Office Activation Guide (setup.office.com)

Use this Office activation guide to redeem your Microsoft Office, Access, Project, Visio, or other standalone Office app key.

  1. Go to setup.office.com, and click Get started.

  2. Sign in to your existing Microsoft account, or create a new o (needs to be a personal Microsoft account, not an organization account).

  3. Paste your 25-character product key into the box, make sure the account the product key will be added to is correct, and click next.

  4. Confirm the product is correct, select the language you wish to use, and click redeem.

    There are no refunds after clicking redeem, this is due to the key being consumed and the license being permanently tied to your Microsoft account.

  5. Before installing your new Office suite you should uninstall any old Office suites on your computer. Old Office installs are known to cause conflicts with a new installation, Office 365 in particular will attempt to override your new install.

    Links to the Microsoft uninstall guides for Windows PC and Mac:
    Uninstall Office on Windows PC
    Uninstall Office on Mac

  6. Double-click on the Office installer that was downloaded to your computer (most likely in your downloads folder) and follow the on-screen instructions.

  7. Your installation is complete when you see the message “You’re all set! Office is installed now”.

  8. This only applies to Office 2016 Suites or older.

    Upon opening an Office App for the first time you will be asked to activate your product with the Office Activation Wizard.

    Select “I want to activate the software over the Internet”, and then select Next. Follow the prompts to complete the activation.

    If the internet activation fails, try the “I want to activate the software by telephone” and then select next. Follow the prompts to complete the activation.