Microsoft account lost

David Parkinson 0 Reputation points
2026-10-11T13:02:36.29+00:00

Hi All, I have a customer who purchased a new PC in May 2018 along with a copy of Office Home & Student 2016. I set the machine up, created a Microsoft account and installed Office. Since then all has been well. That is, until recently when Office applications started asking him to sign in or close the application. I entered his Microsoft account only to be informed that the account didn't exist. So I set up his account again. He had only ever had one email address. I then tried to re-activate the Office (he still has the original card with the product key). When I tried to activate Office it said that this copy of Office had already been activated on 18th May 2018 with a different account. I re-iterate, he's only ever had one email address and therefore one Microsoft account. I've managed a work around which means that each time he open an Office application he enters the product key and it works but this is an unsatisfactory situation. It's as if Microsoft "lost" his account. Can anybody help me? Best regards, David

Microsoft 365 and Office | Install, redeem, activate | For home | Windows
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  1. Xavier-D 13,875 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator
    2026-10-13T06:04:10.3133333+00:00

    Hello David Parkinson,

    Has the answer provided by AI able to help you solve this issue?

    Since AI mention contacting support but fail to show you instruction on how to contact them. I will now show you how to contact support instead:

    Please note that this is a user-to-user support forum. Moderators and contributors, including external Microsoft employees, are not allowed to directly interfere with Microsoft product features or access back-end systems. Our role is limited solely to providing technical guidance on reported incidents, requests, or ideas.  

    1. Open a website link - Contact - Microsoft Support 
    2. In the box below "We're here to help", type Microsoft 365, click "Get Help", and then click "Contact Support" below. 
    3. In this section, you will need to sign in to your Microsoft account. 
    4. Select "Microsoft 365 and Office" under Products & Services, select "Technical Support" as the category, and click to confirm 
    5. You can select " Chat with a support agent in your web browser " to access the chat window. 

    I hope you can get the support you need and recover the Microsoft account,

    have a nice day.

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  2. AI answer

    2026-10-11T13:02:53.9466667+00:00

    For Office Home & Student 2016, the license is normally tied to the Microsoft account that was used to redeem or activate it. Re-creating a Microsoft account with the same email address does not restore the original Office license association if the original account is no longer available.

    The most useful checks are:

    1. In an Office app, open File > Account and check Product Information > Belongs to. That shows the account currently associated with the installed Office copy.
    2. Sign in to Services & subscriptions with every possible personal Microsoft account the customer may have used. If the Office product is not listed there, that account is not the one associated with the license.
    3. If Office shows activation errors, make sure there is only one Office installation present. In Control Panel > Programs > Programs and Features, search for office and uninstall any duplicate or unused Office versions, then restart the PC.
    4. If the customer cannot access the original Microsoft account, use the Microsoft account recovery options. Microsoft also provides a sign-in helper tool for cases where the account email or password is no longer working.

    Given the specific symptom — Office reports that the product key was already activated on 18 May 2018 with a different account, while the current account does not show the license — the practical next step is to contact Microsoft Support and provide proof of purchase and the original product key. That is also the documented path when someone else installed Office and the wrong account became associated with the product.

    If support confirms the original account cannot be recovered, the context does not provide a self-service way to transfer that Office license to a newly created Microsoft account.

    AI-generated content may be incorrect. Read our transparency notes for more information.

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