Office for Mac - activation error - "Another account from your organization is already signed in on this computer"

Details

Error message when trying to use an Office app (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook)

  • May allow you to use documents in View Only mode.
  • You have more than one account added to your Outlook app, such as a department account and that account is showing as signed in
    • A department account is not licensed to use Office apps, only email, so this is why documents may be available in View Only mode.
  • When you try to activate Microsoft 365 apps, you receive the error message even though it may appear that no other account is in use:

Step-by-Step

The best way to resolve this issue, is to using the following command in the Terminal utility to completely sign out of any accounts that might be signed in to Office 365

  1. Quit all Microsoft 365 apps.

  2. In the Finder from the Go menu select Utilities, then open the Terminal utility. 

  3. In Terminal, copy the command below, and paste it into Terminal, then press the Return key to run the command

  4. defaults write com.microsoft.Word ResetOneAuthCreds -bool YES

  5. Open a Microsoft app, such as Word, and use the Activate link (bottom left) to sign back in when prompted.

    • If you are asked for your email address enter it using the format netid@dartmouth.edu

    • You should then be prompted to sign in with your NetID and password, then authenticate with Duo.

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