Where do you contact Microsoft Support, if you face problems relating to Windows, Office, or any other Microsoft software or service? This post will list down some useful resource links, phone numbers, and email ID, from where you can receive help from Microsoft.
Before you begin, I want you to know that this site is owned by me and is in no way affiliated with Microsoft. I have only listed the various ways you can contact Microsoft for help and support. You will have to contact them directly.
Microsoft Support
Microsoft offers support to all customers using its products – and this takes different forms.
- Microsoft Customer Service and Support is available to help you with questions about Microsoft products and services. In this case, a Microsoft representative will help you locate the appropriate resource or team to answer questions. This is meant to be used if you have general customer service questions
- Microsoft Technical Support will provide support options and locate the appropriate support team to resolve technical support issues, which you may be facing. This may include self-help support or assisted support.
To begin with, you can visit this page, mention your country and select the product for which you wish to receive support.
- Message a Windows Advisor
- Make Microsoft call you back
- Schedule a call.
Windows 10 users can use the Contact Support app.
Microsoft Support Phone Number
You can contact Microsoft Customer Service and Support on the following telephone numbers, Monday through Friday, 5:00 AM – 9:00 PM Pacific Time and Saturday and Sunday, 6:00 AM – 3:00 PM Pacific Time:
- In the USA, (800) MICROSOFT (642-7676)
- In Canada, call (877)568-2495
- In India, contact 0008004402130
- In UK, contact 0800 026 03 30
You can get the Microsoft Support telephone number for your country here – and check out the local timings too. Before you begin, its a good idea to keep the name and version of the product you are using, the product identification number or the product key ready. Microsoft representatives will determine the warranty status of the product. The links at the end of this post may help you collect troubleshooting data.
The Customer Service number for Microsoft Corporation in the USA is 1800 102 1100. The Global Customer Service phone numbers for all countries have been mentioned here.
Microsoft Support Chat
You can also contact Microsoft Support by email and chat. If a Customer Service Agent is online and available for a chat here, you will see a message to this effect. If not, you will see Instant Chat: Customer Service Agents are OFFLINE message, on the right side. You may then try and visit this page for Chat support. You can also receive Remote Assistance Support from Microsoft.
You could also use the services of Microsoft Answer Desk, a live paid Tech Support site, to chat with a Microsoft Support executive.
Microsoft also offers a Virtual Support Agent. See if it solves your issues.
Email Microsoft Support
If the Customer Service Agent is offline and if you have any general questions about Microsoft products or services, you can use this form to email Microsoft. They will contact you back via email.
Useful Help & Resource Links
If you need solutions and are willing to search for them, you can do so here on Microsoft Support. Sure, you will always find a lot of tips and troubleshooting tutorials for Windows, here on TWC too.
The Microsoft Support Official Twitter Account is @MicrosoftHelps.
If you need Paid Support from Microsoft, you could try Fix It Center Pro, an automated diagnostic portal to help you resolve your issues.
Support for OEM products
If the question pertains to OEM products that you may be using, you may be required to contact the Computer Manufacturers directly. These links will help you:
- Computer Manufacturers’ Contact Information
- Computer Manufacturers’ Support Phone Numbers and Websites.
But If you purchased a Signature PC from the Microsoft Store, you may call 877-696-7786.
Volume Licensing Support
Here is a list of Microsoft Licensing Activation Centers worldwide along with their telephone numbers that can help you with Volume Licensing Activation issues.
Have Microsoft call you back
To chat, have Microsoft call you back, or to schedule a call, you can visit Microsoft here.
Windows 10 Support
Microsoft has made it easier for Windows 10 users to contact Support if they face any problems while using the new OS. See how to use the Contact Support app. There are other ways to get help for Windows 10.
You can contact Microsoft Customer Support at Phone Number 1 800-642-7676 or
You can now also give or take Tech Support remotely using Quick Assist in Windows 10.
