With so many computer applications available in the market, it is normal for us to install various applications on our desktops or laptops. In fact, applications like Microsoft Office, Web browsers, Adobe applications and so many more are essential for us. All of these applications come with their own unique product key that is required to install and activate the product. However, it’s common to forget or lose these product keys which
is understandable considering how many applications we have to install on our computers. The problem is, once the key is lost, you won’t be able to re-install/license the application. There are many cases where you have to re-install the Windows or you might want to install the application on another computer. You will either have to find the product key or buy a new one if you want to activate/license the new installation. This can be really frustrating considering you can use the product key multiple times (for a limited number of times). The bad news here is that Microsoft has changed the way it stores product keys with Office 2013. Office 2007 and 2010
stored the full product keys on your computer and there were multiple methods to extract the entire keys. However, with Office 2013, Microsoft doesn’t store the whole product key on your system but rather stores the last 5 digits of your product key. These are the 5 digits that are enough to identify your product key but, as you would have guessed, you will need the other digits to reinstall the Office. Now, you can’t really extract the full product key from your computer because, well, it isn’t
stored on your computer. Only 5 digits are stored and these methods mentioned below can be used to extract the 5 last digits of your product key. The last 5 digits of your product key will be useful if you are an IT guy with lots of computers and licenses. With lots of computers and 100s of product keys, it would be a really difficult task to check which key is used on which computer. So, the last 5 digits can help you match the keys with computers. You can also use these last 5 digits to
search your emails in case you got your product key through an email. However, if you haven’t stored the full product key anywhere then there isn’t a lot that you can do, unfortunately. You don’t always need a product key to reinstall your Office. If you bought the product online and didn’t get any product key then your Microsoft account will be linked to your Office. You will only need your Microsoft account to reinstall the Office. Note: This method will only return the last 5 digits of your product key. This method will be useful for people who have multiple product keys and can’t figure out which one was used on which computer. You can use the last 5 digits to identify the key you used or you can search your emails for the full key. The first and easiest solution for this is to use a key finder program. Key finders, if you aren’t familiar with the name, are applications that can be used to find the keys (your product keys) from your computer. These types of applications are specifically developed for this purpose. What these applications do is search your system and find the product key of the targeted application along with a lot of other information. Now that we know what a key finder application is and what it is used for, its time to select the key finder application. There are a lot of key finder applications in the market but, unfortunately, not all of them work for Office 2013. Most of the key finder applications you find will work for the 2010 or 2007 Office. Some of these applications will give you a completely wrong key while others will give you just the last 5 digits of the key. So, here are the steps for downloading and using a key finder application.
If this doesn’t work for you then you have another option named LicenseCrawler. LicenseCrawler is another key finder application that is known to work for Office 2013. So, you can give it a shot as well. Click here and download the zip file. Simply unzip the file and you will see the LicenseCrawler.exe file. Run it and check if this gives you the product key you are looking for. Once you are done, you should have the last 5 digits of your product key. Now, you can use these 5 digits to search your emails or any other digital space where you might have stored or got the key. However, if the last 5 keys aren’t enough then there is nothing that you can do. Method 2: Using RegistryA lot of users have pulled out the stored key from the registry editor. So, you can try your luck with that as well. Here are the steps for extracting the key
This string should hold the product key. Again, these will be the last 5 digits of your product key so you will have to work with that. Note: If you can’t find the key at this address HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Office\15.0\ClickToRun\propertyBag\ then try to look at this location HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Office\15.0\ClickToRun\Scenario\INSTALL and look for ProductKeys entry. You can repeat the same steps (given above) to navigate to this new address. Method 3: Script for getting Last 5 digitsThis is a faster way to perform the method 1. If you are comfortable using the command prompt then you can type a few lines to get the last 5 digits of your product very quickly. Here are the steps for getting your keys from the command prompt
This should show the last 5 digits of your product key on the screen. You can use these 5 digits to backtrack to full key or use them to search through your emails or other storage spaces.
Kevin is a dynamic and self-motivated information technology professional, with a Thorough knowledge of all facets pertaining to network infrastructure design, implementation and administration. Superior record of delivering simultaneous large-scale mission critical projects on time and under budget. How do I activate Microsoft Office 2013 with product key offline?If you intend to install offline, you will need a NEW KEY and an install disc. Using a computer with internet access and a DVD Burner, visit office.com/myaccount. Register/Login and register your product key from the paper card.
Can I download Office 2013 if I have a product key?Ways to download Office 2013 with your product key:
Office 2013 from previous purchase: If you purchase Office Home & Student 2013, Office Home & Business 2013, or Office Professional 2013, go to Office.com, sign-in with your Microsoft Account, choose Office for Windows from the drop-down menu and click Install.
How do I manually activate Microsoft Office?Log into your computer with an administrator account. Change to the directory where Microsoft Office is installed. cscript ospp. vbs /act to complete the activation process.
What happens if you don't activate Office 2013?If Office can't activate, it eventually becomes unlicensed and all editing features of Office are disabled. Microsoft can become unlicensed for a number of reasons. For example, if your Microsoft 365 subscription expires, you must renew your subscription to restore all features of Office.
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