Office 2019 Home & Business Activation Issues

Question

Level 1

8 points

Office 2019 Home & Business Activation Issues

Hi,

I bough Office 2019 Home & Business a couple of days ago, as I now need a commercial license on my box. Office 365 Home was running fine on that device and still does. So no problems per se with Microsoft Office in general.

I bought the new product at a retail store (Keycard in a box).

However, after successfully redeeming the key and associating it to my microsoft account, I cannot activate the product. Not automatically, not by phone. Even Microsoft support was not able to activate the product on my device after nearly half an hour of remote interaction.

Really frustrating process for a $300 software product...

The error message I get is very unspecific just stating that an activation error occurred. No error id or something. Telephone activation responds that my installation id is invalid.

To help debug the process, I tried installing Mojave, High Sierra and Sierra always wiping the complete SSD. Thus, I think that my environment should reflect the default system condition.

As I would call the MacBookPro 2017 a pretty standardized product, it is hard to believe that I am the only person affected. Googling for hours did not reflect that tons of people cannot activate their product.

Hence the question if anybody else is affected and even more important - could anyone solve the issue?

Thank you all in advance!

MacBook Pro 13", macOS 10.13

Posted on Jun 25, 2019 11:40 PM

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Answer 1

KiltedTim

Level 10

228,948 points

Jun 26, 2019 6:58 AM in response to MACGyver8192

Try completely removing all traces of Office, including O365 Home.

You're going to have issues with both Office 365 and Office 2019 installed on the same box at the same time.

You can find removal instructions on Microsoft's web-site.

Once you've cleaned it up, install Office 2019.

If it still doesn't work, contact Microsoft.

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Answer 2

Kurt Lang

Level 9

69,673 points

Jun 26, 2019 7:07 AM in response to MACGyver8192

You are correct. Yes, I also pay attention to licensing, but hadn't really read through the one for Office 365 since we use it at home.

I have office 2016 and 365 under the same account and it has no trouble keeping those separate for the same reason MS's servers shouldn't have any issue keeping 2019 and 365 separate - they'll have entirely different product keys.

You're not forced at any time to use MS's cloud services for Office 365. We never do. All files are saved locally, only. Just an FYI on that since it doesn't relate to your need for a commercial licensed version of Office.

Unfortunately, you've already tried everything I would suggest. Even wiping the drive so you'd have a clean system. But I do wonder if you restored a backup. They would bring back any possible account issue that may be blocking the activation.

A simple test for that would be to create a new user account. Login to that and see if Office 2019 can be activated from there.

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Answer 3

MACGyver8192 Author

Level 1

8 points

Jun 26, 2019 6:53 AM in response to Kurt Lang

Hi Kurt Lang,

sadly, that seems not to be correct. At least not in my case and probably (I'm not a lawyer) not in general from a legal perspective, too.

As I want to use my system in a commercial setting in the near future, I need correct licensing.

I own a license for Office 365 Home. And for my personal use at home this is great! However, the license terms clearly specify: "The service/software may not be used for commercial, non-profit, or revenue-generating activities."

Source: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/Useterms/Retail/Office365/Home/Useterms_Retail_Office365_Home_English.htm

Office 2019 Home & Business obviously does not have this restriction.

Source: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/Useterms/Retail/Office/2019HomeandBusiness/Useterms_Retail_Office_2019HomeandBusiness_English.htm

I'm aware that many people do not care such things (or don't even read their license agreements) but I do.

Apart from that, I don't need (and don't want) any cloud stuff for any productive work I do. Seeing this hassle now is another prime example for me why I want to minimize dependencies to online services as far as possible.

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Answer 4

MACGyver8192 Author

Level 1

8 points

Jun 26, 2019 7:49 AM in response to Kurt Lang

Hi Kurt Lang

thx for your suggestions! No, I never restored a backup for that very reason. Therefor, the test setups were as clean as possible from my perspective. Thus, also every user account was also clean when the different versions of OS X were installed.

So I think I'm out of options and just have to hope that microsoft will fix this issue eventually. They are on it but till now without much success in my case.

My hope posting here was that someone in this forum experienced that exact (and probably rare) phenomenon and could provide a solution.

Let's see what comes up in this place or from Microsoft support.

Once solved, I'll of course report again on what the issue was ...

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Answer 5

Kurt Lang

Level 9

69,673 points

Jun 26, 2019 7:56 AM in response to MACGyver8192

Wow! Still no go on a drive that would be the same as a new Mac fresh out of the box. That just doesn't make sense.

I'm afraid I have no other suggestions. Hopefully, you'll have better luck on Microsoft's support forums.

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Answer 6

Aug 9, 2019 4:27 AM in response to MACGyver8192

If you`re having Office 365 then its more worth than going for Just Office. From where did you purchased the Office Product? Was that a valid Microsoft reseller? While activating the Office did you received any error message? See if you can refund the product rather than bearing the loss of $300. A lots of pirated versions of Office are coming in the market be careful with that. Buy a valid

Regards,

Adrian

[Link Edited by Moderator]

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Answer 7

Kurt Lang

Level 9

69,673 points

Jun 26, 2019 5:47 AM in response to MACGyver8192

You didn't need Office 2019 at all. There's no real difference between it and Office 365. I don't know why the person you were talking to at MS didn't mention this.

Not only that, if you purchased the standard $99 per year version of Office 365, you can legally install it on up to six devices. Mac, Windows or iOS.

If you can, return Office 2019 for a refund.

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Answer 8

MACGyver8192 Author

Level 1

8 points

Jun 27, 2019 3:56 AM in response to AdrianG001

Hi AdrianG001

thanks for the reply. No, the product box is genuine and so is the key. That is an absolut given both because I ordered the product at a very well renowned local seller and because I could successfully redeem and bind the key to my microsoft account.

I understand that for some people the cloud stuff is extreamly valuable. However for me, it is not. It is quite the opposite of what I want or need ... Sadly, with this endeavor it was just demonstrated once more to me.

Thus, I don't want a refund at all, as I have good reasons for acquiring that very license. I just want to use the license that I payed for on a machine/os that the product is specified to run on.

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Office 2019 Home & Business Activation Issues

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