Possible to transfer ms office 2021 to new mac book pro? How?

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Level 1

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Possible to transfer ms office 2021 to new mac book pro? How?

Microsoft has seemingly made it impossible to contact a human at their tech support.

I bought a new MBP 14" today and manually migrated all my apps and data, in the process saving something like 150gig SDD storage, as compared to my old Mac. Wow!

So I did not use migration assistant, because I suspected it would copy over a bunch of junk too.

The MS website will not let me download MS office 2021 (purchased on March 2022) because my product key is already used (on my old Mac).

Is is possible to transfer MS office 2021 to my new Mac?

Is it possible to contact MS tech support human? (phone, chat, email)?

If I uninstall MS office from my old Mac, I don't see how MS will know that and then let me reuse my product key. I tried signing out from MS office on my old Mac, and it would not let me use the office apps, yet still, I could not download MS office 2021 on my new Mac despite being signed out on my old Mac.

Is MS scamming everyone? First, my MS office 2011stopped working on my mid-2014 MBP and I had to buy a 2019 version of office. Then I buy a 2021 MS office package this March and I can not transfer it to a new Mac?

Will migration assistant transfer MS office 2021 to my new Mac?

(I use time machine on a time capsule, BTW).

If anyone has a confirmed way to get MS office 2021 on my new Mac, I'd appreciate it. Otherwise, I might just return this new Mac and continue using the old one where MS office still works on.

P.S. I would be afraid to uninstall MS office 2021 from my old Mac until I get it downloaded on my new one, lest I am left without any Mac without MS office on it.

Thanks, Lauren

MacBook Pro

Posted on Jul 28, 2022 4:21 PM

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Answer 1

Top-ranking reply

MartinR

Level 7

25,111 points

Jul 29, 2022 9:56 AM in response to sd6

Before you do anything else, have you logged into your Microsoft Account via the web and checked to see if it shows your current install? Starting with Office 2019, the product key is supposed to be connected to your Microsoft Account and you are supposed to be able to deactivate the license there. Note also that you can only install a perpetual-license copy of Office once every 90 days ... if you are within a 90-window that may be the reason you can't see it or download it at present.

I strongly recommend taking the time to check your Microsoft Account. If you can see & deactivate your license there, it should then be easy street to download, install & activate on your new MBP.

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Answer 2

Jul 29, 2022 8:45 PM in response to sd6

When I bought a 2021 M1 MacBook Pro I used the migration assistant to move my 2019 copy of Microsoft Office to my new computer with no problems.

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Answer 3

tbirdvet

Level 6

17,331 points

Jul 29, 2022 2:48 PM in response to sd6

When I set up my new Mac I used Migration assistant and it moved my Office 2021 to the new Mac and no issues. That is the process I always use. Not sure what happens in your case if later you try to reinstall.

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Answer 4

DonH49

Level 6

16,716 points

Jul 28, 2022 4:37 PM in response to sd6

Don't do anything to your older Mac. Don't trash MS Office 21. Nothing is going to work and even if you happened to talk to a Non-robot it would not matter. What you should do is try that install on the new Mac. No transfer, no backup or anything similar.

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Answer 5

MartinR

Level 7

25,111 points

Jul 28, 2022 6:21 PM in response to sd6

The first question to answer is do you have an Office 365 subscription or an Office perpetual license? (Although, since you mentioned you have a product key, I suspect you have a perpetual license.)

If you have an Office 365 subscription you should be able to log into your Microsoft account and deactivate the license on your old Mac; and then download & install on your new Mac.

If you have a perpetual license the only way to transfer MS Office from your old Mac to your new Mac is via Migration Assistant. Unfortunately, as far as I know, Migration Assistant is an all-or-nothing deal, you cannot migrate a single application by itself.

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Answer 6

sd6 Author

Level 1

9 points

Jul 29, 2022 11:52 AM in response to MartinR

Thanks Martin, I did check my online account. Nothing there to show my product key or purchase. Their payment history says I've made no payments in the last six months though I bought MS Office 2021 in March of this year at their online store. That purchase was 3.5 months ago.

I've found no online discussion anywhere indicating anyone has successfully migrated a MS Office product from one Mac to a newer one, though I've found several discussions of frustrated users who said they were unable to do that and that MS was unhelpful or unavailable. The chat link on my Word app does not work, their phone numbers refer only to online knowledge base articles, their online custom service links refer only to knowledge base articles, I've found no way to email them, or chat with them or call them, or whatnot. If my new Office product was not working or didn't install correctly, or if I had a billing problem, or any other issue, I'd have no way to contact them for help. This is the most onerous and egregious behavior by an online seller that I have ever experienced.

Microsoft seems to have a ONE DOWNLOAD POLICY for MS Office products, not a ONE COMPUTER POLICY.

If I had to reformat my disk because of a glitch of some kind, I wouldn't be able to re-download MS Office.

If MS does not come through for me on this, after I just bought this product in March 2022, I will never again buy another MS product, except Office, which I need for business reasons. I bought MS Office 2011 and 2019 because they stopped working on my Mac at some point (no longer supported after a certain Apple OSX update). And now I bought 2021 and can't use it just after 3.5 months.

I'm almost ready to sell my xbox series X console out of fear it might need support at some point and it won't be forthcoming.

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Answer 7

sd6 Author

Level 1

9 points

Jul 28, 2022 6:51 PM in response to MartinR

Thanks!

I don't have a 365 subscription. I have a. office 2021 product key. On my old Mac, when I click "About MS Office" it seems to suggest it is tied to that hardware device (old Mac) because it lists that mac's identifier. Does migration assistant 100% guarantee the ms office 2021 will migrate successfully to the new MBP?

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Answer 8

sd6 Author

Level 1

9 points

Jul 28, 2022 5:54 PM in response to DonH49

Thanks. You mean, I can only buy a new copy of MS office 2021 for the new Mac because there's no way to transfer it from my old Mac???

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Possible to transfer ms office 2021 to new mac book pro? How?

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