Transfer Office license key to new laptop

Question

Transfer Office license key to new laptop

T Westecott 0

My old PC has a Microsoft office home license that I need to move to my new PC.

I need to be able to use office Word and Excel when travelling and the licence numnber I have purchased is not working/activating on my new laptop. Please ask for me info if reqd. Appreciate help. Thank you.

Ron Barker 2,325 Reputation points

2026-11-09T11:04:39.9+00:00

Hi, please note that if your Office Home came preinstalled you cannot move it to another computer. I mean if your Office is not a retail version of Office Home.

2 answers

Your answer

Ron Barker 2,325 Reputation points

2026-11-09T11:04:39.9+00:00

Hi, please note that if your Office Home came preinstalled you cannot move it to another computer. I mean if your Office is not a retail version of Office Home.

Answer 1

Stefan Blom 357.3K MVP Volunteer Moderator

Is this Office Home 2024? If possible, uninstall the product from the older PC. Install on the new PC using your associated account at https://account.microsoft.com/services . If run into activation issues, see https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/activation/activate-microsoft-perpetual-products-using-the-product-activation-portal .

0 comments

Answer 2

I would start by checking whether the licence is linked to a Microsoft account, because that decides how I move it. A one-time purchase of Office Home can be used on one PC at a time, so I would uninstall Office from the old PC before I activate it on the new laptop.

On the new laptop, I would sign in to my Microsoft account and open the Services and subscriptions page. If Office Home is listed there, I would install it from that page and sign in with the same account when an Office app asks me to activate it.

If it is not listed under that account, I would redeem the product key on the Office setup page while signed in with the account I want to keep it under, then install from there. I would check the account first, because a key redeemed under a different account will not show up under this one.

If activation still fails, I would note the exact error message. I would also check whether the licence came preinstalled with the old PC, because an OEM licence is tied to that PC and cannot be moved. In that case I would need a new licence for the new laptop.