How to activate Office 365 without product key

In a previous post here, I have shown you guys how to download and install Office 365 Multi-language using online installer downloaded directly from the Microsoft homepage. The new installation includes a 30-day free trial license by default. After that, most important features will be disabled. It means your work will be discontinued unless you pay for Office 365 subscription. If you are in financial difficulties, this is so bad, I know. To help you overcome this problem, I recommend using KMS licene key to activate your Office. For those of you guys who don’t already know, KMS license is almost similar to the trial one. It is totally free, legal and is valid for 180 days only. But don’t worry about the period because it can be renewed easily.

Remove your current trial license

This step is optional if your trial license was expired. However, if it is still valid, you need to remove it. Because in some cases, after you activate your Office using KMS license, important features are resumed but the expiration notification still remains. Follow instructions in this post to uninstall the trial license.

Make sure your computer is ready

You need to check your internet connection again and make sure that the Windows Update service is turned on. KMS license has to be verified by making a connection to my KMS servers before it can be used. So you need to check if the KMS server is blocked or not. This is pretty simple. Just open your internet browser and try visitting this site: //kms8.msguides.com. If it is visible, this means my KMS server is not blocked.

Activating your Office 365 using KMS client key

1. Manual method

Step 1.1: Open command prompt as admin.
First, you need to open command prompt with admin rights, then follow the instruction below step by step. Just copy/paste the commands and do not forget to hit Enter in order to execute them.

Step 1.2: Navigate to your Office folder.
If you install your Office in the ProgramFiles folder, the path will be “%ProgramFiles%\Microsoft Office\Office16” or “%ProgramFiles(x86)%\Microsoft Office\Office16”. It depends on the architecture of the Windows OS you are using. If you are not sure of this issue, don’t worry, just run both of the commands above. One of them will be not executed and an error message will be printed on the screen.

Step 1.3: Convert your Office license to volume one if possible.
If your Office is got from Microsoft, this step is required. On the contrary, if you install Office from a Volume ISO file, this is optional so just skip it if you want.

Step 1.4: Use KMS client key to activate your Office.
Make sure your PC is connected to the internet, then run the following command.

If you see the error 0xC004F074, it means that your internet connection is unstable or the server is busy. Please make sure your device is online and try the command “act” again until you succeed.

Here is all the text you will get in the command prompt window.

2. Using batch script

This one is not recommended anymore due to the new update of Microsoft.

Step 2.1: Copy the code below into a new text document.

Step 2.2: Save it as a batch file. (eg. office365.cmd).

Step 2.3: Run the batch file with admin rights. (important!).

Done! Your Office is activated successfully.

Note:

• I only test this method with Office 365 ProPlus version. I am not sure it will work with the others.
• Step 3 is flagged “important” because the UAC system will stop this process if you don’t do it.

How to renew your Office 365 license

By default, your license will be renewed automaticaly every seven days but in some cases, it can be stuck. So you need to renew the license manually. Just follow instructions here.

If you would have any questions or concerns, please leave your comments. I would be glad to explain in more details. Thank you so much for all your feedback and support!