Com.microsoft.office.licensing.plist |top| -

Then remove it again.

Note: This path works for most versions. Adjust "Word" to "Excel" if needed.

According to technical guides on MacStrategy , this file is typically located in the system-level Preferences folder: /Library/Preferences/com.microsoft.office.licensing.plist Why Does This File Matter? com.microsoft.office.licensing.plist

: A common fix involves deleting this .plist file along with its "helper" counterparts and then restarting the activation wizard.

When you try to delete or modify the file, macOS says the operation isn’t permitted. This happens because file flags ( uchg or schg ) or SIP (System Integrity Protection) remnants are protecting it incorrectly. Then remove it again

If Office asks for activation on a Mac that was already activated, sudo rm /Library/Preferences/com.microsoft.office.licensing.plist should be your first step, not your last.

Unlike standard .plist files that store UI settings (e.g., window size or recent documents), licensing plists store cryptographic signatures, activation timestamps, and product keys. According to technical guides on MacStrategy , this

The distinction between these two locations is vital. A user-level license travels with the user account, while a system-level license (often deployed via scripts or management tools) allows any user on that specific Mac to utilize the Office suite.

sudo /Applications/Microsoft\ Word.app/Contents/Resources/Office/reset_license.sh

Find com.microsoft.office.licensing.plist . Drag it to the Trash. (Alternatively, rename it to .old or .bak if you are cautious and want to preserve the corrupted file for analysis).

The good news is that fixing it is almost always a two-minute process: Bookmark this guide, and the next time Office demands a license out of the blue, you will know exactly where to look.