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Why do I need a license to edit Word and Excel files now?

So this just happened today. I can't create new Word or Excel files, nor can I edit existing ones. There is now a paywall that says I need a commercial Office 365 version.

Um what?

Working for an org that has a number of remote colleagues, we rely on being able to share and collaborate on our in-progress work. Having to pay for an essential embedded program on top of a subscription, without any warning, is not cool.

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Microsoft Office

Third Party Integrations

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Hi,

Yesterday I was told by Dropbox Support that you were working on this issue.

Any news ?

Lusil

Hey peeps, thank you all for the continuous updates!

@GJensen, I've contacted you at the email address that's associated with your Community profile.

Please have a look at your inbox for my message and we'll have a look at it together.

Thank you in advance!

Daphne

Hey there @WD,

Since you're already in contact with our Support team for this issue, I'd recommend contacting the agent handling your case for an update. You'll receive any updates first and foremost through your communication with the team via email.

Sorry that I can't be of much more help here!

MrRogers83

Dropbox support has officially "solved" the issue. Here is what I was told:

Our engineers have been looking into this issue with Office365 integration. There has been a fix to a license verification problem on our side.

However, to edit a document in Office for the web (edit mode), Dropbox Business users need an Office 365 suite license, such as one of the following.

Office 365 Business
Office 365 Business Premium
Office 365 Pro Plus
Office 365 E3
Office 365 E4
Office 365 E5

https://support.office.com/en-us/article/Office-and-DropBox-frequently-asked-questions-88931030-47f9-4134-bc52-a8863bb0169f

So really the issue is their salespeople have been misleading customers by omitting the fact that Office online integration requires you also have an Office 365 account if you have a business version of Dropbox.

The reason we all are so confused right now is because Dropbox's system wasn't verifying that we had O365 licenses when it should have been the entire time, but they have now fixed that issue.

Bummer. Being able to work in Office online via Dropbox was a major selling point, and if we want to continue having access it's going to cost us a whole lot more.

TommyAC

None of my excel sheets saved in my dropbox are opening through the online microsoft excel. To be able to view them or work on them I have to download them to my computer. I want to be able to open them online and edit online. Any suggestions on how to fix this problem?

Daphne

Hey there @TommyAC,

To look into this further I've reached out to the email address associated with your Community profile. Please just check your inbox when you have a moment and we'll go from there.

Thanks!

HeidiZ

Hello,

For the past few months I've been able to open files online. Now it's asking me to sign-in to my Office 365, which I've also had and been using. However, when I enter the email address, that I have confirmed is correct and reset the password that I've checked and works, I'm getting a prompt that the username is incorrect. The prompt to sign-in appeared from one day to another and still doesn't seem to work.

Also, I've tried to open the files in different web browsers and I'm either getting a prompt to log-in to Office 365 (which isn't working) or it's just a clear screen that won't change regardless of how many times I refresh or relaunch the file.

What am I missing?

Thank you in advance for the help :-)

Daphne

Hey there @EllKay,

Just as a side note, I've merged your post here as it pertains to the same issue.

I've reached out to your email address associated with your Community profile so that we can look into this a bit further. Please just check your inbox when you have a moment and we'll go from there.

Thanks!

TommyAC

Hi Dafne - I've replied to the email you sent me but I still haven't gotten a response

acoolaccounts

The same thing happens in my company since Tuesday. We have an Office 365 license and it doesn't let us edit. If the files open on the computer, they open normally, but only one of the administrators can edit in Excel Online, having the same license as the rest. How can I solve it?

Fiona

Hey there @acoolaccounts.

Welcome to Community.

Sorry to hear some members cannot edit using Office 365, while they do have licenses. Allow me to ask, are the members getting an error when trying to edit? If this is the case, please add it with your next response.

If there is no error there, could we have a screenshot of the "Open with" options the members facing the issue are getting ?

Please show us their options both online and their desktops.

Looking forward to your screenshots to assist. Thank you!

acoolaccounts

Thank you Fiona.

We have the options to open with Excel on the computer, it works very well, but when I save, it is only saved on the computer, not in Dropbox. Google Sheets doesn't work because the email doesn't match. And the Excel Online, it says that I don't have a license, I have tried to buy a license through the link that appears to solve it, but it tells me that I already have a license and I can't buy another one.

(image link is broken, can not be displayed)

Fiona

I see. Thanks for the additional information.

Please contact Microsoft and let them know about this error message. Once the license problem is resolved you will be able to edit normally. Unfortunately I can not know what the problem is with the license.

I would like to understand if we also have a syncing issue though, cause I can definitely troubleshoot that. :nerd:

You mentioned different emails. Are you accessing another account/email online, rather than the one that is linked on your desktop?

Please note each Dropbox account, is assigned on a unique email address. So if you are using two, we have two accounts here. :thinking: The license would work for only one of the two accounts.

Thanks in advance for clarifying this.

acoolaccounts

Yes, we have 8 accounts, everyone with Dropbox license and Office license. I'm acceding with the same account in Dropbox and Office, but isn't working.

