How to Find and Activate Microsoft Office 2016, 2019, or 365 on your Dell Computer

Getting started (Prerequisites)

Active Internet Connection
To redeem and activate Microsoft Office that is installed on your system, you need an active Internet connection. If your system shows connectivity issues, use the Windows Network Troubleshooter to correct the problem.

Windows is Activated
Microsoft Windows 10 must be activated before you can redeem and activate Microsoft Office 2016, 2019, or 365.
To check the activation status in Windows 10, select the Start button.

• Select Settings icon
• Select Update & Security, and then select Activation. This page indicates whether Windows is activated

If Windows is not activated, click Troubleshoot and follow the prompts.

Microsoft Account
A Microsoft account is required to access and save settings for Microsoft devices and services. This makes it simple to reinstall Office without a product key. If you do not have a Microsoft Account, please visit Microsoft's support site to create an account.

Microsoft Office 2016, 2019, or 365 cannot activate without a valid Microsoft Account. More information about the requirement is available at Microsoft.com .

180-day activation window.
The subscription-based products "Office 365" and "Microsoft 365" must be activated within 6 Months (180 days) from the invoice date. The product activation will otherwise fail.
Contact Microsoft directly for assistance.

Microsoft Office Version

Did you order Microsoft Office 2019 or 365 with your system?

If in doubt, please check the order details of your system.

Pre-Installed by Dell
Microsoft Office Version	How does it show up on my system configuration/invoice	Who can I contact for support
Microsoft Office 30 Day Trial	Microsoft Office 30 Days Trial	Microsoft support
Microsoft Office 2019	ABG-xxxx Microsoft Office Home and Student 2019 ABG-xxxx Microsoft Office Home and Business 2019 ABG-xxxx Microsoft Office Professional 2019	Continue to follow the steps in this article
Microsoft Office 2016	ABG-xxxx Microsoft Office Home & Business 2016 DFO   ABG-xxxx Microsoft Office Home & Student 2016 DFO ABG-xxxx Microsoft Office Professional 2016 DFO	Microsoft support

If you purchased Microsoft Office through a retailer, please contact your retailer for support.

Activate Microsoft Office 2019

You received the device and want to activate Microsoft Office 2019 for the first time.
With all prerequisites in place, it is time to activate Office.

From the Windows desktop:

• Click the Start button, and bring up the Windows start menu
• Click the Microsoft Word tile (Figure 1)
  
  Figure 1
   

The Office application presents the activation screen:

• Confirm that the Microsoft Account on the screen is correct. If not, click "use different user" and follow the prompts
• Click Activate (Figure 2)
  
  Figure 2
   

Office takes a few moments to update features and validate the license. Allow Office to finish this step (the duration varies depending on Internet connection speed and number of updates available for download) (Figure 3).

Figure 3
 

Accept the license agreement (Figure 4).

Figure 4
 

Microsoft Office 2019 or 365 is now activated and ready to use.

Activate Microsoft Office 365

You received the device and want to activate Microsoft Office 2019 for the first time.
With all prerequisites in place, it is time to activate Office.

From the Windows desktop:

• Click the Start button, and bring up the Windows start menu
• Click the Microsoft Word tile (Figure 5)
  
  Figure 5
   

The Office application presents the activation screen:

• Confirm that the Microsoft Account on the screen is correct. If not, click "use different user" and follow the prompts
• Click Activate (Figure 6)
  
  Figure 6
   
• Microsoft Office opens a browser window to validate your Microsoft Account credentials
• Click Sign In (Figure 7)
  
  Figure 7
   

Enter the credentials for an existing Microsoft Account (Figure 8).

• MSA Email Address
• Password

Click Sign In.

Figure 8

Read carefully and validate that the Office 365 Edition is correct. If you are not certain, please check your system configuration for order details.

• Turn reoccurring Billing on or off (Figure 9)
• Click Next
  
  Figure 9
   

Use the confirmation screen to validate that all information and settings are correct.

• If you need to change anything, click the "change" link next to the description
• Click Next (Figure 10)
  
  Figure 10
   

Microsoft Office starts the feature update.

• Wait until the screen changes (Figure 11)
  
  Figure 11
   

The browser windows notify you once the updates finished. Switch back to the Office application and continue to follow the prompts (Figure 12).

Figure 12

Now back in the Office app, you prompted for the Cloud setup (Figure 13 and 14).

Figure 13


Figure 14

Accept the End User Agreement (EULA) (Figure 15).

Figure 15

Microsoft Office 365 is now activated and ready to use.

Follow below steps if you have to reinstall Microsoft Office after Windows, was reinstalled, or replaced the system drive:

Go to Missing Office apps (missing on a new device, or after reinstalling Windows) (In the Troubleshooting section) to download and install the applications. Then continue with the following steps.

From the Windows desktop:

• Click the Start button, and bring up the Windows start menu
• Click the Microsoft Word tile (Figure 16)
  
  Figure 16
   

Click File -> Account (Figure 17 and 18).

• Click "Sign in"
• Enter the Microsoft Account credentials
  
  Figure 17
  
  
  Figure 18
   

Microsoft Office 2019 or 365 is now activated (Figure 19).

Figure 19

Missing Office apps (missing on a new device, or after reinstalling Windows)

If you cannot locate Office apps like Word, and Excel open a web browser.

Navigate to Account.Microsoft.com/Services

Sign on with your Microsoft Account.

Select Services & subscriptions.

Select View Product Key and Install (Figure 20).

Figure 20

The number of applications that are included with the Microsoft Office suite depends on the edition you purchased with the system. You can find the list of applications that are included at Compare All Microsoft Office Products .

Select Install next to the Office version you purchased with the system (Figure 21).

Figure 21

Select a Different Microsoft Account

If you like to use a different Microsoft Account, Click on "use different account."
A new screen appears that allows you to enter sign information for an existing account (Figure 22):

• Type MSA Email address
• Password
• Click "Sign In"
  
  Figure 22
   

Microsoft Office continues with the activation process.

Create a Microsoft Account.
Go to the Microsoft account sign-in page

• Next to the "No account?" prompt, select "Create one!"
• Fill out the form with your information, and create a password
• Select "Next"

If these steps do not resolve the issue, go to the "Contact Microsoft if the issue persists" section.

Still have Problems?

If you still cannot download, install or activate Microsoft Office, please contact Microsoft directly.

Click the link (Support.Microsoft.com ) to open the Microsoft Support Agent (opens in a different window).

Then select the "Contact Support link."

Answer the questions below.

Choose from the contact options presented. The options may vary, depending on availability (Figure 23).

Figure 23

If you purchased the system directly from Dell, you can obtain a copy of the bill with the following steps. If you bought the system from a third-party (e.g. retailer), please contact the retailer for a copy of the invoice.

• Navigate to Dell.com/Support
• Enter the SVCTAG of your system, or click Detect and follow the prompts (Figure 24)
  
  Figure 24
   
• Click "Order Support" (top banner) (Figure 25)
  
  Figure 25
   
• Click "Access your Order Status Online" (Figure 26)
  
  Figure 26
   
• Enter your Order Number (Figure 27)
  
  Figure 27
   
• Click "View Invoice" (Figure 28)
  
  Figure 28
   
• Enter your Customer Number (Figure 29)
  
  Figure 29
   

This should bring up a printable (.pdf) invoice.

Can I reinstall Windows on a new Dell system immediately and activate Microsoft Office later?
No. The Microsoft Office 2016/2019/365 license that is included with your system must be redeemed and activated before reinstalling Windows on your system. Failure to activate Office before reinstalling Windows breaks the Office entitlement, and you cannot activate Microsoft Office without contacting Dell.

Can Microsoft Office 2016/2019/365 OEM licenses be activated on a closed network?
No. Deployment scenarios with closed network circuits/no network connectivity should consider using Microsoft Office ProPlus with a Volume License agreement (VL). Contact your Dell sales team to discuss the licensing options best for your organization.

I ordered multiple systems with Microsoft Office 2016/2019/365 preinstalled. Can I activate the all licenses at once?
No. Computers must connect with Microsoft activation servers and activate their licenses one at a time, either over the Internet or by telephone. The process is a Microsoft mandate and cannot be bypassed or automated.

Can I activate a Microsoft Office 2016/2019/365 bundled license without a Microsoft Account (MSA)?
No. Microsoft requires a Microsoft Account (MSA) and an active Internet connection for successful activation.

I have more than 25 new systems with Microsoft Office 2016/2019/365 preinstalled. How can I track the licenses without creating multiple Microsoft Accounts (MSAs)?
Microsoft Accounts can only register up to 25 licenses per account .

Can Dell provide a list of all Microsoft Office 2016/2019/365 license keys that I ordered?
No. Your Microsoft Account (MSA) handles record-keeping for all your Microsoft Office 2016/2019/365 OEM licenses. For security reasons, your MSA displays the last five digits of the product keys that are associated with the Microsoft Account.

My organization purchased multiple systems with Microsoft Office factory installed. Can I activate Office without MSA, or use one MSA for all devices?
Microsoft Office 2016 and newer versions require a Microsoft Account to redeem and activate Office.
If you purchased <25 devices, you can activate each system individually under the same Microsoft Account. 26+ devices require additional Microsoft Account(s).

My organization purchased systems with Microsoft Office factory installed. Can I reimage the device with my company’s image and still activate Office OEM version?
No. Microsoft does not allow reimaging rights on OEM installed versions of Office.

My organization maintains custom images with Office preinstalled. Can I use the OEM license to activate Office after reimaging with my image?
No. This requires Microsoft Office ProPlus and a Volume License agreement.

Can I view my product key online?
See the Microsoft article on viewing your product key online . You can view your product key online, but it will not match the product key that is shown in the My Office Account section of your Microsoft Account (MSA).

I purchased Office 2019, but the app splash screen shows "Office 365" (Figure 30) – did I receive the wrong version?
No, you did receive the correct version. Microsoft Office will update the version after you successfully activated Microsoft Office (Figure 31).

Figure 30: Before activating Office


Figure 31: After activating Office

You can verify the Office version by:

• Opening an Office app (e.g. Word or Excel)
• Click "File"
• Click (Office) Account (Figure 32)

Figure 32: Office activation status