You may want to read these links which may help you when seeking help and support from Microsoft:
- Microsoft Support Diagnostic Tool in Windows 10, is used by Microsoft Support to help diagnose Windows problems.
- The Microsoft Product Support Reporting Tool facilitates the gathering of critical system and logging information used in troubleshooting support issues. This information helps diagnose problems in the software quicker and provide solutions.
- Microsoft Easy Assist allows a Microsoft support professional to remotely connect to your computer and help you solve a problem. Using a secure connection, the support professional can view your desktop and perform diagnostics and troubleshooting steps.
Remember, Microsoft will never contact you on their own, for any problems you may be facing with your computer or Microsoft software and services. And in any case, you will never receive a legitimate call from Microsoft or its partners to charge you for computer fixes. If you do receive such a phone call or an email, stating that they represent Microsoft and proffer help, you can be sure that its a scam! Never give out any details or access to your computer.
NOTE: Please do not trust anyone who promises to help you or anyone who mentions his email ID/contact details in the comments below. If you have a question contact Microsoft directly or search for it here on this site by clicking here. You may be able to find a post about it.
This post will interest you if you ever need to give Microsoft feedback about some of its products and services.
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Get peace of mind knowing that your services are available with a guaranteed 99.9% uptime, financially backed service-level agreement (SLA).
Service health dashboard:
Always know the current health of your Microsoft 365 services, and view detailed information about current and past issues.
Keep up to date on planned maintenance events of your Microsoft 365 services.
Microsoft 365 for business plans
Microsoft 365 for enterprise and Office 365 Enterprise* plans
Get peace of mind knowing that your services are available with a guaranteed 99.9% uptime, financially backed service-level agreement (SLA).
Service health dashboard:
Always know the current health of your Microsoft 365 services, and view detailed information about current and past issues.
Keep up to date on planned maintenance events of your Microsoft 365 services.
Self help
Microsoft 365 for business plans
The Microsoft 365 community has helpful blogs, useful content, and knowledgeable experts in the community forums to answer your questions.
Take troubleshooting into your own hands to solve common issues quickly.
Microsoft 365 for enterprise and Office 365 Enterprise* plans
The Microsoft 365 community has helpful blogs, useful content, and knowledgeable experts in the community forums to answer your questions.
Take troubleshooting into your own hands to solve common issues quickly.
Microsoft 365 for business plans
Microsoft 365 for enterprise and Office 365 Enterprise* plans
The Microsoft 365 community has helpful blogs, useful content, and knowledgeable experts in the community forums to answer your questions.
Assisted support
Microsoft 365 for business plans
Optimize issue resolution by submitting technical issues via the web, where your issue can be routed to the most knowledgeable support agent quickly.
Resources are available to help you with your purchasing decision for Microsoft 365 or Office 365 services.
Resources are available to help you with questions and issues related to your account and Microsoft 365 or Office 365 licenses.
Microsoft 365 for enterprise and Office 365 Enterprise* plans
Optimize issue resolution by submitting technical issues via the web, where your issue can be routed to the most knowledgeable support agent quickly.
Resources are available to help you with your purchasing decision for Microsoft 365 or Office 365 services.
Resources are available to help you with questions and issues related to your account and Microsoft 365 or Office 365 licenses.
Microsoft 365 for business plans
Microsoft 365 for enterprise and Office 365 Enterprise* plans
Resources are available to help you with your purchasing decision for Microsoft 365 or Office 365 services.
Resources are available to help you with questions and issues related to your account and Microsoft 365 or Office 365 licenses.
Elevated support
Additional, elevated support available for purchase for Microsoft 365 organizations that require more personalized support.
Microsoft Services
Provides expertise for a well-managed transition and ongoing operations on Microsoft technology. Offerings include strategy and planning, deployment of Microsoft 365, other cloud workloads, and user adoption to accelerate your time to value.
Fast help from experts, delivered when and how you need it.
Get the most out of Microsoft 365 with help from the experts
Microsoft 365 support features
Proactive support
Microsoft 365 for business plans
Get peace of mind knowing that your services are available with a guaranteed 99.9% uptime, financially backed service-level agreement (SLA).
