Can't activate MS Office for macOS after migrating to larger SSD on MacBook Pro

Question

Can't activate MS Office for macOS after migrating to larger SSD on MacBook Pro

Warren Gawve 0

I have a 15" 2011 MacBook Pro, albeit older, it has a new battery and new SSD, so it is still quite functional for my needs.

MS Office lost activation at some point during the transition to a larger capacity SSD, but otherwise all other software and OS functions work as they should. The 2011 MacBook Pro is limited to a maximum of OSX 10.13.6, so the latest version of Office that can be installed is 16.42 which is Office 2019.

When I respond to the activation prompt after opening one of the Office Apps to sign-in to my MS account, I entered my email at the first sign-in screen, choose "Personal account" at the next screen, and then it goes to a blank window and nothing further happens to allow me to complete the sign-in.

If I login directly to my account via a browser, I can see all my stand-alone licenses for Office 2016, 2019, 2021, and 2024 which are available to me, however, it if I attempt to install from one of these, it will download an Office version newer than can be installed on the 2011 MacBook Pro, so I must use the previously downloaded saved installer version 16.42

I have already tried running the MS Office License Removal Tool and reinstalling Office, but it still gets "stuck" by not letting me sign-in to my account via the Office install I am trying to activate nor can I install the correct version by downloading from my account where I have valid and available licenses to use.

Is there a fix for this activation issue, or do I need to forget ever using MS Office again on this Mac?

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Answer 1

Norah-L 7,590 Microsoft External Staff Moderator

Hi Warren Gawve

I understand that Office 2019 for Mac lost its activation after you migrated your 2011 MacBook Pro to a larger SSD. Although the license is still listed under your Microsoft account and Office version 16.42 is installed on macOS High Sierra 10.13.6, the activation process cannot be completed because the sign-in window turns blank after you choose Personal account.

The SSD change likely invalidated the previous activation record. However, Office 2019 for Mac is now unsupported, and version 16.42 uses an older sign-in component that may no longer complete authentication correctly on macOS High Sierra. Office 2019 for Mac support ended in October 2023.

Quit every Office app. Open Keychain Access, search for “Office,” and delete Microsoft Office Identities Cache 3, Microsoft Office Identities Settings 3, and Microsoft Office Ticket Cache. Restart the Mac, then try activation again. See the Office for Mac activation guidance.

Create a new local administrator account under System Preferences > Users & Groups, sign into it, and test activation there. This checks whether the migrated macOS profile or Keychain is causing the blank window.

Confirm the installer came directly from Microsoft, not the Mac App Store, because one-time Office 2019 licenses cannot activate App Store copies.

If activation is still blank in the new account, contact Microsoft Support to check the Office 2019 license. Unfortunately, they may be unable to restore activation on this unsupported macOS/Office combination. Since this is a user‑to‑user community forum, we can only share suggestions based on our findings and personal experiences.

Hope your issue will soon be resolved. Feel free to post back if you need further assistance!

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Warren Gawve 0 Reputation points

2026-07-13T19:25:49.8933333+00:00

Hello, Thank you for the detailed suggestions, however, I was not able to resolve the inability to activate Office 2019 for macOS on my 2011 MacBook Pro. Here is my feedback;

"Office 2019 for Mac support ended in October 2023." I recognize that customer support officially ended, but I am not looking for help with a feature, rather just continue to use the still-functional product that I paid for.

"Open Keychain Access ... delete Microsoft Office Identities ... Restart the Mac, then try activation again." I did so, but this made no difference ... the window to enter my account password is still coming up blank.

"Create a new local administrator account ... test activation there." I tried this, and it did generate a few new welcome splash screens when I first opened Excel, however, things stalled out when the window to enter my account password still came up blank.

"Confirm the installer came directly from Microsoft" Yes, I downloaded the installer directly from the MS website a couple of years ago before they dropped tech support for Office 2019. I did this for each version of Office and its corresponding macOS that I was likely to use in anticipation of not having them available in the future.

"If activation is still blank in the new account, contact Microsoft Support to check the Office 2019 license." I have verified that I have unused Office 2019 and 2021 licenses remaining in my Microsoft account. These licenses were added to my account directly from Microsoft retail products, not from the Apple App Store. These licenses are all available under my MS account, but the default download of each only allows for the downloading the latest versions of each Office Suite. My "Plan B" was to use a "new" unused 2019 license just added yesterday for this 2011 MacBook Pro activation in the event the original license was not available for some reason, but I can't even get that far to select it. Trying to install the "new" download version now available fails as it requires a newer OS than I can install on my MacBook.

