moving Office 2024 from broken pc to a new pc

Question

moving Office 2024 from broken pc to a new pc

john THORNTON 5

I bought Office 2024 on 24 September 2026.

My pc has since blown up.

i havw a new pc and wish to delete the license from the old pc to the new one

Ron Barker 2,325 Reputation points

2026-11-03T12:18:19.93+00:00

Hi John, you will need to contact Microsoft Support to deactivate/delink your Office 2024 licence from you old computer. There is no way round this, but it is a common problem and the Agent should be able to assist you without any problem.
Charles Kenyon 171.9K Reputation points Volunteer Moderator

2026-11-03T18:03:44.79+00:00

Hi Ron,

It has been a while since I had to do this, but my recollection is that you can handle this all from the account services tab linked by Stefan, even with no access to the old computer. Of course, things may have changed.
Stefan Blom 357.3K Reputation points MVP Volunteer Moderator

2026-11-03T18:09:49.9833333+00:00

Ron, Charles,

Under certain circumstances, you may have to contact Microsoft support, I believe. It is covered in the article at https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/activation/activate-microsoft-perpetual-products-using-the-product-activation-portal .
Ron Barker 2,325 Reputation points

2026-11-04T22:00:17.64+00:00

Hi, Stefan, Charles, yes the problem the OP has is 'deactivation' rather than 'activation'. But Microsoft does not help. I just checked using my install account and clicking on help to obtain articles, one of which was for moving Office to another account. There is one (not the same as before) and it is is only instructing for installing Office on another computer, with no warning that you may need to contact support. There is nothing about 'deactivation'. That page used to be very helpful, now it is a jungle! Bottom line is that the office on old computer Must be deactivated one way or another, before it an be activated on the new computer.

2 answers

Your answer

Ron Barker 2,325 Reputation points

2026-11-03T12:18:19.93+00:00

Hi John, you will need to contact Microsoft Support to deactivate/delink your Office 2024 licence from you old computer. There is no way round this, but it is a common problem and the Agent should be able to assist you without any problem.
Charles Kenyon 171.9K Reputation points Volunteer Moderator

2026-11-03T18:03:44.79+00:00

Hi Ron,

It has been a while since I had to do this, but my recollection is that you can handle this all from the account services tab linked by Stefan, even with no access to the old computer. Of course, things may have changed.
Stefan Blom 357.3K Reputation points MVP Volunteer Moderator

2026-11-03T18:09:49.9833333+00:00

Ron, Charles,

Under certain circumstances, you may have to contact Microsoft support, I believe. It is covered in the article at https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/activation/activate-microsoft-perpetual-products-using-the-product-activation-portal .
Ron Barker 2,325 Reputation points

2026-11-04T22:00:17.64+00:00

Hi, Stefan, Charles, yes the problem the OP has is 'deactivation' rather than 'activation'. But Microsoft does not help. I just checked using my install account and clicking on help to obtain articles, one of which was for moving Office to another account. There is one (not the same as before) and it is is only instructing for installing Office on another computer, with no warning that you may need to contact support. There is nothing about 'deactivation'. That page used to be very helpful, now it is a jungle! Bottom line is that the office on old computer Must be deactivated one way or another, before it an be activated on the new computer.

Answer 1

john THORNTON 5

all sorted. The company I bought it from deactivated the key and gave me a new key. So all up and running again.

Thanks for all the comments

Stefan Blom 357.3K Reputation points MVP Volunteer Moderator

2026-11-05T11:27:48.85+00:00

all sorted. The company I bought it from deactivated the key and gave me a new key. So all up and running again. Thanks for all the comments

Thanks for the follow-up. It seems you got a good deal from the seller. :-)
Ron Barker 2,325 Reputation points

2026-11-07T13:27:40.92+00:00

Yes, when you purchase a Product Key the seller has to activate it with Microsoft (this was originally to prevent shop lifters from stealing the Product Key Cards). They can also deactivate them, within a reasonable time. Glad you got sorted.

Answer 2

Stefan Blom 357.3K MVP Volunteer Moderator

Use your associated account at https://account.microsoft.com/services to install on your new PC.

Read more about activation at https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/activation/activate-microsoft-perpetual-products-using-the-product-activation-portal .

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