How to download, install and activate Office 2021 Home and Business for Mac
Redeem your 25-character key at setup.office.com, which links the license to your Microsoft account, then click Install to start the Microsoft Office 2021 for Mac download. Open the .pkg from Downloads and click through it. The apps activate when you sign in inside Word with that same account, which takes 15 to 25 minutes in all.
| Official download | setup.office.com to redeem, account.microsoft.com/services to install |
|---|---|
| Installer type | .pkg named “Microsoft Office installer” |
| Time needed | 15 to 25 minutes, most of it downloading |
| Activation | Automatic once you sign in inside Word |
| Works on | Apple silicon (M1 to M4) and Intel Macs |
| Free help | Email every day, phone Mon–Fri 9am–6pm ET |
Before you start
This key binds to a Microsoft account and stays there, so almost every problem people write to us about comes down to signing in later with the wrong address.
- Your 25-character product key. It is in your order email and your account on our site.
- A Microsoft account. Outlook, Hotmail and Gmail addresses all work.
- About 10 GB of free disk space. Check the Apple menu, About This Mac, Storage. You also need your Mac administrator password during the install.
- A supported macOS version. Microsoft supports the current macOS and the two before it.
| Requirement | Minimum |
|---|---|
| Operating system | One of the three most recent macOS versions |
| Processor | Apple silicon or Intel, both native |
| Memory | 4 GB RAM |
| Disk space | About 10 GB free |
| Apps included | Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, OneNote |
| Devices | One Mac, business use allowed |
| Supported until | 13 October 2026, then no more updates |
Redeem the key and download microsoft office for mac
The key is never typed into the apps. You redeem it on Microsoft’s site, which ties the license to your account, and the download follows.
- Open setup.office.com. Use the Mac you plan to install on. This is Microsoft’s own site, and the only place your key is typed.
- Sign in with a Microsoft account. Use an existing one or create a free account. Outlook, Hotmail and Gmail addresses all work. Note which one you used.
- Enter the 25-character key. Copy it from your order email. Dashes are added for you and case does not matter.
- Choose country and language. Confirm both, and the license is permanently linked to that account.
- Start the office 2021 for mac download. Click Install on the confirmation screen and a .pkg called Microsoft Office installer lands in Downloads. If you closed that page, use account.microsoft.com/services.
The file is Microsoft’s generic “Microsoft 365 and Office” package. That is normal and it is the right download: one installer serves every Mac version, and it activates as Office 2021 when you sign in.
Install Office on your Mac
The .pkg behaves like any other Mac installer. Close any older Office apps first. Nothing here asks for a product key, which is normal for an account-bound license.
- Open the installer. In Finder, open Downloads and double-click the Microsoft Office installer .pkg.
- Work through the panels. Click Continue, read the license agreement, click Continue again and then Agree.
- Click Install. Leave the default location alone: the Applications folder is where the apps find their license.
- Enter your Mac password. macOS wants an administrator password here, not your Microsoft account password.
- Allow it if macOS asks, then wait. If a security prompt appears, open System Settings, Privacy & Security and click Allow. The installer reports success once the apps are in place.
Keep the Mac awake until the success message appears.
Activate office 2021 mac by signing in
The apps are installed but not licensed yet. Signing in with the account you redeemed the key on turns the trial screen into a full copy, so use that address.
- Open Word. Launch it from Launchpad or Applications. Any app works, but Word is simplest.
- Click Sign in. A What’s New panel may appear first. Close it and click Sign In.
- Use the same Microsoft account. Type the address you redeemed the key with. This is the step that activates the software.
- Accept, then pick a theme. Click Accept on the license terms, choose a theme and click Start Using Word. Activation then completes on its own.
The license lives on the account, not the Mac. To move machines, sign out in the Word menu on the old one, then sign in at account.microsoft.com/services on the new Mac and install again.
Check that it worked
Thirty seconds confirms the license landed. If anything looks wrong, the troubleshooting below has the fix.
- Word opens into a blank document, with no banner asking you to activate or subscribe.
- The Word menu, then License, reads “Office Home and Business 2021”. That is the clearest confirmation there is.
- About Microsoft Word shows a product name and build number, not a trial notice.
- Editing and saving work, with no read-only mode and no Microsoft 365 prompt.
Common errors and how to fix them
The messages customers actually run into on the Mac edition, with the cause of each. If yours is not here, email contact@officegsm.com with a screenshot and your order number.