Service health dashboard:
Always know the current health of your Microsoft 365 services, and view detailed information about current and past issues.
Keep up to date on planned maintenance events of your Microsoft 365 services.
Microsoft 365 for enterprise and Office 365 Enterprise* plans
Get peace of mind knowing that your services are available with a guaranteed 99.9% uptime, financially backed service-level agreement (SLA).
Service health dashboard:
Always know the current health of your Microsoft 365 services, and view detailed information about current and past issues.
Keep up to date on planned maintenance events of your Microsoft 365 services.
Microsoft 365 for business plans
Microsoft 365 for enterprise and Office 365 Enterprise* plans
Get peace of mind knowing that your services are available with a guaranteed 99.9% uptime, financially backed service-level agreement (SLA).
Service health dashboard:
Always know the current health of your Microsoft 365 services, and view detailed information about current and past issues.
Keep up to date on planned maintenance events of your Microsoft 365 services.
Self help
Microsoft 365 for business plans
The Microsoft 365 community has helpful blogs, useful content, and knowledgeable experts in the community forums to answer your questions.
Take troubleshooting into your own hands to solve common issues quickly.
Microsoft 365 for enterprise and Office 365 Enterprise* plans
The Microsoft 365 community has helpful blogs, useful content, and knowledgeable experts in the community forums to answer your questions.
Take troubleshooting into your own hands to solve common issues quickly.
Microsoft 365 for business plans
Microsoft 365 for enterprise and Office 365 Enterprise* plans
The Microsoft 365 community has helpful blogs, useful content, and knowledgeable experts in the community forums to answer your questions.
Assisted support
Microsoft 365 for business plans
Optimize issue resolution by submitting technical issues via the web, where your issue can be routed to the most knowledgeable support agent quickly.
Resources are available to help you with your purchasing decision for Microsoft 365 or Office 365 services.
Resources are available to help you with questions and issues related to your account and Microsoft 365 or Office 365 licenses.
Microsoft 365 for enterprise and Office 365 Enterprise* plans
Optimize issue resolution by submitting technical issues via the web, where your issue can be routed to the most knowledgeable support agent quickly.
Resources are available to help you with your purchasing decision for Microsoft 365 or Office 365 services.
Resources are available to help you with questions and issues related to your account and Microsoft 365 or Office 365 licenses.
Microsoft 365 for business plans
Microsoft 365 for enterprise and Office 365 Enterprise* plans
Resources are available to help you with your purchasing decision for Microsoft 365 or Office 365 services.
Resources are available to help you with questions and issues related to your account and Microsoft 365 or Office 365 licenses.
Elevated support
Additional, elevated support available for purchase for Microsoft 365 organizations that require more personalized support.
Microsoft Services
Provides expertise for a well-managed transition and ongoing operations on Microsoft technology. Offerings include strategy and planning, deployment of Microsoft 365, other cloud workloads, and user adoption to accelerate your time to value.
Unburden your IT support teams with managed support for Office 365
At Content and Code our aim is to remove the complexities of supporting and managing Office 365 away from SME’s and large organisations. Our team will not only help you deliver on your immediate goals but also free up much needed time and resource for your IT departments, making sure that productivity and collaboration is at the heart of what you do.
Dedicated Office 365 specialists
Our Microsoft certified and ITIL trained analysts are available 24/7 via the phone, web portal, email or Skype to assist with Office 365 support issues and requests.
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Reduce your IT downtime and dramatically improve your SLA with prioritised Microsoft support through Microsoft Partner of the year, Content and Code.
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With an Office 365 support contract you will get the help you need to set up, manage, and drive end user adoption for all Office 365 platform features.
Technical account management
You will receive a dedicated Office 365 technical account manager throughout the duration of your contract, who will work directly with your IT department to achieve specific business goals and address any technical challenges.
