KB5002907 is nuking valid licenses for Office 2016 and 2019 products

Question

KB5002907 is nuking valid licenses for Office 2016 and 2019 products

M C 30

Help, KB5002907 is removing the active valid licenses for Office 2016 and 2019 products. I have a valid license for Office 2016 PRO (Lifetime License) and it was removed by the Office 365 update. When will Microsoft pull the update and correct the issue?

Carlo Patrizio Falco - MFB srl 10 Reputation points

2026-09-25T09:12:42.15+00:00

We are experiencing the same issue on multiple PCs with legitimate perpetual Office Home & Business 2016 and 2019 licenses.

After KB5002907 is installed through Windows Update, the existing Office installation appears to lose or alter its activation/licensing status.

According to Microsoft's KB5002907 documentation, this update is intended for out-of-date Microsoft 365 Apps installations, while the affected PCs in our case have perpetual Office 2016/2019 installations.

Can Microsoft please confirm whether KB5002907 is being incorrectly offered to perpetual Office installations and whether this is currently being investigated?

We can provide Office builds, Windows builds, licensing status and OSPP.VBS /dstatus output from affected machines if required.
Peter Beauchamp 0 Reputation points

2026-09-26T18:49:39.0866667+00:00

our household budgets etc run on excel and other office products 2016 version , which are now crippled, is there a fix for this or a role back of the up date , I have fully licenced products that i can no longer use
Stefan Blom 353.7K Reputation points MVP Volunteer Moderator

2026-09-26T18:57:16.3933333+00:00

@Peter Beauchamp

Reinstall Office (if necessary) and reactivate your license. See the Important notice in the updated article at https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/servicing/os/microsoft-365/kb5002907-optional-update-for-out-of-date-microsoft-365-apps-installations . I have posted a similar reply elsewhere in the thread with a screen shot. Good luck.

7 answers

Your answer

Carlo Patrizio Falco - MFB srl 10 Reputation points

2026-09-25T09:12:42.15+00:00

We are experiencing the same issue on multiple PCs with legitimate perpetual Office Home & Business 2016 and 2019 licenses.

After KB5002907 is installed through Windows Update, the existing Office installation appears to lose or alter its activation/licensing status.

According to Microsoft's KB5002907 documentation, this update is intended for out-of-date Microsoft 365 Apps installations, while the affected PCs in our case have perpetual Office 2016/2019 installations.

Can Microsoft please confirm whether KB5002907 is being incorrectly offered to perpetual Office installations and whether this is currently being investigated?

We can provide Office builds, Windows builds, licensing status and OSPP.VBS /dstatus output from affected machines if required.
Peter Beauchamp 0 Reputation points

2026-09-26T18:49:39.0866667+00:00

our household budgets etc run on excel and other office products 2016 version , which are now crippled, is there a fix for this or a role back of the up date , I have fully licenced products that i can no longer use
Stefan Blom 353.7K Reputation points MVP Volunteer Moderator

2026-09-26T18:57:16.3933333+00:00

@Peter Beauchamp

Reinstall Office (if necessary) and reactivate your license. See the Important notice in the updated article at https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/servicing/os/microsoft-365/kb5002907-optional-update-for-out-of-date-microsoft-365-apps-installations . I have posted a similar reply elsewhere in the thread with a screen shot. Good luck.

Answer 1

Is there a class action lawsuit about this?

I got Office 2019 when I bought my computer from an electronics store locally. It has worked fine for years until this update. It is frozen asking for the pass key. I called the shop I bought my computer from and they are out of business and never provided me with the key.

I have tried everything posted by Ai and nothing works. It now shows my product as UNLICENCED. It wont even work when my computer is off-line. This feels criminal on the part of Microsoft. I even spent hours with a Microsoft technician and gave him access to my computer. He eventually just disconnected me from the conversation telling me I was SOL.

From my research it is this (Click-to-Run installs are designed to "phone home" every ~30 days to re-verify the license) that appears to be the technical trick that they use to not really sell you an Office program that will last the lifetime of your computer. It is criminal in my mind that they are allowed to disable a program like this.

Stefan Blom 353.7K Reputation points MVP Volunteer Moderator

2026-10-02T18:18:49.0633333+00:00

Greg Billingsly,

If the cause of trouble is the Microsoft update discussed in this thread, all you have to do is reactivate your installation using your associated Microsoft account.

Answer 2

Tony Torres 0

I still have no access to MS Office 2016 PRO (Lifetime License), and I have until tomorrow 29 SEPT 26, to input key, which I cannot find. Also, the Microsoft shares fix as KB5002907 accidentally breaks licenses, deletes Windows Office apps wasn't added to my system as an update.

Stefan Blom 353.7K Reputation points MVP Volunteer Moderator

2026-09-28T19:26:04.5333333+00:00

@Tony Torres

I still have no access to MS Office 2016 PRO (Lifetime License), and I have until tomorrow 29 SEPT 26, to input key, which I cannot find. Also, the Microsoft shares fix as KB5002907 accidentally breaks licenses, deletes Windows Office apps wasn't added to my system as an update.

If your system never installed the faulty update, the license problem you experienced may have a different cause. I recommend that you start your own thread. Use the Ask a question option. If you already started your own thread, please post follow-ups there. Good luck.

Answer 3

Hi M C:

For more information see the 26-Sep-2026 Neowin article Microsoft shares fix as KB5002907 accidentally breaks licenses, deletes Windows Office apps and the 26-Sep-2026 BleepingComputer article Microsoft pauses KB5002907 update after Office license deactivations.

My “perpetual” retail edition of Microsoft Office Home and Business 2019 C2R was affected by this bug after an automatic Windows Update delivered an update on 24-Sep-2026 called “Click-to-Run Update Support“ that was NOT optional (i.e., entering wmic qfe | find “KB5002907” in an elevated command prompt shows I did not receive the optional KB5002907 described in those articles). See my 24-Sep-2026 post # 2880629 in Richard Mitnick’s Office Updates in the AskWoody forum for further details.

1 - Windows Update Install Click-to-Run Update Support 24 Sep 2026

My retail edition of MS Office 2019 C2R reached end of support on 14-Oct-2025 and the release history <here> still shows that Version 2508 / Build 19127.20302 (rel. 14-Oct-2025) is latest available version, but since the forced re-install and re-activation on 24-Sep-2026 my product is now at Version 2508 / Build 19127.20800 (a.k.a. v16.0.19127.20800).

MS Office Home and Business 2019 v2508 Build 19127_20800 Account About Excel 22 Sep 2026

Dell Inspiron 15 5584 * 64-bit Win 10 Pro v22H2 build 19045.7725 * Firefox v156.0.1 * Microsoft Defender v4.18.26080.4-1.1.26080.3 * Malwarebytes Premium v5.7.1.346-165.0.5751 * Macrium Reflect Free v8.0.7783 * Microsoft Office Home and Business 2019 C2R Version 2508 / Build 19127.20800

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