Office Activation Guide (redeem.microsoft.com)

Head to redeem.microsoft.com, sign in using your existing Microsoft account you want the product to be linked to, or create a new one.

Check the account “It’ll be added to” is the one you want the product linked to.

Enter your 25 character CD key, click next. 

If you see an error stating “This product key has already been used” it means your product key has already been linked to your account. Skip to step 4.

Check the product you will get is correct, click confirm to redeem the key and link it to your Microsoft account.

There are no refunds after clicking confirm as the key is permanently linked to your Microsoft account.

Go to your Services & subscriptions page where you will see the product you redeemed listed under your account, as well as any others you have previously redeemed.

Click the install link next to the product you want to download.

Choose the language and version (default is recommended) and click Install to download the installer.

Before installing your new Office suite you should fully uninstall any old Office apps on the computer. Old Office apps can cause conflicts with a new installation, so it is best to remove them beforehand.

Steps to uninstall Office for Windows PC
Steps to uninstall Office for Mac

Run the installer file that was downloaded to your computer (most likely in your downloads folder) and follow the on-screen instructions.

If you get an error message saying “Sorry it looks like you’re on a slow connection…“, Office is taking a really long time to install, or it appears to hang during the install, you may want to cancel the installation and try the troubleshooting solutions.

Your install is finished when you see “You’re all set! Office is installed now“, an animation sometimes plays showing you where to find the Office applications.

Upon opening an Office App for the first time you will be asked to sign in to your Microsoft account to link the product, sign in to the same account you used in step 1.