Activate Microsoft Project with your product key

Project needs to be activated once on each PC. Without activation, Project eventually becomes unlicensed and most editing features are switched off. How you activate depends on the key in your order. This guide expects Project to be installed already. If it is not, start with Install Microsoft Project.

Which key you have

The 25-character key is in your order confirmation email and under My Library in your Lizensa account. Here it appears as XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX.

• Retail key: Project 2024, 2021 or 2019, Professional or Standard, including ESD, and the bundle of Office 2024, Visio 2024 and Project 2024. You redeem it once at office.com/setup. After that, Microsoft keeps the licence in your Microsoft account.
• Volume key (MAK, Multiple Activation Key): Project Professional 2024 MAK, Project Standard 2024 MAK, Project 2021 Professional MAK and Project 2021 Standard MAK. You type it into Project yourself. Microsoft counts every activation against a fixed limit for the key.
• Project 2016 and 2013: your order contains the key only, and your library has no installer for these versions yet. Contact our support before you install or activate.

Microsoft ended support for Project 2021 on 13 October 2026, and for Project 2019 and 2016 on 14 October 2025. These versions no longer get security fixes.

Key and installation must belong together

A key activates only the Project it was made for. Three things must match:

• Edition: a Professional key fits Project Professional. A Standard key fits Project Standard.
• Year: a 2021 key does not activate Project 2024, and the other way round.
• Channel: a retail key fits Project from your Microsoft account. A MAK fits the volume Project from the installer in your Lizensa account. Your download link is in your order email and in your account.

To see what is installed, open Project and select File > Account. Product Information names the edition and year. If they differ from your order, fix the installation before you activate.

Is Project installed?

Activation needs a finished installation. In short:

• Retail: redeem the key at office.com/setup, then install Project from Services & subscriptions at account.microsoft.com.
• MAK: save your Office documents, mount the ISO from your library and run install.cmd as administrator. Setup closes running Office apps and adds Project only.

Before the installation, check the Office already on the PC. Microsoft requires the same bit version and the same update channel for Office and Project, and no mix of Click-to-Run and Windows Installer within one version. Our MAK installer is 64-bit and fixed to the PerpetualVL2024 or PerpetualVL2021 channel, so it fits volume Office LTSC of the same year. Retail Project goes with Microsoft 365 or a retail Office, under the same rules. If Microsoft 365, retail Office or 32-bit Office is installed, contact our support before you use the MAK installer. The installation guide has a table for this.

Activating your key

Retail key: sign in to Project

1. If you have not done so, redeem the key at office.com/setup with your Microsoft account.
2. Open Project. When it asks you to sign in, use that same Microsoft account.
3. Accept the licence terms.

Project finds the licence in your account and activates. If the Activation Wizard opens, follow its prompts. Use the telephone option only when activation over the internet does not work.

MAK: enter your volume key

The installer from your library holds no personal key. Project starts with a generic Microsoft key that only works with a company KMS server. To activate with your MAK, replace that key with your own.

In Project

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

Microsoft does not let a standard Windows user activate a volume product with a MAK by default. If Change Product Key is missing or fails, sign in to Windows as an administrator and use the commands below.

At the command line

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

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

Then activate over the internet:

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

A successful run ends with <Product activation successful>. The script manages every volume Office product on the PC. If Office LTSC is installed too, the output lists it as well.

If Windows reports that the file cannot be found, check whether the script is in C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\root\Office16. If so, use that path instead.

By telephone

Use telephone activation when the PC has no internet access or online activation fails. If Microsoft reports that the key has reached its activation limit, contact our support instead.

With the Activation Wizard

1. For a MAK, enter your key first, in Project or with the /inpkey command. Then reopen Project.
2. When the Activation Wizard appears, select "I want to activate the software by telephone", then Next.
3. Select your country or region and call the number shown.
4. Read out the installation ID. Type the confirmation ID you are given, then select Next.

With the command line (MAK only)

Use this method when Project is the only volume product waiting for activation. In Command Prompt as administrator, show the installation ID:

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

Call the number for your country from Microsoft's activation centres list. Then enter the confirmation ID without spaces or hyphens:

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

Confirm the activation

Retail: in Project, select File > Account. Product Information shows your edition without an activation notice. Project also appears in Services & subscriptions at account.microsoft.com.

MAK: in Command Prompt as administrator, run:

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

The output has one block per volume product. Find the block whose licence name contains Project. It should show:

• LICENSE STATUS: ---LICENSED---
• Last 5 characters of installed product key: with the last five characters of your key.

---NOTIFICATIONS--- means Project is not activated yet. Different final characters mean another key is installed. In both cases run the two commands under At the command line again.

If something goes wrong

0xC004F074: no Key Management Service could be contacted. Project MAK still uses the built-in KMS key. Install your own key with /inpkey, then run /act. See error 0xC004F074.

0xC004F050: the product key is not valid. The key does not fit the installed Project. Common causes are a Standard key used on Project Professional, or a MAK used on retail Project. Compare File > Account with your order. See error 0xC004F050.

0xC004C020: the MAK has exceeded its limit. Microsoft has counted all activations for this key. Do not try again with it. Contact our support with your order number. See error 0xC004C020.

0xC004C008: the activation server could not use the key. Microsoft does not activate with this key. Do not keep retrying. Contact our support with your order number and the full message. See error 0xC004C008.

0x80070005: access denied. Command Prompt is not running as administrator. Close it, start it again with Run as administrator, and repeat the command. See error 0x80070005.

An error code not listed here. Ask Microsoft's script for a description:

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

Put your own code in place of the example. To list earlier failed attempts, run:

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

Retail Project keeps asking for a product key. Check which Microsoft account is signed in to Project under File > Account. It must be the account you used at office.com/setup. If not, sign out and sign in with that account.

office.com/setup refuses the retail key. "This product key has already been used" means the key is linked to a Microsoft account already. Sign in with that account and check Services & subscriptions. For any other refusal, do not try other websites. Contact our support with your order number and the exact message.

You moved Project to a new PC. Project asks for activation again. Retail: install from your Microsoft account on the new PC and sign in. MAK: enter your key and activate as above. Each new activation counts against the MAK limit.

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