Activate Office 2019 with your product key

Activation is the step in which Microsoft confirms that your installed copy of Office 2019 is licensed. If activation fails, Office shows "Unlicensed Product" in the title bar and disables most of its features. This guide assumes Office is already installed. If not, start with Install Office 2019.

What you received

With your order you received a 25-character product key, shown here as XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX. It is in your order confirmation email and in My Library in your Lizensa account.

How you activate depends on the type of key:

• Retail key for Home & Student 2019, Home & Business 2019 and Office 2019 for Mac. It is redeemed once at office.com/setup. From then on, your Microsoft account carries the licence and you activate by signing in.
• Volume key, also called MAK (Multiple Activation Key), for Professional Plus 2019, Standard 2019 and their multi-user versions. You enter it in Office itself. Every activation counts towards the number of activations Microsoft allows for that key. An activated PC stays activated unless its hardware changes significantly.

Microsoft ended support for Office 2019 for Windows on 14 October 2025 and for Office 2019 for Mac on 10 October 2023. The apps may continue to function, but Microsoft no longer provides security updates or technical support for them. For Office 2019 for Mac, version 16.78 from October 2023 is the last build that supports Office 2019 licence types; if a licence error appears after an update, contact our support.

Get the software

Each key belongs to one edition. A retail key goes with Office installed from your Microsoft account. A volume key goes with Professional Plus or Standard installed from the ISO in your library; your download link is in your order email and in your account.

Check which edition is installed before you enter anything. On Windows, open Word, select File > Account and read the name under Product Information. On a Mac, choose Word > About Word. A Professional Plus key does not activate Standard, a Standard key does not activate Professional Plus, and neither activates a home edition.

Install

Activation only works on a finished installation. The short version:

• Home editions: sign in at account.microsoft.com, open Office apps, select Install and run the downloaded file. On a Mac, run the downloaded installer package.
• Professional Plus and Standard: mount the ISO from your library and run install.cmd as administrator. Save your documents and close Office apps first, because setup closes any that are still running.

Every step, including removing older Office versions, is in the installation guide.

Activate

Home & Student, Home & Business and Mac

If your key is not yet redeemed, do that first:

1. Open office.com/setup.
2. Sign in with your Microsoft account, or create one.
3. Enter the product key and finish the steps on the page.

Then activate Office on Windows:

1. Open Word from the Start menu.
2. Select Accept for the licence terms.
3. If Word asks you to sign in, use the same Microsoft account as at office.com/setup.

In most cases that is all. If the Activation Wizard opens instead, follow its prompts. On a Mac, open Word from Launchpad, select Get Started in the What's New window and sign in.

Professional Plus and Standard

After installation from the ISO, Office runs on Microsoft's generic volume licence key (GVLK). That key only works with an activation server inside a company network (KMS). You replace it with your own key. You need an administrator account, because Microsoft blocks MAK activation for standard users by default.

In Word

1. Select File > Account.
2. Under Product Information, select Change Product Key.
3. Type your key and select Activate.

In Command Prompt

1. Select Start, type cmd, right-click Command Prompt and choose Run as administrator.
2. Install your key:

cscript "C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office16\OSPP.VBS" /inpkey:XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX

3. Activate it online:

cscript "C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office16\OSPP.VBS" /act

The output ends with <Product activation successful> when it has worked. Office 2019 uses the Office16 folder, like Office 2016. If Windows cannot find the script, check whether OSPP.VBS is in C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\root\Office16 and use that path in all commands instead.

Activate by telephone

Choose the telephone when the PC is offline or when online activation keeps failing. If Microsoft says the key has reached its activation limit, contact our support with your order number.

Volume key, with Command Prompt

1. Install the key with the /inpkey command above. This works without internet.
2. Show the Installation ID:

cscript "C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office16\OSPP.VBS" /dinstid

3. Call the Microsoft activation number for your country. Microsoft lists them on its activation centres page.
4. Read out the Installation ID and write down the Confirmation ID you are given.
5. Enter the Confirmation ID without spaces or hyphens:

cscript "C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office16\OSPP.VBS" /actcid:CONFIRMATIONID

Activation Wizard on Windows, if it offers the telephone option

1. When the Activation Wizard appears, select "I want to activate the software by telephone" and then Next.
2. Choose your country or region and call the number shown.
3. Read out the Installation ID, type in the Confirmation ID and select Next.

Check it worked

Home editions on Windows: open Word and select File > Account. Product Information shows your Office 2019 edition without an activation warning, and the title bar no longer says "Unlicensed Product".

Office 2019 for Mac: open Word and choose Word > About Word in the menu bar. The window shows the version and the licence type, for example a one-time purchase of Office 2019 for Mac.

Professional Plus and Standard: in Command Prompt as administrator, run:

cscript "C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office16\OSPP.VBS" /dstatus

Find the block whose LICENSE NAME starts with Office 19. Two lines matter:

• LICENSE STATUS: ---LICENSED--- confirms the activation.
• Last 5 characters of installed product key: must match the end of your key.

If the status reads ---NOTIFICATIONS---, Office is not activated. If the last five characters differ, a different key is installed. In both cases, repeat /inpkey and /act.

If something goes wrong

0xC004F074: no Key Management Service could be contacted. Office still uses the generic KMS key. Install your own key with /inpkey, then run /act. Details: error 0xC004F074.

0x80070005: access denied. The command ran without administrator rights. Start Command Prompt with Run as administrator and try again. Details: error 0x80070005.

0xC004F050: the product key is invalid. The key was mistyped or belongs to another edition. Compare it with your order email and check the installed edition. If a correctly typed key is still refused, contact our support with your order number. Details: error 0xC004F050.

0xC004C020: the MAK has exceeded its activation limit. All activations Microsoft allows for this key are used. Retrying does not help. Contact our support with your order number. Details: error 0xC004C020.

0xC004C008 or 0xC004C003. With 0xC004C008 the activation server cannot use the key; with 0xC004C003 it has blocked the key. Send our support your order number and the full message. Details: error 0xC004C008 and error 0xC004C003.

A code not listed here. Office can explain it. Put your code in place of the example:

cscript "C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office16\OSPP.VBS" /ddescr:0xC004F074

Earlier failed attempts are listed by:

cscript "C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office16\OSPP.VBS" /dhistoryacterr

Retail: "We couldn't find any Office products". You signed in with a Microsoft account that does not hold your Office 2019. Sign out under File > Account and sign in with the account you used at office.com/setup.

Retail: activation fails although the account is right. Check that the date, time and time zone of the PC are correct, and that only one copy of Office is installed. Then open Word again. If Office stays in its grace period, see error 0x4004F00C.

Office asks for activation again after new hardware. After a significant hardware change, such as a new motherboard, a volume edition may need activating again. Repeat the steps above; this uses another activation of the key. For a retail edition, sign in with the Microsoft account linked to Office. If activation still fails, contact our support with the exact message.

Still stuck? Contact our support with your order number, the last five characters of your key and the exact message.