Guidance and support
With regular account reviews, our dedicated Office 365 support team will assist you with the frequent product updates that occur within the platform, and we can even provide comprehensive training to further support your end-users.
Strategic planning
With Office 365, making sure that you plan ahead for future updates is key to success. That’s why we help you to plan, implement and drive user adoption of new tools throughout your organisation.
Already have Office 365, but don’t have the infrastructure to support it?
If your organisation has rolled out Office 365 with minimal success and adoption, this can be down to not having the correct support infrastructure in place. At Content and Code we work with organisations at many different stages of their journey to provide them with Office 365 support, assistance with change management, upgrades and service design to ensure your Office 365 investment is protected.
What’s included within Office 365 Support?
Office 365 Admin
Service Desk Support
Access to Content and Code Service Desk for assistance with Office 365 incidents and requests
Pre-defined SLA’s
Delivered within defined SLA’s in line with pre-defined Priority Levels based upon ‘Impact & Urgency’
Fully Compliant
Support delivered in line with ITIL framework, ISO9001 and ISO271001 standards
Remote Support
Remote support included within Office 365 Support package
SharePoint Online Code Support
SharePoint Online Features Support
Support of out-of-the-box SharePoint Online features including: Web Parts, Master Pages, Page Layouts, Themes and Display templates
Fully Covered Support
SharePoint Online Code Support covers incidents, requests, general advice and guidance
Pre-defined SLA’s
Delivered within defined SLA’s in line with pre-defined Priority Levels based upon ‘Impact and Urgency’
Office 365 Health Monitoring
Pro-active Support
Pro-active automated support service
On-going Testing
On-going tests of specific Office 365 workloads, with a ‘Synthetic User’ performing certain tasks to test for possible problems
Early Visibility
Provides earliest possible visibility of issues, with clients notified of serious problems
Office 365 Service Owner
Dedicated Office 365 Specialist
Provision of an experienced Office 365 specialist to work with your IT teams
Detailed Analytics and Insights
Incorporates enhanced Office 365 Usage Analytics and Digital Insights into your Office 365 environment
Proactive Office 365 Updates
Provision of proactive updates of Microsoft notifications and alerts
Change and Release Management
Advice and guidance on Microsoft Office 365 Roadmap to support Change and Release Management within your organisation
Premier Escalation Management
Full management of Microsoft Premier Support services
Microsoft Premier Support
To learn more about what Office 365 support could like for your organisation, get in touch with Content and Code today.
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Introduction
This article describes how administrators and users can update personal contact information by using the Exchange admin center in Microsoft Office 365. It also discusses how administrators can limit the kind of contact information that users can update.
More information
Administrators and users can update the following personal contact information by using the Exchange admin center:
- First name
- Initial
- Last name
- Display name
- Street
- City
- State/Province
- ZIP/ Postal code
- Country/Region
- Office
- Work phone
- Fax
- Home phone
- Mobile number
Only managed users can update their personal contact information. Users who are in organizations that use directory synchronization can’t update their contact information by using the Exchange admin center. For organizations that use directory synchronization, use on-premises tools to update contact information.
How to update contact information
- Sign in to Outlook Web App.
- Click Settings, and then click Options.
- In the left navigation pane, click Account, and then click Edit Information.
- Make the changes that you want, and then click Save.
The offline address book (OAB) will not be updated for at least 24 hours.
How administrators can update users’ contact information
- Sign in to the Office 365 portal () as an administrator.
- Click Admin, and then click Exchange.
- In the left navigation pane, click Recipients, and then click Mailboxes.
- Double-click the user whose contact information you want to change.
- In the User Mailbox window, click Contact Information.
- Make the changes that you want, and then click Save.
How administrators can limit users’ ability to update their own contact information
This procedure must be applied to all user role policies in an organization.
Sign in to the Office 365 portal () as an administrator.
Click Admin, and then click Exchange.
In the left navigation pane, clickВ permissions, and then clickВ user roles.
Select the role that’s assigned to the user. By default, the Default Role Assignment Policy is assigned to all users.
