Fix: Could not verify the subscription error message

Microsoft Office 365 has one of the most used applications for work purposes. Applications like MS Word, MS Excel, PowerPoint, SharePoint, and Outlook provide a seamless experience for consistent productivity. However, it gets quite irritating when you open one of these applications and you start getting a “Couldn’t verify subscription” error message.

 On launching any of the Microsoft Office 365 applications you’ll see a yellow bar that shows MS office 365 couldn’t verify the subscription. It will prompt you to renew your subscription which can be quite unpleasant if you need to use the Office application on an urgent basis. You might get to run the application for time being but after a while Office application will stop working. It is suggested to resolve the issue when it comes up for the first time.

Don’t worry, we have a few solutions for –Office 365 couldn’t verify the subscription error. Let’s get right into it:

Renew your subscription or membership

You will see one of these two messages ‘Renew your subscription’ or ‘Your subscription has expired. This means that your subscription is expired or is about to be and requires renewal. It’s essential for you to renew your subscription to continue using Office. Follow the following steps to renew your subscription:

1. If the yellow warning box shows ‘Renew your membership’, tap on ‘Buy.’
2. Follow the on-screen prompts to get your subscription renewed online. 
3. If the yellows warning box displays’ Subscription expired,’ choose to reactivate and then ‘Buy’ to renew Office online.
4. Close all Office apps after renewing the subscription to get rid of the renewal notification. If you need further assistance regarding the renewal process, visit Renew Microsoft 365

Connect to internet

You will see a yellow warning bar saying ‘Can’t Verify Subscription in Office’, even though you have an active subscription. In this case, you should connect your device to the internet frequently so that the MS office can be able to verify your subscription status. If it was unable to do so then you’ll get a Couldn’t Verify Subscription Office 365 notice.   Your Office applications will enter into limited functionality mode, connect to the internet and select ‘Retry’ to resolve this.

Check your payment method

You might get a ‘Can’t verify subscription on Office’ warning if your payment method was declined. Sometimes you think your subscription has been updated automatically but it can be declined due to a canceled credit card. Due to this, your subscription will likely be expired and you’ll start getting errors like this one. Go to your account settings > payment > payment method or status. This will help you verify your payment status.

Reactive license key

There’s a high chance that the software was unable to function due to an unverified subscription. Office applications will function normally but the warning sign can be quite irritating. After some time software might stop functioning, it’s better to get rid of the warning sign before that happens.  Follow these steps to do so:

1. Open a command prompt in admin mode and follow these required actions
   1. If you have a 32-bit version of Office 2013/ 2016 (O365), go to the following folder:
      1.  C:\Program Files (x86) \Microsoft Office\Office15 or Office 16
   1. If you have a 64-bit version of Office 2013 / 2016 (O365), go to the following folder:
      1. C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office15 or Office 16
2. Type the below-mentioned command to display the license status: cscript ospp.vbs /dstatus Note down the last five characters of all the license keys that come up in the output.
3. Now run the below-mentioned command to remove all the license keys you have noted. Do this step until all the keys are removed? (without the “<>”) : cscript ospp.vbs /unpkey:<last five characters of product key>
4. Once all the keys are removed successfully, close the command prompt and reboot your system.
5. Launch your Office application and it will prompt you to reactive. Add your sign-in credentials along with your sign-on ID. The software will be now licensed under that ID. This step might take some time for the license to update. You can easily verify your subscription by following these steps.

How to avoid getting can’t verify subscription error?

You can follow these MS Office 365 subscription guidelines to avoid getting a ‘can’t verify subscription’ error. They are as follows.

1. Verify your MS Office 365 subscription status.
2. Make sure you are using the right account.
3. Make sure to use an appropriate and activated key.
4. Set up an Office in two separate nations.
5. Troubleshoot MS Office activation through the Activation Troubleshooters.

We hope now you are all caught up on how to resolve the can’t verify subscription error on Office 365. Apply the suggested solutions to get rid of the error and make sure to comply with the mentioned guidelines. If you still continue to get the can’t verify subscription error message repeatedly, it’s suggested to contact Microsoft Office 365 customer support.