Change, Activate, or Remove Microsoft Office Product Key via Console (CMD)

If you encounter the issue where the activation window appears every time you start Microsoft Office, you should try the following troubleshooting steps to change, remove, or activate a potentially blocked or invalid product key.

If Microsoft Office activation no longer works through the normal activation mask, you should test if a second key is already entered in the background.

Step 1: Launch Console (CMD) as Administrator

To do this, open CMD as an administrator. Click on the Windows Start menu button; for older Windows versions, it is labeled “Start.” Type CMD, and with the right mouse button, select “Run as administrator.”

Step 2: Navigate to the Program Directory

cd “C:Program FilesMicrosoft OfficeOffice16”

Note: The folder name “Office16” may vary depending on the program version. If you have Office installed in the 32-bit version, use the following path:

cd “C:Program Files (x86)Microsoft OfficeOffice16”

Note: If you cannot find cscript.exe in either the “Program Files” or “Program Files (x86)” folder, try opening it from “C:Windowssystem32”. However, the path of OSPP.VBS must be adjusted.

Example:

cscript C:Program FilesMicrosoft OfficeOffice16OSPP.VBS /dstatus

Step 3: Display Installed Keys

With the following command, you can display the current status of installed keys:

cscript OSPP.VBS /dstatus

The output of the command provides information such as:

– How many keys are installed

– For which version of Office the key is intended

– License status

– Last 5 characters of the installed key (used for selection)

If you find two active keys in this window, you should remove the inactive key.

Step 4: Remove Keys

To remove an inactive key, use the following command:

Replace “XXXXX” with the last 5 characters of the key to be used (output in the “dstatus” command under “Last 5 characters of installed product key”).

cscript OSPP.VBS /unpkey:XXXXX

Step 5: Enter a New Key

To enter a new key, use the following command:

Replace “XXX…” with the new key.

cscript OSPP.VBS /inpkey:XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX

Step 6: Activate the New Product Key

To perform activation, use the following command:

cscript OSPP.VBS /act

This procedure works for all current Office versions up to version 2021 (Office 2003, 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, 2021).