Click Edit ().
In the Role Assignment Policy window, under Contact Policy, make sure that the MyContactInformation and the MyProfileInformation check boxes are cleared.
You can also control the level of access for the user by clicking to select the two check boxes and then clicking to clear specific options that are listed under the two check boxes.
As of Oct. 13 the company will stop supporting older versions of Office applications connecting to Office 365 and Microsoft 365 services.
Senior Reporter, Computerworld |
Microsoft recently reminded customers that starting Oct. 13 the company will not support older versions of Office applications connecting to Office 365 and Microsoft 365 services.
In a support document dated July 20, Microsoft listed the applications that will be “supported for connecting to Office 365 (and Microsoft 365) services” such as Exchange Online, SharePoint Online and OneDrive for Business.
- Microsoft 365 Apps for enterprise, formerly known as “Office 365 ProPlus;”
- Microsoft 365 Apps for business, previously “Office 365 Business;”
- Office 2019;
- Office 2016, but only the Windows version.
The Office editions left in the cold are those provided with “perpetual” licenses – ones customers paid for once, not repeatedly as for Office or Microsoft 365 subscriptions – including Office 2013 on Windows, which is to receive support until April 11, 2023; Office 2010 for Windows; and Office 2016 for Mac. The last two exhaust general support on Oct. 13. (Mac versions of Office are supported for only five years, rather than the decade Windows’ editions receive.)
Although excluding some Office applications from Office 365 service support may seem harsh – especially when those applications are owed years of support – Microsoft softened the blow considerably. “We won’t take any active measures to block other versions of the Office client, such as Office 2013, from connecting to Office 365 services, but these older clients may encounter performance or reliability issues over time,” the Redmond, Wash. developer stated in the support document.
With support lost more from omission than commission, Microsoft argued that customers “will almost certainly face an increased security risk” and “find themselves out of compliance” rather than be suddenly suspended from accessing, say, OneDrive.
Microsoft has long played with the support of Office applications connecting to Office 365 services. Three years ago, the company said that perpetual-license versions of Office would be able to connect to Microsoft’s cloud-based services only during the first half of their 10-year support lifecycle. It set Oct. 13, 2020 as the date when the new policy would take effect.
But in September 2018, Microsoft gave Office 2016 a reprieve, saying that that suite would be able to connect to the services through October 2023.
Office 2019’s support for Office and Microsoft 365 services also expires in October 2023.
Microsoft’s matrix spells out what Office is supported until when for connecting to Office and Microsoft 365 services.
Senior Reporter Gregg Keizer covers Windows, Office, Apple/enterprise, web browsers and web apps for Computerworld.
If you’re experiencing trouble with your Office 365 installation or issues with specific Office apps, Microsoft offers two automated tools that may be able to help you troubleshoot and repair your problems.
The first tool–the Office Repair wizard–is more limited in what it can do, but it’s available to all users of Office 365 Home or Business. The second tool–the Office 365 Support and Recovery Assistant–is much like the old Office Diagnostics tool you may remember from Office 2007. It covers more problems and hooks into online support resources better, but unfortunately is only available to users of Office 365 Business.
All Office 365 Users: Repair an Office Installation from the Control Panel
Whether you’re using Office 365 Home or Business, you can try to repair an Office 365 installation by re-running its Setup program from the Control Panel. It isn’t as good at solving specific problems–especially with Outlook–as the troubleshooting tool that business owners can use, but it is good at helping to resolve installation problems and often for fixing individual Office programs that won’t start or keep crashing on you. It can also help resolve issues that poorly-written add-ins can sometimes cause.
You can choose one of two options when you perform a repair:
- Quick Repair. This type of repair goes pretty quickly, but it only tries to detect and replace any corrupt files in your Office installation–similarly to what the System File Checker tool does for Windows.
- Online Repair. This type of repair actually uninstalls and reinstalls Office. It takes longer to run and requires an internet connection, but it performs a more complete repair job.
