The main causes of this error are failed subscription payments, expired licenses, long overdue software updates, installation issues, and malfunctioning or corrupt Office files. If you’re seeing the “there’s a problem with your Office License” status, one of the following solutions will prevent the problem from resurfacing. They are applicable to both Windows 11 and Windows 10 systems.
1. Check Your Office Subscription for Errors
You may own a perpetual Office license with its product key or a monthly/annual Microsoft 365 subscription. In either case, the first place to check for Office subscription problems is your signed-in Microsoft account. To avoid seeing license errors it is important to have your account in good standing.
2. Check Your Office Software Validity
Office applications often come bundled with the Windows operating system when purchasing a new PC or laptop. Most users don’t bother to check the software’s validity, especially if it’s a perpetual Office license. You don’t have to perform the following check if you’ve installed the Office software on your own after a valid purchase or when it is connected to a Microsoft 365 subscription.
3. Sign Out and Sign Back in to Your Office Account
Sometimes any glitches in your Office applications are only temporary and caused if Microsoft’s servers are unable to resolve your account credentials in the cloud. When that happens, sign out of your Office app and sign back in after a few minutes. Is the Office app you own related to a valid account? If not, consider switching your Microsoft account by signing in with a new one. If you don’t have the Office app installed, you can perform the same logout and login procedure in Word, Excel, PowerPoint and other Office applications.
4. Perform Pending Office Software Updates
If you haven’t used the Office software on your computer in a long time, it would have accumulated many pending updates. This may make your valid user license incompatible with the installed software application. Therefore, once in a while, you must finish the pending updates to breathe new life into the software. To check for updates and complete them:
5. Check If “Office 64 Source Engine” Is Disabled in Windows Services
The Office 64 Source Engine is an Office service that runs in the background to verify that the correct applications are being used. It also performs a system-wide check to ensure that the program hasn’t been tampered with. If this service is disabled for some reason, it may lead to the “there’s a problem with your Office license” error. Therefore, you should fix it at the earliest.
6. Download and Reinstall Office Using “Online Repair”
At times the Office software may become corrupt, incompatible, or have various glitches including license errors. This can get worse if you haven’t updated your software in a long while. To get a fresh start, download and reinstall Office through an option called “Online Repair.”
7. Reset the Office App
Along with reinstalling the Office app online, you can perform a hard reset. This takes care of any installation issues and fixes the account problems on your device. The reset requires access to the Internet as it is done using Microsoft’s cloud servers. Image credit: mohamed_hassan via Pixabay
