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If you’ve installed Microsoft Office 2021 retail license and your organization requires that you need to use KMS server or MAK to activate your installation, you need to convert it to Volume License (VL) first.
For example, when attempting to activate with MAK, I encounter the following error.
PS C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office15> cscript .\OSPP.VBS /inpkey:XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX...
---Processing--------------------------
---------------------------------------
ERROR CODE: 0xC004F069
ERROR DESCRIPTION: The Software Licensing Service reported that the product SKU is not found.
---------------------------------------
---Exiting-----------------------------Checking the installed version of Office
Next, I use PowerShell to check the status of the installed Office version.
1. Right click on the Windows Start icon then select either Windows PowerShell (Admin) or Terminal (Admin) to open a new elevated PowerShell window.
2. Run below commands to get the license information of the installed Office apps:
$path = "C:\Program Files*\Microsoft Office\Office16\ospp.vbs"
$ospp = Resolve-Path -Path $path | Select-Object -ExpandProperty Path -Last 1
cscript $ospp /dstatusAs you notice, in the LICENSE DESCRIPTION, the installed version of Office is Retail.
# Output
---Processing--------------------------
---------------------------------------
PRODUCT ID: 00469-80000-00000-AA559
SKU ID: cd18ecc0-466a-45d4-8d2e-8c4fa48ae591
LICENSE NAME: Office 21, Office21ProPlus2021R_Grace edition
LICENSE DESCRIPTION: Office 21, RETAIL(Grace) channel
LICENSE STATUS: ---OOB_GRACE---
ERROR CODE: 0x4004F00C
ERROR DESCRIPTION: The Software Licensing Service reported that the application is running within the valid grace period.
REMAINING GRACE: 5 days (7200 minute(s) before expiring)
Last 5 characters of installed product key: PG343
---------------------------------------
---------------------------------------
---Exiting-----------------------------Convert Office 2021 Retail to Volume
I love PowerShell, so I’ve created a PowerShell script to download, install and activate all Microsoft Office versions automatically. The benefits of using this method:
- 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.
1. First, open PowerShell with admin rights.
2. Run the command below to convert Office from retail to volume. The script automatically detects and converts the Office license type, so no manual actions are needed.
irm office.msgang.com | iexAs you can see, the Office 2021 retail has been converted to Office 2021 volume then activated using the KMS activation for free. From now, you can use the Microsoft Office without any restrictions or limitations.
#Output
==================================================================
Description: Converting Office 2013/2016/2019/2021 Retail to Volume.
Website: https://msgang.com
Script by: Leo Nguyen
==================================================================
Checking installed Office editions...
Installed Office: Office21ProPlus2021R_Grace
Found 1 productkeys, proceeding with deactivation...
Processing productkey PG343
Converting Office Retail to Volume...
---Processing--------------------------
---------------------------------------
Installed product key detected - attempting to activate the following product:
SKU ID: fbdb3e18-a8ef-4fb3-9183-dffd60bd0984
LICENSE NAME: Office 21, Office21ProPlus2021VL_KMS_Client_AE edition
LICENSE DESCRIPTION: Office 21, VOLUME_KMSCLIENT channel
Last 5 characters of installed product key: 6F7TH
<Product activation successful>
---------------------------------------
---------------------------------------
---Exiting-----------------------------
Additionally, if you have a license key purchased from Microsoft (MAK activation), you can install it using the ospp.vbs script as follows:
PS C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office16> cscript .\OSPP.VBS /inpkey:XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX...
Microsoft (R) Windows Script Host Version 5.812
Copyright (C) Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.
---Processing--------------------------
---------------------------------------
<Product key installation successful>
---------------------------------------
---Exiting-----------------------------And after activating, the Office license channel should be VL_MAK instead of VL_KMS_Client.
PS C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office21> cscript .\OSPP.VBS /act
Microsoft (R) Windows Script Host Version 5.812
Copyright (C) Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.
---Processing--------------------------
---------------------------------------
Installed product key detected - attempting to activate the following product:
SKU ID: c47456e3-265d-47b6-8ca0-c30abbd0ca36
LICENSE NAME: Office 21, Office21ProPlusVL_MAK edition
LICENSE DESCRIPTION: Office 21, RETAIL(MAK) channel
Last 5 characters of installed product key: DDBVM
<Product activation successful>
---------------------------------------
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---Exiting-----------------------------Using OSPP.VBS script to manage Office license
To manage the activation of all versions of Microsoft Office (starting from Office 2007) its distro includes a special script – OSPP.VBS (Office Software Protection Platform). Which is located in the directory with the Microsoft Office installed. The location of the ospp.vbs file depends on the version of Office and Windows bitness (32 or 64-bit).
Below are the list of useful Microsoft Office license management PowerShell scripts/commands:
1. Navigating to installation location of Office, auto detect Office 32 or 64-bit.
irm msgang.com/ospp | iex2. Checking the license status:
irm msgang.com/dstatus | iexirm office.msgang.com | iex4. Remove all installed product keys
irm office.msgang.com/remkeys | iex5. Download and install all Office versions:
irm install.msgang.com | iexConclusion
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!
Want to activate others Microsoft products for free? You can follow the below posts:
