- Article
- Applies to:
- Microsoft 365
When you try to activate Microsoft 365 apps, you might encounter an error indicating that your subscription has expired.
Try the following troubleshooting methods to solve the problem.
Notes:
If your Microsoft 365 license didn't come from your work, school, or other organization, see A subscription notice appears when I open a Microsoft 365 application.
Some of these troubleshooting methods can only be performed by a Microsoft 365 admin. If you aren’t an admin, see How do I find my Microsoft 365 admin?
Turn on Recurring billing and make sure your subscription is active
- In the Microsoft 365 Admin Center, select Billing > Your products.
- Select the subscription. Check if the subscription is active. If it isn’t, select Reactivate subscription. If it isn’t, select Reactivate subscription.
- Under Subscription and payment settings, select Edit recurring billing.
- Select On or On, but renew once.If your subscription is a retail license, see Office error Account Notice: We've run into a problem with your Microsoft 365 subscription.
Redeem a product key
If your purchase of Office or Microsoft 365 came with a product key, see Where to enter your Office product key.
For more information, see Using product keys with Office.
Redeem a Partner product key
If your organization is a Microsoft Partner, locate your product key by following the instructions in MPN Benefits – Software.
When you have your product key, go to https://signup.microsoft.com/productkeystart?ms.officeurl=setup365 and following the steps to redeem it.
If you are trying to set up a subscription for a customer, see Partners: use a product key to set up a customer subscription.
Redeem an Action Pack product key
If you have an Action Pack subscription product key, go to https://portal.office.com/Commerce/ProductKeyStart.aspx, sign in and then enter the product key.
Make sure user licenses are assigned
- In the Microsoft 365 Admin Center, go to the Users > Active users page.
- Select the row of the user that you want to assign a license to.
- In the right pane, select Licenses and Apps.
- Expand the Licenses section, select the boxes for the licenses that you want to assign, then select Save changes.
- If the license is already assigned, uncheck it, select Save changes, then check it again and select Save changes again.
Remove Office credentials
- From Start, type credential manager, and then select Credential Manager from the search results.
- Select Windows credentials.
- If there are any credentials for MicrosoftOffice16, select the arrow next to them and then select Remove.
- Close Credential Manager.
- From Start, select Settings (the gear icon) > Accounts > Access work or school.
- If the account you use to sign in to office.com is listed there, but it isn’t the account you use to sign in to Windows, select it, and then select Disconnect.
- Restart the device and try to activate Microsoft 365 again.
Reset Microsoft 365 activation state
Run the Microsoft Support and Recovery Assistant (SaRA) to reset the Microsoft 365 activation state.
For manual steps or more information, see Reset Microsoft 365 Apps for enterprise activation state.
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