Try, buy, or activate Office that's pre-installed on a new PC

To start your trial, complete the steps below. Near the end of the trial, you'll receive a renewal email, and Office will prompt you to start a paid Microsoft 365 subscription. You can also choose to let your trial expire. To cancel your trial before it expires, see Cancel your free trial of Microsoft 365 Family.

As part of this process, you'll create or specify a Microsoft account to associate with Office. Remember this account so you can install Office on additional computers or devices as part of your subscription. If you have a Microsoft account but can't remember the account or password, see I can't remember the Microsoft account or password I use with Office.

Next steps for Microsoft 365 subscribers:

• To install Office on your other PCs or Macs, see Install Office on your PC or Mac.
• To install Office on your other devices, see Set up Office apps and email on a mobile device.
• To allow others to share your subscription and install Office on their own devices, see Share your Microsoft 365 Family subscription.

Here's how to start a new Microsoft 365 subscription, or make a one-time purchase of Office for your new PC. The pre-installed Office on your new PC will switch to the version that you buy through this process.

1. To start Office, press the Start button on the lower-left corner of your screen, type Word, and then select the Word icon.

2. Select the Buy button to see options for buying an Microsoft 365 subscription or an Office one-time purchase. If you need help choosing, see What's the difference between Microsoft 365 and Office?

3. Follow the prompts to complete your purchase at the Microsoft Store.
   If you're buying a one-time purchase of Office, such as Office Home & Student, be sure to select Redeem now on the Thank you for your order page, and then enter your Microsoft account (or create one) on the Hi. Let's get your Office page.

   Important

   If you have a Microsoft account but can't remember the account or password, see I can't remember the Microsoft account or password I use with Office.

4. In Office on your new PC, sign in to activate Office using the Microsoft account that you associated with Office.

5. Follow the prompts to complete the activation process.

6. Close and restart all Office apps. Office is now configured as the version you bought.

Next steps for Microsoft 365 subscribers:

• To install Office on your other PCs or Macs, see Install Office on your PC or Mac.
• To install Office on your other devices, see Set up Office apps and email on a mobile device.
• To allow others to share your subscription and install Office on their own devices, see Share your Microsoft 365 Family subscription.

The Activate option gives you two ways to activate Office on your new PC:

• Enter an Office 365, Office 2019, or Office 2016 product key. Use this option if you bought an Office product key card from a retail store, online store, or your PC manufacturer.
  If you didn't buy an Office product key card, see the Try (free trial) and Buy tabs above to activate Office.
• Sign in using your Microsoft account to add Office to your existing Microsoft 365 subscription.

Microsoft 365 or Office 2021 on a PC or Mac.

Enter a product key

If you bought an Microsoft 365, Office 2019, or Office 2016 product key card with your new PC, you can enter the product key to activate Office.

IMPORTANT: Only product keys for Microsoft 365, Office 2019, and Office 2016 can be used to activate the pre-installed Office. If you want to use a product key for an earlier version of Office, select the Install tab above.

1. Locate the Office product key card that you bought with your new PC (or bought separately).

   

   An Office product key is 25 characters long and uses the format XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX. If you have a product key card, you might need to scratch off a silver coating.

   

2. To start Office, press the Start button on the lower-left corner of your screen, type Word, and then select the Word icon.

3. Select the Activate button, and then select Enter Product Key.

4. Enter your product key (you can omit the dashes--they will be entered for you) and select Continue.

5. In the Add this key to an account dialog box, select Redeem Online, and then follow the prompts in your web browser to create or specify a Microsoft account.
   As part of this process, you'll create or specify a Microsoft account to associate with Office. Remember this account so that you can reinstall Office on this PC in the future, or install Office on additional computers or devices if you have an Microsoft 365 subscription. If you have a Microsoft account but can't remember the account or password, see I can't remember the Microsoft account or password I use with Office.

