MS Office activates the version from my old laptop!

Hi

This seems to be an issue for Microsoft to deal with, if the Dell acknowledges the install and the licence, and the hiccup is within the MS account, then........

Thanks.  I think I may have got into a tangle because I purchased the PC from Dell on behalf of my wife (using my email address), but set it up for her and activated Office with her email address.  I am not sure how to resolve this...!

Regards,

MartinB

Here is a bit more detail about the problem - I do hope someone can help to resolve it:

I am setting up a new Dell 16 Plus laptop (DB16250) running Windows 11 Home for my wife, purchased from Dell with MS Office Home & Business 2024 pre-installed. I made the purchase using my own email address.

The Dell Optimizer app confirms that MS Office Home & Business 2024 is there as a purchased app.  However, on proceeding to activate it via the app and signing in to my wife's Microsoft account, it found only the license for Office 2016 (which is installed on her old laptop) in her account and installed & activated that!  No license for Office 2024 appears in her Microsoft account (or mine). The new laptop is now running Office 2016, support for which ends in October!

I had assumed that the Office license key is tied to the machine - but perhaps it is linked to the purchaser's email address?  If so, maybe I should have activated Office using my own email account, which is linked to the purchase from Dell.

If, on the other hand, the Office license key is tied to the machine then Dell's activation key has just not worked.

Dell Support referred me to Microsoft Support, but the call to Microsoft Support got cut off with no resolution, and so I am hoping that this forum might be able to help. Can anyone tell me how to switch the license to Office 2024, please?

I am cautious about uninstalling Office 2016 and trying again in case I end up with no Office installation at all.  As a last resort I could do a Factory Reset and start again from scratch, but that seems rather a drastic step to take, and in any case would not help if Dell's activation key is at fault...

Hi

Doubt this helps...

I use LibreOffice, it's more than adequate for the task.

Also I print out, where practical, all my licence keys using Belarc Advisor.

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For most users (retail or digital purchase):

• Open any Office app (like Word or Excel).

• If prompted, sign in with the Microsoft account you used.

• If prompted for a product key, enter your 25-character key and click “Activate”.

• If already signed in and the key is redeemed, Office should activate automatically.

Alternatively:

• In any Office app, go to File > Account.

• Under Product Information, select Change Product Key if you need to enter or update your key.

• Enter your product key and follow the on-screen prompts to complete activation.