“This token has already been redeemed”, or no Install button
The key is already attached to a Microsoft account, usually your own from an earlier attempt, so there is nothing left to redeem. Sign in at account.microsoft.com/services, find Office Home & Business 2021 for Mac under Services & subscriptions and click Install there. If you have several addresses, try each one, because the license only shows for the account it was redeemed with. If none has it, email your order number to contact@officegsm.com.
“No license found” or “Activate Microsoft 365 to create and edit”
The apps are signed in with a different Microsoft account from the one holding your license, so they think nothing has been bought. In Word, open the Word menu and choose Sign Out, quit every Office app, then reopen Word and sign in with the right address. If the message returns, run Microsoft’s License Removal Tool for Mac from support.microsoft.com, restart, and sign in again. That clears stale licenses left by a trial.
Word or Excel asks you to buy Microsoft 365
A Microsoft 365 trial license is on the Mac, or the apps are signed in with an account that has no license, so they fall back to the subscription offer. Do not buy anything. Sign out from the Word menu, quit every Office app including Outlook, then open Word and sign in with the account your key is linked to. If the prompt survives, run the License Removal Tool for Mac and sign in again.
You bought a Windows key by mistake
Windows versions of Office ship as an .exe or .img file, and neither opens on macOS, so the key and the installer are both unusable here. There is no converter, and redeeming a Windows key against your Microsoft account will not produce a Mac download. Email contact@officegsm.com with your order number: as long as the key is still unredeemed we exchange it for the Mac version, and the 180-day guarantee covers a refund instead.
“Office 2021 requires macOS …” on opening the installer
Your Mac runs a macOS older than the three Microsoft currently supports, so the installer refuses to continue. Check what you have under the Apple menu, in About This Mac. If the Mac can take a newer macOS, update it in System Settings and run the installer again. If the hardware is too old to update, Office 2021 will not run on it, and we would rather tell you that before you buy. Send us your Mac model and we will confirm.
Office 2021 for Mac download questions
What people ask us most about this license.
Where is the official office 2021 for mac download?
There are two official places, both run by Microsoft. Right after you redeem the key at setup.office.com, the confirmation screen offers an Install button that starts the download. Later on, sign in at account.microsoft.com/services, find Office Home & Business 2021 for Mac under Services & subscriptions, and click Install. Both give you the same .pkg file, carrying the generic Microsoft 365 and Office name. We never point customers at third-party sites for microsoft office for mac, because those files are often repackaged and will not activate against a genuine license.
Is this a subscription, and what happens in October 2026?
It is a one-time purchase, so there is no renewal date and no monthly charge, and the license stays on your Microsoft account for as long as it exists. Microsoft ends support for Office 2021 for Mac on 13 October 2026. After that date the apps keep opening and your documents keep working exactly as before, but Microsoft stops issuing updates and security fixes for this version. Plenty of people carry on using it, and some prefer to move to a newer release once updates stop. Nothing is switched off on your side.
Can I install office on Mac on more than one computer?
The Home and Business license covers one Mac at a time. You can move to a new Mac whenever you like, since the license lives in your Microsoft account rather than on the machine itself. Before moving, open Word on the old Mac, use the Word menu to Sign Out, then uninstall the apps there. On the new Mac, sign in at account.microsoft.com/services, download the installer again and sign in inside Word. There is no limit on how often you can reinstall office 2021 mac on a Mac you own.
Does it run on Apple silicon Macs?
Yes. The apps run natively on Apple silicon, from the M1 through the M4 chips, and on Intel Macs too. One installer covers both, so there is no separate download to pick and no Rosetta step to worry about. What matters more than the chip is the macOS version, since Microsoft supports Office for Mac on the current macOS and the two releases before it. Check yours under the Apple menu, in About This Mac. If your Mac cannot update past an unsupported macOS, contact us before buying and we will tell you where you stand.
Which apps do I get, and can I use them for work?
You get Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook and OneNote as ordinary Mac applications, installed in the Applications folder. This is the Home and Business edition, so commercial use is included: invoicing clients, running a small company or working for an employer are all covered by the license. Files open in the Windows versions of the same apps without conversion, and Outlook works with Microsoft, Google and most other standard mail accounts. There is no separate activation for each app, because signing in once inside Word licenses all five of the apps together.
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