When you start an Microsoft 365 app that's not activated, you'll be prompted to sign in to Microsoft 365. Be sure to sign in using the Microsoft account, or work or school account, that you used to buy or subscribe to Microsoft 365.
These steps are repeated for each user who signs in the shared computer. Each user gets a unique licensing token. Just because one user activates Microsoft 365 Apps on the computer doesn't mean Microsoft 365 Apps is activated for all other users who sign in the computer.
Reduced functionality mode If the user isn't licensed for Microsoft 365 Apps, or if the user closed the Activate Office dialog box, no licensing token is obtained and Microsoft 365 Apps isn't activated. Microsoft 365 Apps is now in reduced functionality mode. This means that the user can view and print Office documents, but can't create or edit documents. The user also sees a message in the Office program that most features are turned off.
Single sign-on recommended The use of single sign-on (SSO) is recommended to reduce how often users are prompted to sign in for activation. With single sign-on configured, Microsoft 365 Apps is activated using the user credentials that the user provides to sign in to Windows, as long as the user has been assigned a license for Microsoft 365 Apps. For more information, see Microsoft 365 identity models and Microsoft Entra ID.
@Suwethan hi! Thank you for responding but when I click "install office" it only ask me to go premium with Microsoft 365. I just found out that I have both Microsoft 365 and office 2019 installed in my laptop. When I opened any office app it's unlicensed. I originally have windows 10 and pre-installed office 2019 before.
I had the same issue. Office 2016 Home and Student that i needed to transfer to a different account. I called the Phone support on -us/contactus/ and they said it is not possible to resolve the issue. I then re-tried it with the CHAT agent and they immediately de-activated it from the first account.
I called the ms office product support, I told him the situation and asked him to transfer the activation to the my company's ms office account. he said he can't do it, because once the key in the retail version of office 2016 is registered, it's bound together with the ms office account forever.
We generally have a "thinapp" machine we have set aside to create our packages on. You have to license ThinApp so yea that could be an issue, and then you need to run it in capture mode, install your app (office in this case), activate or properly license/key that software, then stop your capture. The resulting package is activated and ready to go already. At that point the package is portable to any system you want to run it on.
So I ran the rearm on the image for office, created a new snapshot and recomposed the desktop. I have logged in/out several times and Office says it still needs to be activated. Should I see this activation happen right away?
Windows is Activated
Microsoft Windows 10 or 11 must be activated before you can redeem and activate Microsoft Office 2019, 2021, or 365.
To check the activation status in Windows 10 or 11, select the Start button.
180-Day Activation Window
Subscription-based Office 365 and M365 products must be activated within 6 Months (180 days) from the time of Windows activation. The product eligibility will otherwise expire. Contact Microsoft directly for assistance at Microsoft.com/Support.
I ordered multiple computers with Microsoft Office 2019, 2021, or 365 preinstalled. Can I activate the all licenses at once?
No. Each computer must be activated individually. The activation must occur on the computer the license was purchased for.
Where is my 5x5 Product Key?
Office OEM licensing does not include a traditional 5x5 product key. The license is generated by Microsoft servers when Office is activated for the first time on the computer it was purchased with. Dell has no access to the license or product key and cannot provide 5x5 keys.
Can Dell provide a list of all Microsoft Office 2019, 2021, or 365 license keys that I ordered?
No. Office OEM licensing does not include a traditional 5x5 product key. The product license is generated by Microsoft servers when Office is activated for the first time on the device it was purchased with. Dell has no access to the license or product key.
My organization maintains custom images with Office preinstalled. Can I use the OEM license to activate Office after reimaging with my image?
No. Office OEM licensing requires that the license is activated on the computer before the computer is reimaged.
Microsoft only grants reimaging rights to Office Pro Plus licenses (Volume License). All other Office editions (for example Home and Student, and Home and Business) will fail the product activation after the computer was reimaged.
I was wondering,how this activation works, I had 5 OEM licences for office 2013, but everytime I install office on new machine, it asks me to log in to my account and then install, which I do and then gets the phone activation. This means it could be installed in more than 5 machines.. because I think I have installed in 6 machines now. Will it deactivate any other machine?
Now when I go back to microsoft account and check the product key, it does not match which I bought... I mean I dont want to come to any legal issues with them... but this does not seem to be straight forward..
It won't de-activate but you would be liable per MS licensing agreement if you get audited. Also when activating it needs to tie to a MS account (which is why you need to login each time). The way to tell which license you use is to log into your office.com account and then next to the Office 2013 listed hit "Install from CD" link then click link "I have a Disc" and you can hit the product key button on right which will show the the product key for that listed version. If you are having to call by phone to activate then that means that you have used the same key multiple times. Also OEM means that the license is tied to a specific machine so you can not reinstall the same license on a different PC per the EULA of MS.
As for the phone activation you are getting that prompt because you have reached your install limit and Microsoft needs to be sure you really have only 5 installed copies. As far as I know OEM license once activated on a machine is not portable so you would be required by the EULA to purchase a new copy for the 6th machine. Volume licensing is more flexible and is what I and most SpiceHeads would recommend for any future purchases.
Also using this method after you install and first launch Office it should automatically activate using the internet connection. If it doesn't and starts asking for phone activation that means you have already activated that key too many times.
You can also activate Office for free if you start a 1-month free trial of Microsoft 365 Family. You can try the activated Office version for one month. If you subscribe to a Microsoft 365 plan, then you can download, install, and use Microsoft Office tools for free.
I just bought a subscription to Office 365. I keep getting an error message that it can't activate. There's a timelimit on using it without activation so I'll be out he cost of the subscription if I can't solve this problem. Plus losing email, etc. I do see that sometimes anti-virus software can be causing this problem. Is there a way to temporarily turn off Norton to see if Office 365 can be activated? If so, I hope I don't have to leave it turned off and go through it every time I restart the computer.
When you start an Office app that's not activated, you'll be prompted to sign in to Office. You can activate Microsoft Office with a product key or a associated Microsoft account. We assume that you have an unlicensed copy of Microsoft Office installed on your computer. This article shares several ways to activate Office on a Windows PC. Follow the correct instructions according to your situation.
The Office Activation Wizard appears when you start an Office program that has not been activated. Verify you have Internet access and verify that Windows is activated. Start any Office application to restart the Office Activation wizard and select "I want to activate the software over the Internet", and then select Next or use the Enter key on your keyboard. Follow the prompts to complete the activation process.
If you purchased an Office License from an authorized retailer or online store, you must receive a product key. The office can be activated directly via the product key. However, it's best to associate the product key with your account before logging in with the same account. To do this, you can follow the steps below.
You can check if Microsoft Office 2019 has been successfully activated by going to File > Account. The activation status of the program is visible under the heading "Product Information". If is displayed the "Product Activated", it means that you have a valid licensed copy of Microsoft Office.
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