Activating Microsoft Office on Mac

Have you received your Office licence key by email and want to set up Office on your Mac? This guide takes you through every step, from preparation and installation to confirming your licence. It applies to Office 2019, 2021 and 2024 (Home & Student and Home & Business) and to Microsoft 365 on the Mac.

System requirements

Before installing, check that your Mac meets the requirements. You can find your macOS version in the Apple menu under About This Mac.

• Office 2024: at least macOS 13 (Ventura).
• Office 2021: at least macOS 10.15 (Catalina); for current updates, Microsoft requires one of the three most recent macOS versions.
• Office 2019: at least macOS 10.14 (Mojave).
• Microsoft 365: one of the three most recent macOS versions.
• Hardware: Intel and Apple Silicon Macs (M1 to M4) are supported; around 10 GB of free disk space and 4 GB of memory.
• Internet connection for download and activation.

Important: The macOS version must match the Office version. On a badly outdated system, the installer stops with an error message. If in doubt, first check whether a macOS update is possible.

Preparation: remove old versions of Office

Trial versions or App Store installations of Office interfere with the activation of your purchased licence. Remove them first:

1. In Finder, open the folder Applications.
2. Drag any existing Office apps (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, OneNote) to the Bin.
3. Empty the Bin and restart your Mac.

Avoid the App Store version: The Office apps from the Mac App Store can only be activated with a Microsoft 365 subscription, not with a one-time purchase key. Therefore, only use the .pkg installer from our download page.

Installing Office (.pkg installer)

You will find the right installer for your Office version on our download page.

1. Download the installation package (.pkg).
2. Double-click the file and follow the wizard using Continue and Install.
3. Enter your macOS administrator password when prompted.
4. Wait until the message The installation was successful appears.
5. Click Close. The apps are now in the Applications folder.

Activating Office

Activation takes place the first time you launch an Office app. The exact route depends on your product. On the Mac, a key is never typed directly into Word or Excel.

Home & Student / Home & Business (2019, 2021, 2024)

These licences are permanently linked to your Microsoft account. Redeem the key in your browser first:

1. Go to setup.office.com and sign in with your Microsoft account. If you do not have one yet, you can create one there free of charge.
2. Enter the 25-character product key from your Keywi24 email and confirm your country and language.
3. Then, on your Mac, open an app such as Word.
4. On the start screen, click Sign in and use the same Microsoft account you used to redeem the key.
5. Office verifies the licence in the background and displays a confirmation. All apps are then unlocked.

Microsoft 365 on the Mac

1. Redeem the key at setup.office.com. The subscription term is credited to your account.
2. Install the apps via account.microsoft.com or our download page.
3. Sign in to any Office app with the same account, and all apps unlock automatically. There is no offline activation by key for Microsoft 365.

Note on volume licences: Some Office 2019/2021 Standard licences for businesses are activated on the Mac via the so-called Volume License Serializer, a small additional package that is run after installation and unlocks Office without any sign-in at all. Your delivery email tells you whether this applies to your product.

Common problems

If activation is not working, please check the following points:

• "No licence found": You are signed in with a different Microsoft account from the one used to redeem the key. Sign out of the app and sign in again with the correct account.
• Sign-in window keeps reappearing: Leftover licence data from a previous installation is blocking activation. Remove it with Microsoft's licence removal tool (search for "License Removal Tool Mac") and activate again.
• Installer stops: Your macOS version is too old for the selected Office version. Update macOS first.
• App Store version installed: Uninstall the apps and reinstall Office using the .pkg installer from our download page.
• Typing error in the key: Watch out for mix-ups such as "0" and "O" or "B" and "8".

Help with activation

If activation still does not succeed, our activation help has solutions to the most common error messages.

Need personal assistance? Our support team is there for you via live chat, with 90 days of free support from the date of purchase. Have your order number ready for the fastest help.