Install Microsoft 365 apps from your Microsoft account

There is nothing to download from Lizensa for a Microsoft 365 subscription. If your plan includes desktop apps, you download them from Microsoft after the subscription is set up. This guide takes you from the key in your order to Word and Excel running on your computer. Setting up the subscription itself, adding people and renewing are in Activate Microsoft 365.

What is in your order

Your order confirmation email contains a product key with 25 characters, in the form XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX. You find the same key in your Lizensa account under My Library. There is no file to download from us for any Microsoft 365 plan.

Where the key goes depends on the plan:

• Home plans: Microsoft 365 Personal and Microsoft 365 Family. The key goes into a personal Microsoft account, the one you use for Outlook.com, Xbox or OneDrive.
• Business plans: Business Basic, Business Standard and Business Premium. The key goes into your organisation's Microsoft 365 subscription, which an administrator manages.
• Enterprise plans: Office 365 E1, Office 365 E3, Microsoft 365 E3 and Microsoft 365 E5. These work like the business plans: an administrator redeems the key and gives each person a licence.

Not every plan has desktop apps

• Personal, Family, Business Standard, Business Premium, Office 365 E3, Microsoft 365 E3 and Microsoft 365 E5 include the desktop apps: Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook and OneNote.
• Business Basic and Office 365 E1 have no desktop apps. You work in Word, Excel and PowerPoint in the browser. You still redeem the key and assign licences as described below. Then sign in at office.com with your work account, open the app you need and continue at Check that it worked.

Before you install (Microsoft's requirements for Personal and Family)

• Windows 11, or one of the three most recent versions of macOS.
• On Windows: a 1.6 GHz processor with two cores, 4 GB of RAM, 4 GB of free disk space and a 1280 x 768 display.
• An internet connection. The apps download from Microsoft during setup.
• On Windows, the approval or the sign-in details of an administrator of the computer.

Getting the software

The apps appear in your account only after the key is redeemed. Do this once, then install on as many devices as your plan allows.

Personal and Family

1. Go to office.com/setup. Microsoft forwards you to its Microsoft 365 setup page.
2. Sign in with the Microsoft account that should own the subscription. If you do not have a Microsoft account, create one there.
3. Enter the product key from your order.
4. Choose the country or region where you live, then follow the prompts until the subscription shows in your account.

From now on, you install the apps through this Microsoft account and activate them by signing in with it. You do not need to enter the key again.

Business and enterprise plans

The administrator redeems the key, not each user. A new subscription starts at microsoft365.com/setupbusiness. To extend an existing prepaid subscription or add licences to it, the administrator enters the new key in the Microsoft 365 admin center. Both ways are described step by step in the activation guide.

After that, a License Administrator or User Administrator assigns a licence to each person: open Users > Active users, select the person, open Licenses and apps, tick the plan under Licenses and select Save changes. Until a person has a licence, their account shows no install option.

Installing the apps

On Windows with a Microsoft account (Personal and Family)

1. Go to account.microsoft.com/services and sign in with the account that holds the subscription.
2. Follow the install link for Microsoft 365. On Microsoft's apps page, select Install apps, then Install.
3. Start the downloaded file. Depending on your browser, select Run (Edge), Setup (Chrome) or Save File (Firefox), and open a saved file from your downloads.
4. Windows asks: "Do you want to allow this app to make changes to your device?" Select Yes.
5. Wait until you see "You're all set! Office is installed now", then select Close.

Family members do the same with their own Microsoft account, once the owner has shared the subscription with them. The activation guide shows how to share.

On Windows with a work account (business and enterprise plans)

1. Go to office.com and sign in with your work account, for example name@yourcompany.com.
2. On the home page select Install apps. If you do not see it, select Apps in the left pane first.
3. Select Microsoft 365 apps to start the download.
4. Run the file and confirm the Windows prompt with Yes, as above.
5. Close the window when it reports that installation is finished.

On Windows, setup installs the 64-bit version, unless it finds a 32-bit Office or a 32-bit Project or Visio on the computer. In that case it installs 32-bit to match.

On a Mac, sign in at office.com with the same account. Select Install apps, then Install for Personal or Family, or Microsoft 365 apps for a work account. Open the downloaded package, follow the installer and enter your Mac password if asked. Then open Word, sign in and accept the licence agreement. On phones and tablets, install Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Outlook from the App Store or Google Play and sign in with the same account.

How many devices

• Personal: one person, signed in on up to five devices at the same time.
• Family: up to six people, each signed in on up to five devices at the same time.
• Business Standard, Business Premium and the E3/E5 plans: each person with a licence can install on up to five PCs or Macs, five tablets and five phones.

Activating the apps

Microsoft 365 apps activate by sign-in. There is no key to enter in Word or Excel. The steps are for Windows.

1. Select Start and type Word, then open Word.
2. Sign in with the account that has the subscription. For home plans that is your Microsoft account, for business plans your work account.
3. Accept the licence agreement. If the Activation Wizard opens, follow its prompts.

The apps check the subscription online. Connect at least once every 30 days, or the apps switch to reduced functionality: you can still open and view documents, but most other features stop working.

Check that it worked

1. With the desktop apps on Windows, open Word and select File > Account. Under Product Information you see Microsoft 365 and the account the apps belong to.
2. On a Mac, open Word and check that you can create and edit a document.
3. For home plans, open account.microsoft.com/services. Your plan is listed as active, with its renewal or end date.
4. For business plans, including Business Basic and Office 365 E1, your administrator opens Users > Active users in the admin center, selects your name and checks Licenses and apps. Your plan should be ticked there.

If Word on Windows shows a different account, select Sign out on the same page and sign in with the right one.

If something goes wrong

The key is rejected on the setup page. Check which plan your order names, because home and business keys use different pages. Personal and Family keys go to office.com/setup. Business and enterprise keys go to microsoft365.com/setupbusiness or the admin center. If the business page says the key is for Personal or Family, it is a home key. Your account library may show the office.com/setup step for Office 365 E1 and E3; for those plans, use the business page.

"This product key has already been used". A key can be redeemed once. For Personal or Family, it may already be in one of your Microsoft accounts from an earlier attempt: sign in at account.microsoft.com/services with each account you use and look for Microsoft 365. For business plans, your administrator checks Billing > Your products in the admin center.

"This product key isn't meant for your region". Microsoft redeems a key in the country or region where it was sold. Do not try other keys. Contact our support with your order number.

Your work account shows no Install apps button. Often no licence has been assigned to you yet, or your plan is Business Basic or Office 365 E1, which have no desktop apps. Ask your administrator to open Users > Active users, select your name and check Licenses and apps.

Word says "Unlicensed Product" or asks for a product key. Check which account Word uses under File > Account. For home plans it must be the Microsoft account that owns the subscription or has accepted a Family invitation; for business plans, the work account that has a licence. Sign out and sign in with the right account. Also check that the subscription is still active. Do not enter the 25-character key in Word.

Setup reports a conflict with an Office version already installed. Read the message: it names the version that conflicts. Remove that version under Settings > Apps > Installed apps, restart the computer and run setup again. Uninstalling Office does not delete your documents.

The apps switched to reduced functionality. They may not have reached Microsoft for more than 30 days. Connect the computer to the internet and open Word so the apps can check the licence. If the apps stay in reduced functionality, check that the subscription is active and, for a work account, that your licence is still assigned.

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