What can you do if you launch Microsoft Office and see the “Activation Required” prompt but don’t have a product key? Whether you misplaced the key, never bought Office, or used a cracked version, there are various ways to activate Microsoft Office without a product key.
In this step-by-step guide to activate Office without a product key. Note that these methods work on all versions of Microsoft Office. With these methods, you don’t need to buy anything or enter a product key. So, follow the instruction as it applies to your situation.
Before you begin
Before you begin, make sure you’ve installed a Microsoft Office version on your computer. You can visit below download page to download all Office versions then install it.
Related: Download Links of All Microsoft Office Versions for FREE. Once the Office apps have been installed, we can move forward to next sections to activate it.
Method 1: Using a PowerShell script
The first method to activate an Office license is by using a PowerShell script. With this script, you can activate all Microsoft Office versions (2013, 2016, 2019, 2021, and later). The advantages of this method are:
- There’s no need to disable real-time protection in the Windows Security Center since our activation methods don’t rely on any crack tools.
- No need to turn off the Windows Firewall or editing the hosts file.
- The script is capable of activating all editions of Microsoft Office.
- The script can be used to activate either Office 64-bit or Office 32-bit.
- You don’t need to know which Microsoft Office edition you’ve installed (Pro, Plus or Standard…). Script detects your Office edition automatically then activates it.
- The script will convert Office Retail to Volume then activate it automatically.
- The KMS license remains valid for 180 days and will renew automatically before it expires.
All you need to do is right click on the Windows Start icon, select ether Terminal (Admin) or PowerShell (Admin) to open a new PowerShell window in elevated mode.
Then run the below single line command to activate all Microsoft Office version permanently for free without any 3rd software or activation tools.
Below is the output after activating Microsoft Office 2019, Project 2019, and Visio 2019 on my computer.
# Output---------------------------------------Installed product key detected - attempting to activate the following product:SKU ID: 2ca2bf3f-949e-446a-82c7-e25a15ec78c4LICENSE NAME: Office 19, Office19ProjectPro2019VL_KMS_Client_AE editionLICENSE DESCRIPTION: Office 19, VOLUME_KMSCLIENT channelLast 5 characters of installed product key: PKD2B<Product activation successful>---------------------------------------Installed product key detected - attempting to activate the following product:SKU ID: 5b5cf08f-b81a-431d-b080-3450d8620565LICENSE NAME: Office 19, Office19VisioPro2019VL_KMS_Client_AE editionLICENSE DESCRIPTION: Office 19, VOLUME_KMSCLIENT channelLast 5 characters of installed product key: 7VCBB<Product activation successful>---------------------------------------Installed product key detected - attempting to activate the following product:SKU ID: 85dd8b5f-eaa4-4af3-a628-cce9e77c9a03LICENSE NAME: Office 19, Office19ProPlus2019VL_KMS_Client_AE editionLICENSE DESCRIPTION: Office 19, VOLUME_KMSCLIENT channelLast 5 characters of installed product key: 6MWKP<Product activation successful>---------------------------------------Method 2: Activate using batch script (CMD)
Another option is to use a batch script to activate the Microsoft Office license. While this method is no longer recommended because of a recent Microsoft update, it can still be used for automation if necessary. If you decide to proceed, follow these steps:
1. The first step is to download the activation batch script to your computer by clicking the download button below.
2. Right click on the downloaded kms.zip file then select Extract All… from the right-click context menu to extract it to your computer.
3. After extracting the zip file, navigate to the extracted folder. Right-click on the batch file and choose “Run as administrator” to execute it with admin privileges.
4. Windows may display a pop-up window “Windows protected your PC.” This will appear if you attempt to run or install an application that Windows does not recognize. To run the script:
Microsoft Defender SmartScreen prevented an unrecognized app from starting. Running this app might put your PC at risk.
More infoMicrosoft Defender SmartScreen prevented an unrecognized app from starting. Running this app might put your PC at risk.
5. The script will run automatically. If there are no issues, you should see the screenshot below. You can now press any key to close the command prompt window.
=============================================================Name: Microsoft Office Activator by Leo.Description: Activate all Offices Editions for free without any software.Website: https://msgang.comScript by: Leo Nguyen=============================================================Checking Installed Office editions...Number of Installed Office apps: VOLUME: 1 - RETAIL: 0Activating Microsoft Office products...Number of Activated Products: 1---Processing-------------------------------------------------------SKU ID: d9f5b1c6-5386-495a-88f9-9ad6b41ac9b3LICENSE NAME: Office 16, OfficeWordVL_KMS_Client editionLICENSE DESCRIPTION: Office 16, VOLUME_KMSCLIENT channelLICENSE STATUS: ---LICENSED---REMAINING GRACE: 180 days (259200 minute(s) before expiring)Last 5 characters of installed product key: 4GBJ7Activation Type Configuration: ALLDNS auto-discovery: KMS name not availableKMS machine registry override defined: kms.msgang.com:1688Activation Interval: 120 minutesRenewal Interval: 244800 minutesKMS host caching: Enabled------------------------------------------------------------------------
For Mac Users – Use the VL Serializer Tool
If you are a Mac user, the VL Serializer tool is the best tool to activate Microsoft Office. The Volume License Serializer is an easy activation method that activates the Office on your PC using a volume license key. Typically, this method is used by organizations and enterprises.
The VL Serializer is a small tool that activates the version of Office installed on your Mac. It allows users to deploy a pre-activated copy of Office on a given Mac computer. As such, you won’t see any activation prompt when you open the copy of Office.
1. Download the Office for Mac installer and VL Serializer from this download page then Install Microsoft Office on your Mac.
2. Once the Office for Mac has been installed, open the Serializer and click Continue to install.
3. Choose a destination where you want to install it and select Continue.
4. You may be prompted to enter your Mac password on the next page. If you have one, do so, then select Install.
5. When installation is complete, click on Close to continue.
6. Go to Launchpad, open any Microsoft Office program like Excel or Word, and click on the skip the sign-in option.
7. To verify if the program is activated, open any Office app, such as Microsoft Word. Then, click on the Word option and select About Microsoft Word.
As you can see in the below screenshot. The Microsoft Office for Mac has been activated successfully.
Conclusion
Hello Friends! My name is Leo, and I’m excited to share everything I know about activating Microsoft software products. In the past, I managed several YouTube channels on this topic, but they were taken down by Microsoft. That’s why I decided to start this blog to keep the conversation alive without interruptions. I’m committed to sharing my knowledge and insights for as long as possible!
If you have any questions or concerns, feel free to leave a comment or visit my Discord server. I’d be happy to provide more details. Thank you so much for your feedback and support!
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