsoft the problem is still unresolved. I have tried the following:

  • Cleared Cache
  • Reinstalled all applications
  • Checked all settings in admin panel
  • Created a new account
  • Check all licensing is up to date and valid for use on my mac
  • Used my license on another mac to load software (it worked perfectly fine on this computer. Note that it was a 2017 iMac running Catalina and does not have the M1 chip)


This is the error I receive in all MS applications:



Microsoft seem completely baffled. After getting in touch with Apple support via chat, they told me to talk with Microsoft rather than look into a potential compatibility issue. I'm going around in circles which is driving me absolutely bananas. There's only so much of 'Pages' and 'Numbers' I can take before I completely loose my mind.


Is anyone else having the same issue? Better still, has anyone had this issue and fixed it?

Posted on Jun 15, 2021 4:58 AM

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Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Posted on Jun 17, 2021 2:58 AM

Hoorah!!!


After more investigating and chats with Microsoft the problem has been solved!

Turns out there was a hidden expired license stored on my device that has been causing this error. Even if your cache is erased and Microsoft files removed from Library and you *think* you have logged out of said expired license and log back in using a different valid license, the previous expired license could still be hanging around causing trouble. It needs to be completely removed using Microsoft's license removal tool. Who knew!?


For anyone having this extremely annoying problem, you can click here to find this tool


https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/how-to-remove-office-license-files-on-a-mac-b032c0f6-a431-4dad-83a9-6b727c03b193?ui=en-us&rs=en-us&ad=us


I really hope this thread helps someone else before they loose their mind.

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4 replies
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Jun 17, 2021 2:58 AM in response to Ness-Kel-mellow

Hoorah!!!


After more investigating and chats with Microsoft the problem has been solved!

Turns out there was a hidden expired license stored on my device that has been causing this error. Even if your cache is erased and Microsoft files removed from Library and you *think* you have logged out of said expired license and log back in using a different valid license, the previous expired license could still be hanging around causing trouble. It needs to be completely removed using Microsoft's license removal tool. Who knew!?


For anyone having this extremely annoying problem, you can click here to find this tool


https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/how-to-remove-office-license-files-on-a-mac-b032c0f6-a431-4dad-83a9-6b727c03b193?ui=en-us&rs=en-us&ad=us


I really hope this thread helps someone else before they loose their mind.

Microsoft Office Apps allow me to "view only" on MacBook Pro with M1 chip but seem to load correctly on older macs?

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