How do I reactivate my Microsoft Office account?

If your Office 365 applications are read only (do not allow editing or creating), you may need to reactivate by signing in. *Active student or active west-campus employee status required*

Audience: Clubs, Faculty, Researchers, Staff, Students and Teaching Assistants

This KB Article References: Microsoft Office 365, Microsoft Office (Office 365 ProPlus)
This Information is Intended for: Clubs, Faculty, Researchers, Staff, Students, Teaching Assistants
Last Updated: August 11, 2020
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You've purchased a laptop that includes Microsoft Office (365) for free for 1 year. You have to activate this first. You can read how to activate your free Office suite on your new laptop below.

  1. Activate
  2. Opening Office
  3. Choose an account
  4. Log in
  5. Accept terms and conditions
  6. Get started

Activating your free Office suite via Microsoft

  • Open the Microsoft Office program of your choice
  • Select a Microsoft account or create one
  • Log in and accept the conditions

Step 1: open the Office program

On a laptop with free Office for 1 year, programs like Word and Excel are pre-installed. You have to open one of these to start the activation. Click 'Start' and type in Word or Excel. Start the program by clicking on the icon.

Step 2: choose an account

How do I reactivate my Microsoft Office account?

An activation screen will appear. Before you click the green button, it's important that you select the correct email account. This email account has to be linked to a Microsoft account. With this, you log in to Office in the future. Do you want to use a different account? Click the text to use a different account. If you don't have an account yet, create one for free at https://account.microsoft.com/account. Is everything in place? Click the green button.

Step 3: log in to Microsoft 365

In the next window, enter the email address you want to link Microsoft 365 to. Enter the password and click 'Next'.

Step 4: accept the conditions

If all goes well, you'll now see the conditions. Confirm with the green button. Microsoft Office is activated now and you can use Office for free up to and including the date shown at the top right of the screen.

Step 5: get started

As soon as you activate Microsoft Office, you'll receive a confirmation email. It'll be sent to the address you provided in step 3. This also contains the activation code. Don't enter it anywhere, but keep it in a safe place. You can use this code when you reinstall Windows in case of problems. You can now get started with Office. Have fun!

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Article by:

Siebe Laptop Expert.

How do I activate Microsoft Office for free permanently?

Activating your free Office suite via Microsoft. Open the Microsoft Office program of your choice. ... .
Step 1: open the Office program. ... .
Step 2: choose an account. ... .
Step 3: log in to Microsoft 365. ... .
Step 4: accept the conditions. ... .
Step 5: get started..

Can I still use Microsoft Office after subscription expires?

Admins and users no longer have access to the services or Office applications that came with the subscription. All customer data—from user data to documents and email—is permanently deleted and is unrecoverable. At this point, you can't reactivate the subscription.

What happens if you don't reactivate Microsoft Office?

Microsoft Office will also display “Unlicensed Product” message next to the document name in the title bar. Unlike in Windows 10 where most features continue to work even on an unlicensed install for an unlimited number of days, most functionalities are disabled when you are using Office without activation.