I was able to resolve the issue though I've been unable to confirm exactly why it was fixed:
Troubleshooting - When signing in to any of the preinstalled Office apps with my Microsoft account, no evidence of a valid key was presented. I was prompted to begin an Office 365 trial.
- A Dell rep informed me that Dell issues the Office activation key to a Microsoft account based on the email address that I used to place the order. This is a very poor policy and should be changed if true. The documentation presented to me at the time of order suggested that the key would be emailed to me. There seems to be some conflicting information about how this process is handled. Any Dell rep reading this, please pass this feedback along to avoid confusion in the future.
- I signed out of my primary Microsoft account and into the account corresponding to the email I used during the purchase. A complication to this is that I actually already had a Microsoft account under that email. Either way, this did not fix the problem and the apps still showed no sign of an activation key.
- The Dell tech support rep had an excellent idea to create a local account not tied to any Microsoft account. Upon signing into this local user account (with no ties to any Microsoft account), the preinstalled Office apps notified me that a license for Office 2019 was available and could be activated by signing into a Microsoft account.
- I signed in to my primary Microsoft account (not the one supposedly tied to the email I used at the time of purchase) and the license now seems to be properly tied to my account.
Conclusion The Office key seems to be tied to the computer itself but for some reason I was not able to see it until I was signed out of all Microsoft accounts. Once I was totally signed out and inside of a local user account, the preinstalled Office apps recognized that a valid license was available. Upon signing in to the Office app with the Microsoft account of my choice, the license seems to be active and properly tied to my Microsoft account.
Note: I have not been able to find confirmation that the Office Activation Key is preinstalled before delivery of the XPS and must be claimed by tying it to a Microsoft account. I have also not been able to find an explanation for why I was not able to claim the key on my primary user account.
Didn't you get a card along with the PC that has your Office Product Key? Check your paperwork...
Free apps like Belarc Advisor can show you the product keys for installed/licensed software, but Belarc won't find the Office key until after you enter it to activate Office...
Definitely no paperwork regarding the Office key. Dell reps also confirmed they don't send out the keys in any format anymore. I'm not sure whether the change was driven by Dell or Microsoft but they don't generally give the keys out at all now.
Microsoft Product Identifier key is included if you pre purchased Office.
Dell Does not send keys out.
SLMGR is a legacy tool. Microsoft has not updated slmgr, and because of updates in successive system builds, the last five digits of the product key that are shown by slmgr /dlv or /dli do not match the product key that is injected into the system BIOS. This is by design.
As of May 1, 2013 there will no longer be an MPI card for Office 2010. If you purchase a new system after that date, you will be receiving an MPI card for Office 2013. This card is NOT backward-compatible with Office 2010 and only works for Office 2013.
Later models only come with Office 2016 or 2019.
Microsoft licenses Office to different product channels:
Retail, OEM, Volume License, Academic.
Microsoft ® Product Identifier (MPI) card is included if you pre purchased office.
m-atoms
1 Rookie
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4 Posts
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February 11th, 2020 22:00
I was able to resolve the issue though I've been unable to confirm exactly why it was fixed:
Troubleshooting
- When signing in to any of the preinstalled Office apps with my Microsoft account, no evidence of a valid key was presented. I was prompted to begin an Office 365 trial.
- A Dell rep informed me that Dell issues the Office activation key to a Microsoft account based on the email address that I used to place the order. This is a very poor policy and should be changed if true. The documentation presented to me at the time of order suggested that the key would be emailed to me. There seems to be some conflicting information about how this process is handled. Any Dell rep reading this, please pass this feedback along to avoid confusion in the future.
- I signed out of my primary Microsoft account and into the account corresponding to the email I used during the purchase. A complication to this is that I actually already had a Microsoft account under that email. Either way, this did not fix the problem and the apps still showed no sign of an activation key.
- The Dell tech support rep had an excellent idea to create a local account not tied to any Microsoft account. Upon signing into this local user account (with no ties to any Microsoft account), the preinstalled Office apps notified me that a license for Office 2019 was available and could be activated by signing into a Microsoft account.
- I signed in to my primary Microsoft account (not the one supposedly tied to the email I used at the time of purchase) and the license now seems to be properly tied to my account.
Conclusion
The Office key seems to be tied to the computer itself but for some reason I was not able to see it until I was signed out of all Microsoft accounts. Once I was totally signed out and inside of a local user account, the preinstalled Office apps recognized that a valid license was available. Upon signing in to the Office app with the Microsoft account of my choice, the license seems to be active and properly tied to my Microsoft account.
Note: I have not been able to find confirmation that the Office Activation Key is preinstalled before delivery of the XPS and must be claimed by tying it to a Microsoft account. I have also not been able to find an explanation for why I was not able to claim the key on my primary user account.
RoHe
10 Elder
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45.2K Posts
0
February 5th, 2020 11:00
Didn't you get a card along with the PC that has your Office Product Key? Check your paperwork...
Free apps like Belarc Advisor can show you the product keys for installed/licensed software, but Belarc won't find the Office key until after you enter it to activate Office...
m-atoms
1 Rookie
•
4 Posts
0
February 11th, 2020 21:00
Definitely no paperwork regarding the Office key. Dell reps also confirmed they don't send out the keys in any format anymore. I'm not sure whether the change was driven by Dell or Microsoft but they don't generally give the keys out at all now.
DELL-Cares
Moderator
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27.6K Posts
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February 11th, 2020 22:00
Hi,
I have replied to you via a private note.
DELL-Gautam M
Social Media Support
#IWork4Dell
speedstep
9 Legend
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47K Posts
0
February 13th, 2020 10:00
Microsoft Product Identifier key is included if you pre purchased Office.
Dell Does not send keys out.
SLMGR is a legacy tool. Microsoft has not updated slmgr, and because of updates in successive system builds, the last five digits of the product key that are shown by slmgr /dlv or /dli do not match the product key that is injected into the system BIOS. This is by design.
As of May 1, 2013 there will no longer be an MPI card for Office 2010. If you purchase a new system after that date, you will be receiving an MPI card for Office 2013. This card is NOT backward-compatible with Office 2010 and only works for Office 2013.
Later models only come with Office 2016 or 2019.
Microsoft licenses Office to different product channels:
Retail, OEM, Volume License, Academic.
Microsoft ® Product Identifier (MPI) card is included if you pre purchased office.
http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/products/get-office-oem-download-page-FX103849951.aspx
https://setup.office.com/downloadoffice/
<ADMIN NOTE: Broken link has been removed from this post by Dell>