The online repair option is pretty good about keeping your preferences in place–and it won’t affect any of your documents–but we recommend trying the quick repair first and then using the online repair if your problem isn’t resolved.
Before you get started, go ahead and save any open Office documents and then close all your Office programs. When you’re ready, click Start, type “Control Panel,” and then hit Enter or click the result.
In the Control Panel window, click the “Uninstall a program” link.
In the Programs and Features window, select your Office 365 installation from the list and then click “Change” to open the repair wizard.
Select whether you want to run a quick or online repair and then click “Next.” For this example, we’re going to be running a quick repair, but the process is pretty much the same no matter which option you pick.
Click “Repair” to start the repair process.
The wizard will close any Office programs that are still open and will then begin scanning for and replacing corrupted files. It should only take a few minutes. When it’s done, click “Close.”
You can now test your Office apps to see if your problem has been fixed. If you’re still having issues after running a quick repair, go ahead and try the more thorough online repair. It will take some time, since it has to uninstall Office and redownload the installation, but it should get you fixed up if the quick repair doesn’t.
Office 365 Business Users: Troubleshoot Using the Support and Recovery Assistant
The Support and Recovery Assistant for Office 365 is a relatively new troubleshooting tool you can download from Microsoft. Right now, it’s only available for users of Office 365 Business. Office 365 Home users can download and run it, but one of the last steps of the troubleshooter is to sign in with your business account. Still, if you are a business user, it can be a valuable tool.
While its primary focus is on Outlook issues right now, it can help also identify and resolve problems with installation and activation of Office 365. Plus, if it’s like most Microsoft troubleshooters, you can expect it to add more functionality over time. For right now, though, it can help you with problems like:
- Basic Outlook issues, such as when Outlook–for Windows or Mac–stops responding or receiving emails, won’t remember your passwords, or cannot connect to shared mailboxes and calendars.
- Syncing problems with Office 365 on your mobile device.
- Trouble setting up Outlook on the web.
- Difficulty with Exchange Online.
Start by downloading and installing the Support and Recovery Assistant for Office 365. Run the program on the machine where you’re experiencing the problem, accept the licensing terms, and you’ll arrive at the main page where you can begin selecting the issue you’re having. For this example, we’re going to run through troubleshooting a startup problem with Outlook, but the basic process is the same no matter what problem you’re having.
Select the issue, use the steps in the troubleshooter to help narrow down that issue, and then let the troubleshooter try to fix it. On this first screen, choose the basic area you’re having difficulties and then click “Next.”
On the next page, select the specific problem you’re having and then click “Next.”
The troubleshooter needs to run on the machine where you’re having trouble, so tell it “Yes” and then click “Next.”
At this point, you’ll need to sign in with your Office 365 Business account to proceed. Just type in your credentials and click “Next.”
The troubleshooter will attempt to locate and fix whatever problem you specified. The troubleshooter can fix most problems automatically. Occasionally, it may run into a problem that it needs you to take steps to fix, such as when Outlook needs to be updated.
If the troubleshooter is successful, you can go ahead and try your program again to see if it works. If the troubleshooter reports that it cannot fix your problem and has no suggestions for you to try yourself, it will ask whether it can record the steps you take while you reproduce the problem so that it can send those steps to Microsoft for review.
Don’t use Office 365 much anymore? Here’s how to get rid of your subscription.
You’ve been a faithful subscriber to Microsoft Office 365, but now you feel it’s time to pull the plug. Maybe you’re content with the free version of Office Online or even its chief rival, Google Docs. Or maybe you simply don’t need Word, Excel, or the other apps in the suite any longer.
How can you put the kibosh on your subscription? The steps for cancelling your Office 365 subscription differ based on whether you’re still in the free 30-day trial phase or already are in the midst of your paid subscription.
