Excel you are not signed in to Office with an account that has permission to open this workbook

Excel you are not signed in to Office with an account that has permission to open this workbook

I recently ran into an issue when trying to open documents in Microsoft Office apps in Windows. My Office apps are licensed via a Microsoft 365 license and the documents I wanted to open were stored in OneDrive for Business. However, when I tried to open the document in the desktop app, I received an error: Sorry, another account from your organization is already signed in on this computer. I was able to fix the issue, but it did take a few minutes of troubleshooting to figure it out. Read below how to easily get this error removed. I also created a video showing the solution that’s embedded at the end!

Another account from your organization

While looking at an Office file in OneDrive in the browser, selecting to Open in Desktop App will then open the file via the Office app on your desktop.

Excel you are not signed in to Office with an account that has permission to open this workbook
Excel Online App Open In Desktop

However, in my case I received an error when the Excel App in Windows tried to open the file. Sorry, another account from your organization is already signed in on this computer.

Excel you are not signed in to Office with an account that has permission to open this workbook
Error: Sorry, another account from your organization is already signed in on this computer

The real confusing part is that the account was not listed in the Connected Services section. When I attempted to add OneDrive for Business with the correct account there in the Connected Services section, it gave me the same error.

What’s the Issue?

This issue usually presents itself because the account has an issue with authentication or it has been too long since the last time the account has logged into Office. It simply needs to reauthenticate, but you have to do it in a specific way. Read on for the fix!

Fixing the Error

After several attempts at different methods to fix the issue, I remembered that selecting which account was signed in would change the accounts in the Connected Services section. So I selected the correct account in the Sign In menu on the top-right area when viewing the Accounts tab within the Office app.

Excel you are not signed in to Office with an account that has permission to open this workbook
Switch Sign In within Microsoft Office

Once the correct account is selected, then the Account Error will show in yellow as seen below. The next step is to click the Fix me button within the Account Error box.

Excel you are not signed in to Office with an account that has permission to open this workbook
Fix Me Button in the Account Error Box

Put in the login details for the account being used to access the document. Since everyone should also have two-factor authentication turned on for every login, that process will need to be followed too!

Excel you are not signed in to Office with an account that has permission to open this workbook
Log Into Your Microsoft 365 Account

Once logged in, click on the Try again button in the yellow box in the Connected Services section. This will refresh the services and list them there.

Excel you are not signed in to Office with an account that has permission to open this workbook
Try Again Button in Connected Services

Once all these steps have been followed, the document should now load successfully when selecting the Open in Desktop App link within the Office Online app.

Originally published at Daniel Glenn.

In some cases, Outlook may be unable to open a message sent from a user in a different Microsoft 365 organization if the message has been protected with Information Rights Management.

When you try to open a protected message sent from a user in a different Microsoft 365 organization – even if you are signed in to Office with an account that has permission to open that message – you're unable to open it, and you may see one of the following notifications:

  1. A message that says: You are not signed in to Office with an account that has permission to open this message. You may sign in a new account into Office that has permission or request permission from the content owner.

    • Selecting Add Account and signing in again does not resolve the issue.

  2. A Sign inwindow that asks you to Type the email of the account you would like to use to open this message.

    • Signing in does not resolve the issue.

  3. An Accounts window that shows you the account(s) currently signed in to Office.

    • Selecting the appropriate account does not resolve the issue.

    • Selecting Add Account and signing in again does not resolve the issue.

Several issues pertaining to decrypting and opening IRM-protected messages sent from users in other Microsoft 365 organizations have been fixed in the following Outlook subscription version:

  • Outlook 365: version 1808+

If your Outlook version is older than the version listed above, please update to the newest version and try again. To find your version number, see About Office: What version of Office am I using?

If you can view your email in Outlook on the web, The Outlook standalone versions haven't yet been patched with the fixes released to Outlook for Microsoft 365. Fixes are currently in development for the following versions.

  • Outlook 2016

  • Outlook 2019

This page will be updated with information about updates for the standalone perpetual versions of Outlook when the updates are released.

Notes: 

  • This issue will not be fixed in Outlook versions that are out of mainstream support, such as Outlook 2010 and Outlook 2013.

  • You can use Outlook on the web to view these IRM-protected messages.


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The Microsoft Rights Management Service (RMS) allows you to restrict access to Microsoft Office documents to specific individuals. RMS is integrated into Microsoft Office and is available for faculty and staff. Check with the IT professional in your department for assistance in enabling RMS for your account.

Note: This service only allows UMass Amherst employees to share restricted documents with each other. If you share a document with restricted access to an individual outside of the campus community, they will not be able to open it.

Open a file with RMS restrictions

  1. Download the file. You may see a dialog box that states, "Word needs to connect to the Rights Management Services server. Do you want to continue?" Click Continue. If you are prompted for a server address, enter https://rms.ads.umass.edu.
  2. In the Username field, enter your NetID (you may also be prompted for your domain). In the Password field, enter your NetID password. The file will open.

Set RMS restrictions on a file

Microsoft Office 2013 (Windows)

  1. Go to File > Info > Protect Document > Restrict Access > Restricted Access. The Permission window will open. 
  2. Make sure the Restrict Permission to this document box is selected. Enter the email addresses of individuals who can Read or Change the document. Click ok.

Microsoft Office 2010 (Windows)

  1. Go to File > Info > Protect Document/Workbook/Presentation > Restrict Permission by People > Restricted Access. The Permission window will open.
  2. Make sure the Restrict Permission to this document box is selected. Enter the email addresses of individuals who can Read or Change the document. Click ok.

Microsoft Office 2007 (Windows)

  1. Go to File > Prepare > Restrict Permission > Restricted Access. The Permission window will open.
  2. Make sure the Restrict Permission to this document box is selected. Enter the email addresses of individuals who can Read or Change the document. Click ok.

Microsoft Office 2011 (Mac)

  1. Go to File > Restrict Permissions > Restricted Access. The Set Permissions window will open.
  2. Enter the email addresses of individuals who may Read, Change, or have Full Control of the document in the appropriate fields.

Set RMS restrictions on an email

Microsoft Outlook 2011 (Mac)

In a new email message, go to Options > Permissions > Do Not Forward.

Microsoft Outlook 2007 (Windows)

In a new email message, go to Office button > Permission > Do Not Forward.

Microsoft Outlook 2010 (Windows)

In a new email message, go to Options > Permission > Do Not Forward.

Microsoft Outlook 2013 (Windows)

In a new email message, go to Options > Permission > Do Not Forward.