To me, it seemed more reliable back in the day when the Office installer prompted entering the license key at the time of installation without having to "hopefully" login to "retrieve" a license. Is there possibly a legacy work-around for activation to enter the key code at the time of installation?

Also, I realize that if Office 2019 is not technically supported, neither will be 2016; however, would Office 2016 for macOS use a different activation method that still might work today? Note: I am only looking to use Office on this older MacBook for offline work, e.g. mostly Excel and some Word, so having the latest features or security updates is not really a concern for my planned use. Thanks again!
Norah-L 7,590 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator

2026-07-14T08:42:36.5633333+00:00
Good day Warren!

Thank you for testing each suggestion and sharing the results.

Since the password page is also blank in a new macOS account, this appears to be a compatibility problem between High Sierra’s older embedded sign-in component and the current Microsoft account sign-in page, rather than a problem with the installer or your available licenses.

Is there possibly a legacy work-around for activation to enter the key code at the time of installation?

Unfortunately, there is no supported legacy method to enter a retail Office 2019 key directly into the installed Mac apps. The key is entered only once on the setup website to associate the purchase with a Microsoft account; Office then requires account sign-in to retrieve and activate that license. Since your licenses already appear in the account, entering the key again would not bypass the blank sign-in window.

would Office 2016 for macOS use a different activation method that still might work today?

Although these products have reached the end of support, you can still try contacting Microsoft Support to see whether any activation options are available for your license.

Since this is a user-to-user community forum, we can only share suggestions based on our findings and personal experiences. We cannot access your Microsoft account, license, or activation records, so only the support team can verify what options may still be available.

Here's how to reach out to the Support Team (live chat):

Go to: https://support.microsoft.com/home/contact

In the search box, enter a short description of your issue, for example: Need help with activating Office for macOS

Hit "Get Help"

Scroll down and select Sign in to contact support for further assistance (please sign in using a personal Microsoft account). Then follow the on-screen prompts to reach Support Team.

Tip: Support chat availability may vary by country/region, product, and support hours. If you can't get in touch with a chat agent right away, trying again later or at a different time may help.

Hopefully your concerns will soon be addressed. Thank you so much for your patience!

Best regards.
Warren Gawve 0 Reputation points

2026-07-15T23:58:37.1733333+00:00

I'm not quite convinced that the root-cause of the blank sign-in screen is because of incompatibility with OSX High Sierra. Rather, I suspect that the activation server for macOS Office 2019 has been degraded to filter / block older versions of Office 2019 as a kind of "planned obsolescence". I thought I'd be OK having the legacy version of the correct installer needed for Office 2019 + High Sierra for future use, but that is clearly not the case.

It is too bad that there is not a license tool to transfer activation from an old hard drive to a new one (for the same computer) as this would solve this issue. The other problem that arises when updating the same computer, hardware or software, that has bitten me before, is that if Office loses activation and you need to sign-in to reactivate it a few times (on the same computer), you eventually get the dreaded "too many activations" error. I have at least one key still associated with my MS account that I can't use for this reason. Since that one was for Office 2016 (shortly after MS stopped supporting that version), contacting the MS support team was a frustrating and futile effort as they refused to assist other than to tell me to either buy another license or use an online 365 subscription.

I have been using MS Office for over 30 years and have spent enough on new license keys (both Mac and Windows) over the years to cover a few mortgage payments. It's too bad that MS does not have a policy able to provide better support to long-time customers.
Ian-T 7,815 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator

2026-07-16T07:03:30.4733333+00:00

Hi Warren Gawve

I understand your frustration, especially given your long history of purchasing perpetual Office licenses.
Office 2019 for Mac cannot receive that required update, so an older installer or reinstall cannot restore activation on High Sierra. Also, I do not see any documentation that states it's intentionally blocked.

There is no supported method to copy a retail Office activation from the old drive, and community moderators cannot inspect or reset activation limits. Since Office 2019 for Mac is out of support, the remaining supported options are Office for the web or Office on a device that can run a supported macOS version.

Additionally, you can send your feedback via https://feedbackportal.microsoft.com/feedback/ as well so the internal team can collect your feedback and look into this as well.

I truly appreciate your patience and thank you for your understanding