Learn how to activate Office that is pre-installed on new Windows 10 PCs or using a new product key.

The Activation Wizard helps you complete the activation process for Office 2016 and earlier versions of Office. Choose an option below to get started. Activate over the Internet

When you select the option to activate Office by telephone, you may see the following error: Telephone activation is no longer supported for your product. Note: This issue impacts Office non-subscribers only—those who purchased the product as a one-time purchase.

If Office activation fails, you'll see Unlicensed Product or Non-commercial use / Unlicensed Product in the title bar of your Office apps, and most features of Office are disabled. To restore all features of Office, you'll need to fix the problem that's causing activation to fail.

An activation code (also known as an activation key) is used to activate the software after installation. Activation ensures that the software is genuine and legally licensed. Unlike a product key, which is entered during installation, the activation code is applied after installation.

If you try to install and activate these versions of Office on a different computer (owned by you or someone else), or on the same computer after a hardware change, you might see an error message that says you've reached the maximum number of activations.

If you keep getting prompted to activate Office Standard or Office Professional Plus on a new PC, you can update the registry to stop the prompts.

You can find troubleshooting steps for common installation or activation issues for Microsoft 365 for Mac here. If the issue you're having is not in these lists, you may also be experiencing an emerging issue.

Locate your product key for Windows 10 or Windows 11. Depending on how you got your copy of Windows 10 or Windows 11, you'll need either a 25-character product key or a digital license to activate it.

Use the Office offline installer to install Office 2016 or Office 2013 if you don't have an active Internet connection or you're having problems with slow speed or unreliable connections.