First, Office 365 is essentially the same product as the regular version of Office 2016. The only difference is that you pay for Office 365 on an annual or monthly subscription basis, while you pay for Office 2016 on a one-time basis just like in the old days. To keep Office 365 alive, you need to continue paying that annual or monthly fee, otherwise your subscription goes kaput. With the regular version of Office 2016, you can use the product as long as you like. For the subscription fee for Office 365, however, you always get the latest version of Office. And depending on your subscription, you can use the software on more than one PC or device.
Home users can choose Office 365 Personal for $69.99 per year ($6.99 per month) or Office 365 Home for $99.99 per year ($9.99 per month). With Office 365 Personal, you can use the suite (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, OneNote, Publisher, and Access) on one PC or Mac, on one phone, and on one tablet. With Office 365 Home, you can use the software on up to five PCs or Macs, five phones, and five tablets. You can try out the Home edition for one month for free. After your free trial, you’re then billed monthly or annually.
That’s great, but maybe you’ve tried Office 365 and no longer want it. If you’re still in the trial phase, you can easily cancel it so it won’t automatically renew at the end of the 30 days. If you’re in the middle of a subscription for which you’ve already paid and have enabled auto-renewal, you can opt to turn off auto-renew or cancel the subscription altogether.
1. Sign In
Let’s first go through the process of cancelling your trial subscription so it doesn’t automatically renew once the 30 days are up. Sign into your Microsoft account page.
2. Services and Subscriptions
At your account page, click on the menu item for Services & subscriptions.
3. Cancel
At your Services & subscriptions page, click on the “Cancel” link under your Office 365 subscription.
4. Are You Sure?
If you’re still in the midst of the free, 30-day trial subscription of Office Home, you’ll be asked “Are you sure?” Click on the button to “Confirm cancellation.”
5. Free Trial Continues
The next page displays a message that your “Your Office 365 subscription will not automatically renew.” The free 30-day trial subscription of Office Home remains in effect until the end of the trial period, so you can continue to use it until then.
6. Cancel Auto-Renew
What if you’ve already paid for your subscription and have it set to automatically renew? In this case, you can choose to disable the auto renewal so you can keep using Office 365 in full until your subscription is up. At the Services & subscriptions page, click “Turn off auto-renew.”
7. Are You Sure?
At the “Are you sure?” page, click on the “Confirm cancellation” button. The next page displays a message that “Your Office 365 subscription will not automatically renew.” You can continue to use Office 365 until your first subscription is up.
8. Get a Refund (Maybe)
Finally, what if you want to cancel your subscription outright with the expectation that you’ll receive a refund for the unused time? Well, that may or may not be an option. You might receive a refund, says Microsoft, if you bought an annual subscription within the last 30 days or you bought a monthly subscription and you’re cancelling within 30 days of your last renewal date. Otherwise, you and your monthly or annual fee are committed to Office 365 for the remainder of your subscription.
If you want to try to cancel, go back to the Services & subscriptions page and click on the “Cancel” link. (You may not see the link to cancel unless auto-renewal is turned on.)
At the “Are you sure?” page, click on the “Confirm cancellation” button to cancel your subscription.
If you are able to actually cancel your subscription rather than just turn off auto-renew, your access to Office 365 goes into a reduced functionality mode during which time you can view your documents but not edit them. Otherwise, you’ll have full access to your documents until your subscription expires. If you have any questions about your Office 365 subscription—how to cancel it, see if you qualify for a refund—you can contact Microsoft Support at the Contact Us page for accounts & billing.
If you’re experiencing trouble with your Office 365 installation or issues with specific Office apps, Microsoft offers two automated tools that may be able to help you troubleshoot and repair your problems.
The first tool–the Office Repair wizard–is more limited in what it can do, but it’s available to all users of Office 365 Home or Business. The second tool–the Office 365 Support and Recovery Assistant–is much like the old Office Diagnostics tool you may remember from Office 2007. It covers more problems and hooks into online support resources better, but unfortunately is only available to users of Office 365 Business.
