Microsoft 365 Troubleshooting

Overview

This article outlines common login and access issues encountered with Microsoft 365 and provides step-by-step troubleshooting instructions for problems such as sign-in loops, account conflicts, licensing errors, application crashes, and issues with Office applications.

For frequently asked questions regarding Microsoft 365, please refer to Microsoft 365 for Education.

Symptoms & Common Issues

  • Warning icons/triangles next to the profile name.
  • Loop prompts continuously asking for login credentials.
  • MFA prompts where codes or push notifications are not received.
  • "Unlicensed Product" or "Your account doesn't allow editing" errors.
  • Error code 0x80180018.
  • Another user's account remains stuck on a shared device.
  • Personal or third-party Microsoft 365 subscriptions (Business/Pro) blocking SUNY Oswego login

Initial Steps for All Users

  1. Verify Your Account Format: Ensure you are signing in with LakerNetID@oswego.edu or firstname.lastname@oswego.edu.

  2. Sign Out and Sign Back In:

    • Open Word or Excel.
    • Select your profile icon in the top right > Sign Out.
    • Quit all Office apps, reopen Word, and sign back in.

  3. If asked to purchase: Choose Skip for now or Use as view only. Select Sign In to activate using your SUNY Oswego account.

  4. If you are not receiving your MFA verification code or push notification: On the authentication screen, look for and select the "Sign in another way" link to use one of your other methods. Update your MFA options or submit an MFA request for assistance.

You may also see a message saying that Office is an "Unlicensed Product."

Select Sign In and enter your full Oswego email address and password to activate Office with your school license.

Once Office has been activated, close and reopen the application.

Special Scenarios & Device Types

1. Personal Student Devices (Personal vs. Oswego License Conflicts)

If a student has a pre-existing Personal, Family, or Business Office subscription on their personal computer, it may prevent signing into the SUNY Oswego license.

  • Fix:
    1. Uninstall existing personal/business versions of Office via Settings > Apps (Windows) or Applications (Mac).
    2. Sign in to Microsoft 365 with your Oswego email.
    3. Click Install Apps > Microsoft 365 apps to download and install the official SUNY Oswego apps.

2. Department & Computer Lab Shared Devices

If using a shared device that is managed by SUNY Oswego, it will have a SUNY tag barcode sticker on it. Please provide the SUNY tag#, location, and error screenshots to us. Submit a Ticket.

3. Employee Offboarding & Device Reassignment

Employees leaving or retiring must not pass managed devices directly to a colleague.

  • Policy Check: Managed employee devices must be returned to CTS for clean re-imaging and provisioning to ensure old licensing profiles and security policies are removed.

Platform-Specific Solutions

Windows Devices

Step 1: Clear Cached Credentials

  1. Close all Office apps.
  2. Open Credential Manager via the Windows Search Bar.
  3. Select Windows Credentials.
  4. Under General Credentials, locate all entries starting with MicrosoftOffice16_data....
  5. Expand each entry and click Remove.
  6. Reopen Word and try logging in again.

Step 2: Reinstall Microsoft Apps

  1. Locate all your Microsoft Apps in Settings>Apps>Installed Apps. SUNY Oswego uses "Microsoft 365 Apps for enterprise"
  2. Click More Options next to each (the 3 dots to the right) and select Uninstall
  3. Reinstall from Microsoft 365

Mac Devices

Step 1: Remove Office Licenses (License Removal Tool)

  1. Download the Microsoft 365 License Removal Tool from Microsoft Support.
  2. Run the .pkg installer (enter Mac Admin credentials if prompted).
    1. If macOS displays an "unidentified developer" message, Control-click the file and select Open.
  3. Select Continue and follow the instructions.
  4. Select Install when prompted.
  5. When the license removal is complete, select Close.
  6. Once finished, open an Office app and log in with your @oswego.edu address.

Step 2: Manual App Cleanup

If license removal fails:

  1. Move all Microsoft 365 apps from the Applications folder to the Trash,
  2. Then remove corresponding cached container folders in ~/Library/Containers/ and ~/Library/Group Containers/ before reinstalling from Microsoft 365.

Step 3: Remove Microsoft 365 Files from the User Library

If the normal uninstall does not resolve the issue, additional Microsoft 365 files may still be stored in the user's Library folder.

  1. Open Finder.
  2. Select Go > Go to Folder, or press Command + Shift + G.
  3. Enter: ~/Library
  4. Select Go.
  5. Open the Containers folder.

If present, look for Microsoft 365 folders such as:

  • com.microsoft.errorreporting
  • com.microsoft.Excel
  • com.microsoft.netlib.shipassertprocess
  • com.microsoft.Office365ServiceV2
  • com.microsoft.Outlook
  • com.microsoft.Powerpoint
  • com.microsoft.RMS-XPCService
  • com.microsoft.Word
  • com.microsoft.onenote.mac
  1. Go back to the ~/Library folder.
  2. Open Group Containers.
  3. If present, look for:
  • UBF8T346G9.ms
  • UBF8T346G9.Office
  • UBF8T346G9.OfficeOsfWebHost

If you are unsure about deleting any of these folders, contact CTS before continuing.

Step 4: Remove Office Applications from the Dock

If Word, Excel, Outlook, or other Microsoft 365 applications are still in your Dock:

  1. Control-click the application.
  2. Select Options.
  3. Select Remove from Dock.

Step 5: Restart the Mac

This allows macOS to finish closing any Microsoft 365 processes that may still be running.

Step 6: Reinstall Microsoft 365 on a Mac

After Microsoft 365 has been removed:

  1. Sign in to the Microsoft 365 website using your full Oswego email address and password.
  2. Select Install apps in the top right and then Microsoft 365 apps
  3. Download the installer.
  4. Open the downloaded installer.
  5. Follow the installation prompts.
  6. When installation is complete, open Word.
  7. Sign in using your full Oswego email address and password.
  8. Confirm that you can create and edit a document.

If All Else Fails, Create a Ticket

When contacting CTS, include:

  • The Microsoft 365 application you are having trouble with.
  • Whether you are using a Mac or Windows computer and its location.
  • Advise how the user logged into the computer and if the computer is shared or not.
  • Any error code or message you are receiving.
  • A screenshot of the error, if possible.

CTS can then determine whether the issue is related to the Microsoft 365 installation, cached credentials, account licensing, or the device itself.
 

Additional Information

Need additional information or assistance? Contact CTS.

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Microsoft 365 For Education
As part of our enrollment in the Microsoft Campus Agreement, all SUNY Oswego registered students, faculty and staff are eligible to get Microsoft 365 for FREE.