How to Fix ‘Your Account Doesn’t Allow Editing on a Mac’ Error?

Have you ever been working on a crucial project on your Mac, only to be met with the discouraging message that “Your Account Doesn’t Allow Editing on a Mac”? The frustration is all too real, and I understand how daunting it can feel to be locked out of your own files. I’ve been in this exact situation before, and it left me feeling helpless and defeated. But, after some research and a bit of trial and error, I discovered the solutions to fix this pesky error and take back control of my Mac. I know how important it is to have access to your files, especially when time is of the essence.

That’s why I’m here to share with you the steps to take when faced with the editing error, and put you on the path to Mac freedom. So, if you’re ready to regain control of your files, let’s dive in and explore the best solutions for fixing this error once and for all.

Reasons for the Error

If your account does not allow editing on a Mac, it could be down to several factors. In many instances, you might not have the right licensing, which could happen when your subscription is expiring, and you need to upgrade your plan. While you might have already purchased an Office 365 license, you might still need to verify or activate it. Sometimes, you might not be able to edit documents for reasons unrelated to your subscription. For example, you might need to clear the caches on your Mac. Another potential factor could be issued with the app you’re using.

How to fix your account doesn’t allow editing on a Mac Error

Verify Your Office 365 License

Before taking any dramatic measures, you should check to ensure you’ve verified your Office 365 license. Follow the instructions listed below to do that.

1. Open any Office application, such as Word or Excel.
2. Click on “File” in the top left corner of the application.
3. Click on “Account” or “Office Account”.
4. Under “Product Information”, you should see the name of your Office product and a message that says “Product Activated” or “Subscription Active”. This confirms that your license is verified.

Activate Office

If you’ve bought Office 365 plans from another supplier, you’ll need to activate your plan before using Microsoft’s apps. Follow the instructions below to activate your plan.

1. Purchase a valid license for Microsoft Office from a reputable retailer or the official Microsoft website.
2. Install Microsoft Office on your computer.
3. Open any Microsoft Office application, such as Word or Excel.
4. Click on “Activate” or “Sign in” in the activation window.
5. Enter the activation key that was provided with your purchase or sign in with your Microsoft account.
6. Follow the prompts to complete the activation process.

Sign Out of Your Office 365 Account

1. Open any Office 365 app, such as Word or Excel.
2. Click on your profile picture or initials in the top right corner of the screen.
3. Select “Sign out” from the drop-down menu.
4. Confirm that you want to sign out by clicking “Yes” on the pop-up window.
5. You will now be signed out of your Office 365 account.

Clear Caches, Logs, and Other Junk

If you’ve already tried the above steps, but your account still doesn’t allow editing on a Mac, try removing unnecessary files and folders. To remove caches, logs, and junk files of Microsoft Office apps, you can follow these steps:

1. Quit all Office applications.
2. Open Finder and click on “Go” in the menu bar.
3. Hold down the “Option” key to reveal the “Library” folder and click on it.
4. Navigate to the “Containers” folder and then to the “com.microsoft” folder.
5. Find the folders for the specific Office application you want to clean up. For example, if you want to clean up Word, look for the “Word” folder.
6. Delete the contents of the folder, including any subfolders.
7. Go back to the “com.microsoft” folder and find the “logs” folder. Delete any logs related to the Office application you want to clean up.
8. Go back to the “com.microsoft” folder again and find the “Caches” folder. Delete any caches related to the Office application you want to clean up.

Note: Be careful when deleting files, and make sure you are only deleting files related to Office applications. Deleting unrelated files can cause issues with your system.

Reset Microsoft Word to Its Default State: 

Resetting Microsoft Word to its default state is a relatively simple process. Here are the steps:

1. Close all Microsoft Word documents and applications.
2. Press the Windows key + R on your keyboard to open the Run dialog box.
3. Type %appdata%\Microsoft\Templates into the box and press Enter.
4. This will open the Templates folder. Locate the Normal.dotm file, right-click on it and select Rename. Rename the file to OldNormal.dotm.
5. Open Microsoft Word. A new Normal.dotm file will be automatically created, which is the default template used by Word.

By resetting the Normal.dotm template, Word should now be back to its default settings. Note that any customizations you have made to Word, such as macros or styles, will need to be recreated after this process.

Uninstall and Reinstall Office 365: 

Here are the steps to uninstall and reinstall Office 365:

Uninstall Office 365:

1. Open the Control Panel on your Windows computer.
2. Click on “Programs and Features” or “Add or Remove Programs.”
3. Find Microsoft Office 365 in the list of installed programs and select it.
4. Click on the “Uninstall” button.
5. Follow the prompts to complete the uninstallation process.

Reinstall Office 365:

1. Go to the Office 365 website and sign in with your Microsoft account.
2. Click on the “Install Office” button.
3. Select “Office 365 apps” to download the full version of Office 365, or choose “Other options” to install a specific app or language version.
4. Follow the prompts to download and install Office 365 on your computer.
5. Once the installation is complete, launch any Office app and sign in with your Microsoft account to activate your subscription.

Note: If you purchased Office 365 as a one-time purchase, rather than a subscription, you may need to enter your product key during the installation process.

How to Repair Disk Permissions

1. Open Disk Utility: Go to Applications > Utilities and launch Disk Utility.
2. Select the disk: In the left pane of Disk Utility, select the disk you want to repair.
3. Click on First Aid: Click on the First Aid button located on the top bar of Disk Utility.
4. Click on Run: Click on the Run button in the dialog box that appears. The disk utility will start verifying and repairing disk permissions.
5. Wait for the process to finish: The repair process may take a few minutes depending on the size of your disk and the number of files on it. During the process, you may see a list of errors that the disk utility has repaired.
6. Restart your Mac: Once the process is complete, close Disk Utility and restart your Mac.

After following these steps, your disk permissions should be repaired and your Mac should be running smoothly.

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Conclusion

In this conversation, we covered various topics related to Microsoft Office, such as verifying and activating Office licenses, removing caches and junk files, resetting Microsoft Word to its default state, and uninstalling and reinstalling Office 365. We also discussed some common error messages that users may encounter while using Office on Mac and how to resolve them. Hopefully, this information has been helpful to you.

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