All Office 365 Users: Repair an Office Installation from the Control Panel
Whether you’re using Office 365 Home or Business, you can try to repair an Office 365 installation by re-running its Setup program from the Control Panel. It isn’t as good at solving specific problems–especially with Outlook–as the troubleshooting tool that business owners can use, but it is good at helping to resolve installation problems and often for fixing individual Office programs that won’t start or keep crashing on you. It can also help resolve issues that poorly-written add-ins can sometimes cause.
You can choose one of two options when you perform a repair:
- Quick Repair. This type of repair goes pretty quickly, but it only tries to detect and replace any corrupt files in your Office installation–similarly to what the System File Checker tool does for Windows.
- Online Repair. This type of repair actually uninstalls and reinstalls Office. It takes longer to run and requires an internet connection, but it performs a more complete repair job.
The online repair option is pretty good about keeping your preferences in place–and it won’t affect any of your documents–but we recommend trying the quick repair first and then using the online repair if your problem isn’t resolved.
Before you get started, go ahead and save any open Office documents and then close all your Office programs. When you’re ready, click Start, type “Control Panel,” and then hit Enter or click the result.
In the Control Panel window, click the “Uninstall a program” link.
In the Programs and Features window, select your Office 365 installation from the list and then click “Change” to open the repair wizard.
Select whether you want to run a quick or online repair and then click “Next.” For this example, we’re going to be running a quick repair, but the process is pretty much the same no matter which option you pick.
Click “Repair” to start the repair process.
The wizard will close any Office programs that are still open and will then begin scanning for and replacing corrupted files. It should only take a few minutes. When it’s done, click “Close.”
You can now test your Office apps to see if your problem has been fixed. If you’re still having issues after running a quick repair, go ahead and try the more thorough online repair. It will take some time, since it has to uninstall Office and redownload the installation, but it should get you fixed up if the quick repair doesn’t.
Office 365 Business Users: Troubleshoot Using the Support and Recovery Assistant
The Support and Recovery Assistant for Office 365 is a relatively new troubleshooting tool you can download from Microsoft. Right now, it’s only available for users of Office 365 Business. Office 365 Home users can download and run it, but one of the last steps of the troubleshooter is to sign in with your business account. Still, if you are a business user, it can be a valuable tool.
While its primary focus is on Outlook issues right now, it can help also identify and resolve problems with installation and activation of Office 365. Plus, if it’s like most Microsoft troubleshooters, you can expect it to add more functionality over time. For right now, though, it can help you with problems like:
- Basic Outlook issues, such as when Outlook–for Windows or Mac–stops responding or receiving emails, won’t remember your passwords, or cannot connect to shared mailboxes and calendars.
- Syncing problems with Office 365 on your mobile device.
- Trouble setting up Outlook on the web.
- Difficulty with Exchange Online.
Start by downloading and installing the Support and Recovery Assistant for Office 365. Run the program on the machine where you’re experiencing the problem, accept the licensing terms, and you’ll arrive at the main page where you can begin selecting the issue you’re having. For this example, we’re going to run through troubleshooting a startup problem with Outlook, but the basic process is the same no matter what problem you’re having.
Select the issue, use the steps in the troubleshooter to help narrow down that issue, and then let the troubleshooter try to fix it. On this first screen, choose the basic area you’re having difficulties and then click “Next.”
On the next page, select the specific problem you’re having and then click “Next.”
The troubleshooter needs to run on the machine where you’re having trouble, so tell it “Yes” and then click “Next.”
At this point, you’ll need to sign in with your Office 365 Business account to proceed. Just type in your credentials and click “Next.”
The troubleshooter will attempt to locate and fix whatever problem you specified. The troubleshooter can fix most problems automatically. Occasionally, it may run into a problem that it needs you to take steps to fix, such as when Outlook needs to be updated.
If the troubleshooter is successful, you can go ahead and try your program again to see if it works. If the troubleshooter reports that it cannot fix your problem and has no suggestions for you to try yourself, it will ask whether it can record the steps you take while you reproduce the problem so that it can send those steps to Microsoft for review.
