Question about Outlook for Mac Desktop App Access and Microsoft 365 Basic

Judy Lee - Wisdom Group 60 Reputation points
2025-08-19T01:52:07.0433333+00:00

I recently purchased a new Mac and only need to use the Outlook desktop application (not the web version). During setup, I encountered the following issue:

  • When I try to add my company account, I receive this error message:

    Cannot add this account. Your organization’s license does not allow access to Outlook for Mac. Please use Outlook on the web instead. image

My questions are:

If I purchase Microsoft 365 Basic (NT$600/year), will this allow me to install and use the Outlook desktop application on Mac to log in to my company email?

If not, which plan or license would be required to enable Outlook desktop access on Mac for my company account?

Thank you for your support and clarification.

Best regards,

Judy Lee

Outlook | MacOS | New Outlook for Mac | For business
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  1. Jade-T 4,315 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator
    2025-08-19T07:25:48.23+00:00

    Hi @Judy Lee - Wisdom Group

    Thanks so much for reaching out! I totally understand how frustrating this must be, especially when you're setting up a brand-new Mac and just want everything to work perfectly. I’m really happy to help you get this figured out. 

    The error message "Your organization’s license does not allow access to Outlook for Mac" means that the Microsoft 365 license assigned to your company email account is set up for web-only access to Outlook. It doesn't include the desktop app you're trying to use. 

    This means that purchasing a personal Microsoft 365 Basic subscription won’t solve the issue. That plan also only grants access to the web versions of Office apps, not the full desktop applications like Outlook for Mac. 

    To use the Outlook desktop app on your Mac with your company email, your account needs to be on a Microsoft 365 plan that includes the desktop apps. The most common and suitable plan for this is Microsoft 365 Business Standard

    You have a couple of wonderful options to resolve this:

    • The most straightforward solution is to contact your company's IT department or Microsoft 365 administrator. They can upgrade your license to Microsoft 365 Business Standard, which will give you the access you need. 
    • Alternatively, you could purchase a personal license such as Microsoft 365 Personal. Once Outlook for Mac is activated using that license, you can then add your company email account, even if that account itself doesn’t include desktop access. 

    For more details on how this licensing works, you can check out Microsoft's official support article: How licensing and access works in Outlook for Mac

    I hope this helps you get up and running on your new Mac! Please don’t hesitate to reach out if you have any more questions. I'm happy to assist.


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