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Easily change your Office activation without contacting support
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Your product key is different based on what version of Office you have. If the activation code or product key you have triggers a renewal window every time you open an Office application, you might need to update it or change it. Follow the steps in this guide to learn how.
Easily Change Office Key
- If you have a subscription to Office 365 or use Office 2024, 2021, and 2019, you don't need a product key since it's attached to your Microsoft account.
- With Office 2016, go to File > Account > Switch License and enter the new license or product key.
- If an Office app isn't opening or giving you an activation or product code error message, use Command Prompt to change the active product key.
Steps
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1Open any Microsoft Office app and click File . You'll see the File tab in the upper right corner in any app.
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2Click Account . It's at the bottom of the menu.Advertisement
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3Click Switch License . You'll see this button on the right side of the window.
- If you don't see the "Switch License" button, install Office Updates.
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4Enter the product key. This will overwrite the current key.
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5Select Install this product instead . There may be new tutorials and prompts for you to follow to start using the new key.
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1Get your product key for the malfunctioning product. Use this method if an installation of Office 2019-2016 on Windows is not opening.
- You can either get a new key or go to https://account.microsoft.com/services , look for the Office app that isn't working, click View product key , and copy it.
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2Open Command Prompt as an administrator. Search the Start menu for "Command Prompt," then right-click the app result and select Run as admin .
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3Enter the following code: cscript "C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office16\OSPP.VBS" /dstatus (32-bit Windows) or cscript "C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Office\Office16\OSPP.VBS" /dstatus (64-bit Windows) and press Enter .
- You'll see a line starting with "Last 5 characters…" that you'll need to reference in the next step.
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4Enter the following code: cscript "C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office16\OSPP.VBS" /unpkey:XXXXX (32-bit Windows) or cscript "C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Office\Office16\OSPP.VBS" /unpkey:XXXXX (64-bit Windows). Replace the XXXXX with the last 5 digits of the previous key and press Enter .
- This removes that key from your activated product.
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5Enter the following code: cscript "C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office16\OSPP.VBS" /inpkey:XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX (32-bit Windows) or cscript "C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Office\Office16\OSPP.VBS" /inpkey:XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX (64-bit Windows). Replace XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX with your activation or product key and press Enter .
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6Open the Microsoft app to activate it. Since you removed a key and added a new one, you'll need to walk through the registration process again. [1] X Trustworthy Source Microsoft Support Technical support and product information from Microsoft. Go to source
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Warnings
- Do not delete anything other than what is needed. You should back up the registry beforehand.Thanks
- Some associations in the Registry, if removed, will crash other functioning programs or Windows itself.Thanks
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