Troubleshooting - 'Your account does not allow editing on a Mac' in Microsoft Office 365, Word, or Excel

Overview

After opening any Office application or document, your Mac may show an error message saying, "Your account can view documents, but it doesn't allow editing on Mac. To edit, use another account to activate Office" or "Your account xxxxxx@neomed.edu does not allow editing on Mac devices."

To resolve this issue, try these steps in order until the issue is resolved.

Step 1

  1. Open Word without opening a document.
  2. Click on your name or your account name in the upper left. 
  3. Log out of your existing NEOMED account and any other accounts listed here by clicking Sign Out.
  4. Next, click Sign In. It should redirect you to the regular NEOMED login page. If, instead, you are asked for a username, enter your full email address, usernamehere@neomed.edu
  5. Log in as normal, including MFA.
  6. The issue should be resolved, and your account should show that you are signed in.

Step 2

If the first step didn't work, you will need to try refreshing your Office license.

  1. Open Word
  2. If you are shown a "What's New" window, then follow the prompts or follow Microsoft's guide to activate Office for Mac
  3. If that window does appear, completely exit out of Word.
  4. Then, in MacOS, open the Keychain Access app (Launchpad > KeyChain Access or Finder > Applications > Utilities > Keychain Access)
  5. Select All Items and search for "Office." Delete all entries. Also search for "ADAL" and "unknown" and delete any matching entries.
  6. Reopen Word, and it should now show the "What's New" prompt. Follow the steps in Microsoft's guide to activate Office for Mac to complete reactivation.

Step 3

If the first two steps didn't work, you will need to remove your existing Office license files.

  1. Launch each Office app (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook), select the application name and choose sign out, then quit the application.
  2. In Finder, browse to folder ~/Library/Group Containers
  3. Locate all of the folders listed below and drag them to the Trash (make sure you only delete these folders, not other folders or files).
    1. UBF8T346G9.ms
    2. UBF8T346G9.Office
    3. UBF8T346G9.OfficeOsfWebHost

list of folders showing the UBF folders.
 

  1. Empty Trash
  2. Open Word and sign in and, if prompted, re-activate as shown in Step 2 above.

Step 4

If the first three steps didn't work, you will need to completely remove and reinstall Microsoft Office.

  1. Follow Microsoft's instructions to uninstall Office for Mac
  2. Re-install Office for Mac

What to Expect When It’s Fixed

  • Microsoft 365 documents will open in editable mode.
  • You will be able to edit, save, and collaborate normally.
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