Microsoft 365 Personal Apps Don’t Recognise Your Email on Windows (How to Fix)

After installing Microsoft 365 Personal on a Windows laptop, some users face a confusing sign-in error. When they open Microsoft Excel or Microsoft Word for the first time, the app shows:

“We couldn’t find a work or school account with that address.”

This error often appears on the very first screen that says “Sign in to get started with Excel.” The message looks serious, but in most cases, nothing is actually wrong with your subscription.

Why Microsoft 365 Personal Shows This Error

Microsoft uses two different account types, and the apps sometimes prompt the wrong one.

• Personal Microsoft account → required for Microsoft 365 Personal
• Work or school account → used only by business or enterprise plans

The error appears when the app tries to validate your email as a work or school account, even though Microsoft 365 Personal requires a personal Microsoft account.

Step 1: Make Sure You Are Using a Microsoft Account

Microsoft 365 Personal only works with a Microsoft account, not a work or school account.

A valid Microsoft account email can be:

• Outlook.com
• Hotmail.com
• Live.com
• Gmail or Yahoo linked to a Microsoft account

If you purchased Microsoft 365 using Gmail or another email, you must still sign in through a Microsoft account profile, not as a work account.

Step 2: Sign In from the Correct Option (This Is the Key Fix)

When the “Sign in to get started” screen appears:

1. Click Sign in
2. If asked to choose an account type, select “Personal account”
3. Do not choose “Work or school account”
4. Enter the email used to purchase Microsoft 365 Personal
5. Complete sign-in and activation

Many users miss this step because the screen wording is misleading.

Step 3: Verify Your Subscription Is Active

Before retrying the apps, confirm activation:

1. Go to https://account.microsoft.com/services
2. Sign in with your Microsoft account
3. Check that Microsoft 365 Personal shows as Active

If it is active here, your license is valid and can be used on the laptop.

Step 4: Sign In Through Any One App First

If Excel blocks sign-in, try this order:

1. Open Word
2. Click File → Account
3. Select Sign in
4. Complete sign-in once

Once one app activates successfully, all other Office apps will unlock automatically.

Step 5: Remove Wrong Cached Accounts (If the Error Persists)

Sometimes Windows stores the wrong account type.

1. Open Settings → Accounts → Email & accounts
2. Remove any Work or school accounts linked to Office
3. Restart the PC
4. Open Word or Excel again and sign in fresh

Step 6: Repair Microsoft 365 (Last Resort)

If the apps still refuse to recognise your email:

1. Open Control Panel
2. Go to Programs → Programs and Features
3. Select Microsoft 365
4. Click Change
5. Choose Online Repair

This resets sign-in components without affecting your files.

If Microsoft 365 Personal is not recognizing your email, the issue almost always comes from selecting the wrong account type during sign-in. Once you follow the six fixes above — especially choosing Personal account instead of work or school account — the apps activate correctly.

In most cases, you only need to:

• Sign in with the correct Microsoft account
• Verify your subscription is active
• Remove cached work/school accounts if needed

After completing these steps, your sign-in problem should be fully resolved and Word, Excel, and other Microsoft 365 apps will work normally.

If the issue still continues, comment below with the exact error message you see. We’ll help you fix it.