Excel and Word sign in

Thank you for letting me know.

When you got the new MacBook Pro, did it come with a Microsoft 365 trial included or advertised as included? Sometimes the trial activation can conflict with an existing subscription.

Also, when it asks you to sign in again the next day, does it say "Activate Office" or "Sign in to use Office"?

If you have not tried this yet, it may help to reinstall Office completely:

If you haven't already, I’d suggest is to uninstall any existing Office apps on your Mac to avoid conflict:

• Here are the steps: https://support.microsoft.com/office/uninstall-office-for-mac-eefa1199-5b58-43af-8a3d-b73dc1a8cae3

Then, to reinstall Microsoft Office:

• Go to https://account.microsoft.com/services again.
• Sign in using the same Microsoft account linked to your license.
• Find your Microsoft 365 subscription and click the "Install".
• That will download the installer for the Office apps, just run it and follow the steps.

If anything’s unclear or the "Install" option still doesn’t show, feel free to let me know. I’ll be happy to walk you through it!

Let me know how it goes.

Hi, I'm John!

You should not need to sign in every day for Word and Excel once they are activated.

To help narrow down the issue:

1. Are you signing in with a Microsoft 365 subscription or a one-time purchase license (like Office 2021)?
2. When Word or Excel asks you to sign in again, do you see any error message, or does it just say the apps need to be activated?
3. Also, after signing in, does it work normally until the next day, then asks again?
4. Are you able to see your Microsoft Office license or subscription under the Services & subscriptions page here: https://account.microsoft.com/services (make sure you’re signed in with the same Microsoft account you used to activate Office)?

A few things can cause this on Mac:

• The Office license is not saved in the Mac Keychain
• The Microsoft account signed in to macOS is different from the one used for Office
• Old activation credentials are stuck

Click "Add comment" to let me know.

Regards,

John J.D.

The most common reason Word and Excel on a new Mac keep asking to sign in every day is a problem with how Office accesses the macOS keychain to store and reuse the sign-in token. When Office cannot read or write its credentials in the keychain, it treats each launch as a new session and forces sign-in again.

On Mac, this typically happens when:

• Office was moved out of the default /Applications folder, or
• Keychain permissions for Office are broken or blocked.

To fix this, restore keychain permissions for Office for Mac:

1. Quit all Microsoft 365 for Mac apps (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, OneNote).
2. Open Keychain Access (search for “keychain” with Spotlight and launch Keychain Access).
3. In the top-left pane, select the login keychain.
4. From the File menu, choose Lock Keychain "login".
5. Start an Office app, such as Word.
6. When prompted for keychain access, enter the Mac admin account password and select OK.
7. If prompted, sign in with the account associated with the Office license.
8. Quit the app and open it again. It should now open without repeatedly asking to sign in.

If the issue continues and you also see repeated prompts for keychain access or “Authentication Session Expired” errors, follow the same keychain reset guidance referenced in the activation troubleshooting article for Office for Mac.

References:

• What to try if you can't install or activate Office for Mac
• Office for Mac repeatedly requesting keychain access