6. Go back to the Add this key to an account dialog box and select Finish Activation,

7. Sign in to Office, if prompted.

Next steps for Microsoft 365 subscribers:

• To install Office on your other PCs or Macs, see Install Office on your PC or Mac.
• To install Office on your other devices, see Set up Office apps and email on a mobile device.
• To allow others to share your subscription and install Office on their own devices, see Share your Office 365 Home subscription.

Sign in to activate Office

If you already have an Microsoft 365 subscription, you can sign in using your Microsoft account to activate Office on your new PC.

1. To start Office, press the Start button on the lower-left corner of your screen, type Word, and then select the Word icon.

2. Select the Activate button, and then select Sign in.

3. Enter the email address and password that's associated with your Microsoft 365 subscription. If you have a Microsoft account but can't remember the account or password, see I can't remember the Microsoft account or password I use with Office.

4. Follow the prompts to complete the activation process.

   Note

   If you've exceeded the number of installs for your subscription, you might need to deactivate an Office install before you can activate Office on your new PC.

To install your existing copy of Office on your new PC, you'll need to uninstall the pre-installed Office first, and then install your own version. Here's how:

1. Follow the uninstall procedures in Uninstall Office from a PC to uninstall the version of Office that came with your new PC.

2. Pick a procedure below to install your version of Office:

   • Download and install or reinstall Microsoft 365 or Office 2021 on a PC or Mac.
   • Download and install or reinstall Office 2019 or Office 2016 (Requires a Microsoft account or product key. If you have a Microsoft account but can't remember the account or password, see I can't remember the Microsoft account or password I use with Office.)

If you don't want Office, use the steps in Uninstall Office from a PC to uninstall it.

The following are a few common questions about Office that's installed on a new PC.

Select from below:

I didn't receive a product key with my new PC

Some PC manufacturers sell or offer Office product key cards with the purchase of a new PC. If you didn't buy a product key card, you won't receive one. To use Office, you'll need to use the Try or Buy options, or buy a product key card from a retail or online store. If you should have received an Office product key card with your purchase, contact your PC manufacturer.

My existing product key isn't working

Only product keys for Microsoft 365, Office 2019, and Office 2016 can be used to activate the pre-installed Office. If you want to use a product key from an earlier version of Office, select the Install tab above.

If you have already redeemed your Microsoft 365, Office 2019, or Office 2016 product key and need to reactivate Office on your new PC, you can do so by signing in using your Microsoft account. For help with signing in, select the option Sign in to activate Office from the drop-down list in the Activate tab above. Use this procedure even if you have a one-time purchase of Office.

Why don't I have 1 TB or 2 TB OneDrive storage?

The version of Office that is included as a 1-month free trial with your new PC only offers the basic 5 GB OneDrive storage. To get the full 1 TB or 2 TB shared OneDrive cloud storage and other features, sign up to a subscription.

I received a replacement PC or did a push-button reset on my new PC

For help with reactivating Office after a push-button reset or on a replacement PC, see Outlook, Access, and Publisher are missing after a push-button reset.

I’m trying to activate Office on my new PC, but get error code 0xc004f200 instead

This error can occur if you try to activate Office before Windows has activated. To fix this issue, see Error 0xC004F200 when you activate pre-installed Office on a new PC.

I can't start the pre-installed Office apps after completing activation

After activation, if you're returned repeatedly to the Let's get started page, see Cannot start Office apps after Office activation.

I installed my own copy of Office, but I'm still seeing the Try, Buy, and Activate screen

This can happen if you uninstall the pre-installed Office and install a Volume License version of Office. To fix this issue, see Office repeatedly prompts you to activate on a new PC.

I uninstalled Office, but the Office shortcut icons are still on my Start menu

To remove the icons, see Office shortcuts remain after Office uninstall.

I closed the "Let's get started" screen, and now Office applications crash

If this happens, close the Office application and restart it. This is a temporary issue.