Activate office

Select your version of Office below to learn how to activate Office.

• Activate Microsoft 365, 2019, 2016, and 2013

• Activate Office that's pre-installed on a new Windows 10 device

• Activate an Office purchase or offer that's included on a new Windows 10 device

• Activate Office HUP

• Activate a brand new Office product key

• Troubleshoot activation errors

Activate Microsoft 365, 2019, 2016, and 2013

When you start an Office app that's not activated, you'll be prompted to sign in to Office. Be sure to sign in using the Microsoft account, or work or school account, that you used to buy or subscribe to Microsoft 365.

Note: If Office came pre-installed on your new device, see Activate Office that's pre-installed on a new Windows 10 device.

If the Activation wizard appears, Office needs your help to activate. Follow the prompts in the wizard to activate Office.

Get help with activating Office using the Activation wizard

Activate Office that's pre-installed on a new Windows 10 device

If this screen appears, Office is installed as a Microsoft 365 Family trial

You'll see this screen if you sign in to Office that was pre-installed on a new device but don't have an Office product associated with your account.

To use Office on your new device, you can activate Office as a 1-month trial of Microsoft 365 Family. You can also buy Office, add Office to an existing Microsoft 365 subscription, or enter a product key from a new product key card. If you have an older copy of Office, you can install that instead.

I thought this device included Office

Activate an Office purchase or offer that's included on a new Windows 10 device

I get the error "The products we found in your account can't be used to activate <app>"

If this screen appears, Office is installed as a one-year subscription or one-time purchase

A digital product key is transmitted to your PC, so you won't need or receive a printed product key. You activate Office by signing in with a Microsoft account. If we detect your Microsoft account, we'll show it on this screen. After you sign in, your product is added to your Microsoft account, so that you can reinstall it later, or manage your new subscription, without a product key.

Activate Office HUP

If you bought Office Professional Plus, Visio Professional, or Project Professional through your employer's Microsoft HUP benefit, select I don't want to sign in or create an account (at the bottom of the screen) and enter your product key.

Get your HUP product key

Activate a brand new Office or Microsoft 365 product key

If you bought a new Office product key card, or you received a product key when you bought Office through an online store, go to Office.com/setup or Microsoft365.com/setup and follow the on-screen prompts. This is a one-time process that adds your new product to your Microsoft account. After you redeem your key, you can install Office

Get help with Office.com/setup

Troubleshoot activation errors

If Office can't activate, it eventually becomes unlicensed and all editing features of Office are disabled. Office can become unlicensed for a number of reasons. For example, if your Microsoft 365 subscription expires, you must renew your subscription to restore all features of Office. 

If Office was pre-installed on your new PC, you must start an Microsoft 365 Family trial or buy Office to continue using Office.

Note: If you're running Office on Windows 7 (which is no longer supported, see Windows 7 end of support and Office), you need to make sure that TLS 1.2 is enabled by default. See Update to enable TLS 1.1 and TLS 1.2 as default secure protocols in WinHTTP in Windows.

See also 

A subscription notice appears when I open a Microsoft 365 application

You get the Office error "The products we found in your account can't be used to activate <app>"

Troubleshoot activation errors in Office