I think it isn't a synchronization problem. It's just that some of my colleagues don't have Dropbox installed and they work through the web and if they modify the file after downloading it, they have to upload it, since it isn't updated directly as we would like.

I will contact Microsoft to try to solve it. Thank you

Fiona

Good job with finding the alternative to continue working!

I am so sorry for the inconvenience this has clearly caused. :slight_frown: Hope the Microsoft error will be solved soon.

If you could get back to us with any updates on the matter, it would be super helpful for all users to know how this was solved.

If there is something more I can do on my end to help with your Dropbox, let me know. I will be more than happy to.

Daphne

Hey @TommyAC,

I replied to your email, can you check your email inbox when you have the time to see if you've received this?

Let me know if you didn't - thanks!

CreativeR

Same problem here!

"You don't have an Office license

Your Office 365 account does not have an Office license assigned to it"

Microsoft confirmed that my team does have the correct account to access Microsoft Excel Online.

Lusil

Hi @CreativeR,

Thanks for reaching out to us.

I've sent you a ticket to the email address associated with your Community profile to have a better look into this.

Looking forward to hearing back from you!

Fatradish

Hi ! did this get resolved for you ? we're experiencing same issue

Hi,

I had a response from Prenium Support.

The problem is that there was no licence verification from Dropbox until now and the only licences that allow you to modify files online are Office 365 Business, Business Essentials, Business Premium, ProPlus, E1, E3, E4 or E5.

Since we have A1 education licences, we won't be able to use this function.

They sold us Dropbox and made us think that we would be able to and now I don't see what are the benefits from using Dropbox instead of OneDrive since we don't have to pay for OneDrive with Office 365...

kitt0y

@WD wrote:
Hi,
I had a response from Prenium Support.
The problem is that there was no licence verification from Dropbox until now and the only licences that allow you to modify files online are Office 365 Business, Business Essentials, Business Premium, ProPlus, E1, E3, E4 or E5.
Since we have A1 education licences, we won't be able to use this function.
They sold us Dropbox and made us think that we would be able to and now I don't see what are the benefits from using Dropbox instead of OneDrive since we don't have to pay for OneDrive with Office 365...

--------------------------------------------

So this is the fix? just like that?

Fatradish

Hi Fiona, we are experiencing the same issue , cannot edit via mricosoft online, our subscription is active , please help !

Lusil

Hey there @Fatradish,

Sorry to hear that you're also having trouble with this.

I've sent you an email to the address associated with your Community profile so that we can further investigate this together.

When you get the chance, please check your inbox - thanks!

taz3

I am new DB user, I was invited to use my company's business DB account. We all use a spreadsheet file to track inventories. We all work from home on our PC's. Many of us have access & the ability to edit this spreadsheet. The spreadsheet will then save our edits. I was using it everyday just fine, but a few days ago I got a message when I tried opening the spreadsheet, the message stated I had to purchase Microsoft Office 360 to open the file and would not allow me to proceed. What changed? I tried deleting cache, rebooting, using a different browser to no avail. The other associates on our team are NOT having this issue. Up until now I would access the file and it would open via Excel without any issues. Please help. I use this spreadsheet daily to perform my responsibilities. Thanks.

KF6

Same issue as the previous message. Other people on my team are not having an issue------ "I am new DB user, I was invited to use my company's business DB account. We all use a spreadsheet file to track inventories. We all work from home on our PC's. Many of us have access & the ability to edit this spreadsheet. The spreadsheet will then save our edits. I was using it everyday just fine, but a few days ago I got a message when I tried opening the spreadsheet, the message stated I had to purchase Microsoft Office 360 to open the file and would not allow me to proceed. What changed? I tried deleting cache, rebooting, using a different browser to no avail. The other associates on our team are NOT having this issue. Up until now I would access the file and it would open via Excel without any issues. Please help. I use this spreadsheet daily to perform my responsibilities. Thanks."

Lusil

Hey peeps, thanks for reaching out - I'd be more than happy to help.

@taz3, I've sent you a ticket to the email address associated with your Community profile to look into this matter together.

@KF6, I've replied to your support request, so when you have a chance, please check your inbox for my latest message.

I look forward to hearing back from you!

Kido

Hi, I have the same issue as the one described in a post that has the same name as mine, no solution is actually given and I need help.

I use a dropbox business account, I do have Office 365, and I have been using Microsoft Excel Online for months it was fine, but now all of a sudden it's also asking me to subscribe to Office 365 when I'm already.

Can you help me please, thank you,

Kido

Daphne

Hey there @Kido,

Could you just confirm for me if you currently have one of the licenses required by Microsoft to be able to use the integration with the Business subscription? You can find the list of licenses from this article here.

If you do have one of these licenses and are still having issues with using the integration, please let me know and we can look into this further.

Let me know - thanks!

SBrooks

I have the same problem, at 2:00 I got into my excel docs, at 2:15 it told me I needed a Corporate or Educational acct. I did sign up for a trial but it still doesn't work. Other exel docs work from dropbox just those in one of my shared accounts. Very frustrating.

SBrooks

I tried to sign up dor Google.doc and it wanted me to buy a domain.