# Is there anyone who knows how to find the product key on an Office 365 account? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [December 2, 2023, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-anyone-who-knows-how-to-find-the-product-key-on-an-office-365-account/994023 "2023-12-02T19:23:15Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2023, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-anyone-who-knows-how-to-find-the-product-key-on-an-office-365-account/994023/1 "2023-12-02T19:23:15Z")
Got a new computer and have spent 45 minutes following bad instructions after bad instructions. Turning to the Dope for help. Thanks! ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2023, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-anyone-who-knows-how-to-find-the-product-key-on-an-office-365-account/994023/2 "2023-12-02T19:25:59Z")
Did you try the instructions on Microsoft’s site? > **[Using product keys with Office - Microsoft Support](https://support.microsoft.com/en-au/office/using-product-keys-with-office-12a5763a-d45c-4685-8c95-a44500213759#bkmk_promptforpkey)** > > Answers to questions on finding, getting, and applying product keys. ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2023, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-anyone-who-knows-how-to-find-the-product-key-on-an-office-365-account/994023/3 "2023-12-02T19:34:54Z")
The 69 Ways To Find the Key? Yes. Closest I can do is this set: > [@](#): > > If you bought Microsoft 365 through the Microsoft Store you can enter your product key there. > > 1. Go to [www.microsoftstore.com](https://www.microsoftstore.com/?ocid=cmmcbreadzp). In the upper right-hand corner, select **Sign in** and enter the user ID and password you used to buy Microsoft 365. > 2. After you sign in, select your name in the upper right-hand corner, and then select **Order History**. > 3. Locate the Microsoft 365 one-time purchase or individual Microsoft 365 app, and then select **Install** **Microsoft 365** to view your product key (this doesn’t actually install Microsoft 365). > 4. Select **Install** **Microsoft 365** again in the window where the product key appears. > 5. On the **Hi. Let’s get your** **Microsoft 365** page, follow the prompts to associate your product key with your Microsoft account and start the installation process. Step 3 is where it fails because Im never given the option to install 365. ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2023, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-anyone-who-knows-how-to-find-the-product-key-on-an-office-365-account/994023/4 "2023-12-02T19:40:26Z")
And I tried the above on my phone, my old computer, and my new one. ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2023, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-anyone-who-knows-how-to-find-the-product-key-on-an-office-365-account/994023/5 "2023-12-02T19:58:05Z")
The stupid site says this: > [@](#): > > Use your Microsoft account, not your product key, to install and activate Office and individually purchased Office apps, such as Project, Visio, Word, Excel, and Outlook Yes. And when I do this, I am prompted for the product key. (Technically, I’m prompted to try M365 for free for a month, purchase M365, or enter my product key. Hence this question and my frustration.) ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2023, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-anyone-who-knows-how-to-find-the-product-key-on-an-office-365-account/994023/6 "2023-12-02T20:42:46Z")
This is just a guess, but are you logged in with the same Microsoft account you used on your old computer? I would suspect that this would be how it could be possible for the installer not to ask for your key. ---
**Author:** ![echoreply](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/echoreply/32/3641_2.png) [@echoreply](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/echoreply)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2023, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-anyone-who-knows-how-to-find-the-product-key-on-an-office-365-account/994023/7 "2023-12-02T20:43:40Z")
This won’t directly be much help, but are you sure you bought Office directly through Microsoft? A friend went through the same thing, but it turned out she had bought Office through a third party on a $30 sale, so Microsoft had no record associating the key to her Office365 account, even though the paid version of Office was used with Office365. A search of her email **not** restricted to messages from Microsoft eventually turned up the key from the third party she’d actually bought Office from. ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2023, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-anyone-who-knows-how-to-find-the-product-key-on-an-office-365-account/994023/8 "2023-12-02T20:44:02Z")
Yes. And I’m asked to: 1. Try M365 for free 2. Buy M365 3. Enter the product key. … reply to @BigT ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2023, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-anyone-who-knows-how-to-find-the-product-key-on-an-office-365-account/994023/9 "2023-12-02T20:45:02Z")
> [@echoreply](#): > > This won’t directly be much help, but are you sure you bought Office directly through Microsoft? Yes, absolutely sure. ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2023, 12:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-anyone-who-knows-how-to-find-the-product-key-on-an-office-365-account/994023/10 "2023-12-03T00:05:31Z")
Fixed. Feel free to close/lock this thread. Thanks, everyone! ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2023, 12:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-anyone-who-knows-how-to-find-the-product-key-on-an-office-365-account/994023/11 "2023-12-03T00:20:52Z")
> [@JohnT](#): > > Fixed. Don’t leave us hanging – what was the fix?? ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2023, 12:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-anyone-who-knows-how-to-find-the-product-key-on-an-office-365-account/994023/12 "2023-12-03T00:31:20Z")
Exactly. Remember that someone else with the same problem might stumble onto this thread, so please do post the fix. ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2023, 1:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-anyone-who-knows-how-to-find-the-product-key-on-an-office-365-account/994023/13 "2023-12-03T01:20:46Z")
[![](https://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/wisdom_of_the_ancients.png) ](https://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/wisdom_of_the_ancients.png) This specific post is part of why, no matter how mundane or obscure the problem I’m asking about is, even if there were no replies, if/when I figure it out, I always try to go back and explain how I fixed it. ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2023, 2:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-anyone-who-knows-how-to-find-the-product-key-on-an-office-365-account/994023/14 "2023-12-03T02:42:50Z")
Long story short, because Inna needed Office as well, I upgraded to the family plan, which allowed me to login to multiple computers using the same account. So the issue was… as far as I can tell… my personal Office subscription only allowed one computer to be logged into it at a time, and I had not ‘disconnected’ (for wont of a better term) the old computer before I logged into the new computer. But once I upgraded, well, that was no longer an issue. But holy hell was it frustrating! From 11:57am to 6:07pm I have _ **17** _ “single use code” emails to log my ass in to my own account. And I know this isn’t the forum for this, but I am tired of these damn computer/online companies being more worried (by 1000x) about “privacy” and “safety” than they are about “ease of use”. ---
**Author:** ![md-2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9d8465/32.png) [@md-2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/md-2000)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2023, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-anyone-who-knows-how-to-find-the-product-key-on-an-office-365-account/994023/15 "2023-12-03T16:00:09Z")
> [@JohnT](#): > > …but I am tired of these damn computer/online companies being more worried (by 1000x) about “privacy” and “safety” than they are about “ease of use”. Is it that, or more likely they are afraid of someone actually getting a free copy of their product? I’ve had (have) a similar run-around from Adobe over their product key.