Activate Microsoft 365 and assign licences

With Microsoft 365 you activate a subscription, not a single installation. You redeem the key once with Microsoft, and from then on the subscription belongs to an account. This guide covers redeeming, sharing Family with other people, giving licences to employees in a business plan, and extending the term with a further key. Installing the apps is in Install Microsoft 365.

Your key and your plan

The 25-character key is in your order confirmation email and in your Lizensa account under My Library. It looks like XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX. Each key stands for one subscription term, such as 30 days or 12, 24 or 36 months, as named in your order.

Who redeems the key, and where, depends on the plan:

Microsoft rejects a home key on the business pages. Business and enterprise keys are redeemed through the business page or the admin center.

Software and subscription are separate

There is nothing to download from Lizensa for these plans. You redeem the key on Microsoft's setup page or in the admin center, as described below, and then sign in to the apps with the account that has the subscription or licence.

• Personal, Family, Business Standard, Business Premium, Office 365 E3 and Microsoft 365 E3/E5 include desktop apps. They come from Microsoft and activate when you sign in with the account that has the subscription or licence.
• Business Basic and Office 365 E1 include web apps, but no desktop apps.

For business plans, people can install only after they have a licence, so redeem and assign first.

Before or after installing?

Redeem the key first and, for business plans, assign the licences. If your plan includes desktop apps, install them like this. With Business Basic or Office 365 E1, sign in at office.com and use the web apps instead.

1. Sign in at office.com with the account that has the subscription or licence.
2. Select Install apps, then Install for a home plan or Microsoft 365 apps for a work account.
3. On Windows, run the downloaded file and follow the prompts. On a Mac, open the downloaded package and follow the installer to the end.
4. Open Word, sign in with the same account and accept the licence agreement.

The detailed steps are in Install Microsoft 365. If Microsoft 365 apps are already installed, sign in to them with the account that now holds the subscription, then check the activation as described below.

Activate the subscription

Personal and Family: redeem with your Microsoft account

1. Open office.com/setup. Microsoft forwards you to its Microsoft 365 setup page.
2. Sign in with the Microsoft account that should own the subscription. Check the address shown at the top before you continue. The subscription stays with this account.
3. Enter the 25-character key.
4. Select your country or region. Microsoft recommends the country where you live or do your banking.
5. Follow the prompts. At the end, Microsoft shows the subscription and its new end date.

The first time you open Word or Excel, sign in with the same account and accept the licence agreement. That activates the apps.

Family: share with up to five people

Microsoft 365 Family covers you and up to five other people. Each person uses their own Microsoft account. Do not pass on your key: a key cannot be used for sharing.

1. Go to account.microsoft.com/services/office/sharing and sign in as the subscription owner.
2. Select Share.
3. Choose Email invite and enter the person's email address, or choose Create link and then Copy link to send the link yourself.
4. The person opens the invitation, selects Get started and then Join now. Without a Microsoft account, they are asked to create one.

An invitation stays open for 48 hours. Until it is accepted, the owner sees "Pending invite". Microsoft 365 Personal cannot be shared.

Business and enterprise plans: new organisation

Use these steps if your company does not use Microsoft 365 yet. You need a work email address and a phone number to receive a code.

1. Go to microsoft365.com/setupbusiness.
2. Enter the key and select Next.
3. Enter your name, work email address, business phone number, company name and country or region, then select Next.
4. Confirm your identity with the code Microsoft sends to your phone by text or call.
5. Choose a domain: get a new one, use a domain you already own, or add one later.

Follow the remaining prompts to finish your administrator account. You are then the administrator of the new organisation and manage it in the Microsoft 365 admin center.

Business and enterprise plans: existing organisation

If your company already uses Microsoft 365, someone with at least the Billing Administrator role adds the key in the admin center. The steps below extend a subscription or add licences to it; the key must be for the same plan. For a plan your organisation does not have yet, follow Microsoft's instructions for product keys.

To make an existing subscription last longer:

1. In the admin center, go to Billing > Your products. In the simplified view, select Billing.
2. Select the subscription, then Extend end date under Subscription and payment settings.
3. Select Use a new and unused product key, then Next.
4. Enter the key, select Next, check the order details and select Redeem.

To add more licences instead, go to Billing > Your products, or Subscriptions in the simplified view. Select the subscription, then Add more licenses in the Licenses section. Select Use a new and unused product key, then Next. Enter the key, select Next, then Redeem. Licences on a prepaid subscription cannot be removed.

Give each person a licence

A redeemed subscription does nothing for a user until a licence is assigned. You need at least the License Administrator or User Administrator role.

1. In the admin center, go to Users > Active users.
2. Select the person. If they are not listed yet, a User Administrator first creates their account with Add a user.
3. In the pane that opens, select Licenses and apps.
4. Under Licenses, select the plan and then Save changes.

For several people at once, use Billing > Licenses, select the plan and then Assign licenses. Choose the people and select Assign. Assigning a licence also creates the person's mailbox when the plan includes Exchange.

Extending a subscription with a further key

• Personal and Family: redeem the new key at office.com/setup with the same Microsoft account. While the subscription is active, the new time is added after the current end date. Microsoft allows a total of five years in advance. Extra keys add time, not devices or storage.
• Business and enterprise: use Extend end date as described above, with a new key for the same plan. A key that has already been redeemed cannot be used a second time.

Check the activation

1. Home plans: open account.microsoft.com/services. Microsoft 365 appears with its end date. Family owners also see who the subscription is shared with.
2. Business plans: in the admin center, open Billing > Your products. Check the subscription's status, end date and number of licences.
3. In Word on Windows: open Word and select File > Account. Product Information should name Microsoft 365 without asking for activation, and the account shown on the page should be the right one.

If something goes wrong

"You must be a global or billing admin to redeem a product key". Your account lacks the administrator rights needed in this organisation. Sign in to the admin center, go to Users > Active users and filter by Billing admins. Ask someone listed there, or a Global Administrator, to redeem the key.

"You have already entered this product key" or "This product key has already been used". Each key works once. For business plans, check in Billing > Your products whether the expected end date or extra licences already show. For a home plan, check every Microsoft account you use at account.microsoft.com/services.

"You've added more user licenses than this offer allows". Microsoft cannot add this many licences to the subscription. Contact our support with your order number and the exact message.

The business setup page says the key is invalid and mentions Personal or Family. You have a home key. Redeem it at office.com/setup with a Microsoft account. The other way round, business and enterprise keys belong on the business page or in the admin center. This applies even when My Library shows the office.com/setup step for Office 365 E1 or E3.

A Family invitation does not work. The link expires after 48 hours: select Resend invite. If the person already belongs to another Microsoft family group, they have to leave it before they can join yours.

The apps do not pick up the subscription. Check that the computer is online and that you are signed in with the account that holds the subscription. For business plans, that account needs an assigned licence.

Still stuck? Contact our support with your order number and the exact message you see.