Microsoft Account Error Fixes

Angela Salazar

Office 365: “Your school account is no longer active.”

Here are some troubleshooting tips for when you get the dreaded error message during Microsoft 365 account creation:

  1. Disconnect the old work/school account from Windows
    • Settings → Accounts → Access work or school
    • Select the old school account → Disconnect
    • Restart the PC
  2. Sign out of Office completely
    • Open any Office app (Word, Excel, etc.)
    • File → Account → Sign out of every account listed
    • Close all Office apps
  3. Clear cached credentials
    • Control Panel → Credential Manager → Windows Credentials
    • Remove anything related to Microsoft, Office, or the old school email
  4. Clear identity/cache folders (very effective)
    • Press Win + R and delete the contents of these folders one by one:
      • %localappdata%\Microsoft\OneAuth
      • %localappdata%\Microsoft\IdentityCache
      • %LocalAppData%\Packages\Microsoft.AAD.BrokerPlugin_cw5n1h2txyewy
      • %localappdata%\Microsoft\Office\16.0\OfficeFileCache (optional)
  5. Restart the computer, then open an Office app and sign in with the new school email.

Finally, Microsoft has a special tool if none of this works:

https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/previous-versions/troubleshoot/microsoft-365/microsoft-365-apps/activation/reset-office-365-proplus-activation-state

Updated