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Re-assigning the license for MS Office 2011

Anonymous
2020-12-26T09:22:55+00:00

I am a Mac user and am upgrading from the 2012 Macbook Air to the new 2020 Macbook Air. Because MS Office 2011 is 32-bit and all OS higher than Mojave only support 64-bit, I'll be purchasing MS Office 2019 for personal use. I'm considering moving my files over manually for a clean start on the new computer but I wanted advice on how to handle the old MS Office 2011 I'm leaving behind.

I am giving my old computer to a relative and I would like for them to have access to MS Office 2011. I know that the license is in my name when Office boots up, so I wanted to clarify the process before starting. I retain the original product key for MS Office 2011, which is printed on the back of the CD installer along with "FPP".

I found a few guides on how to remove the license on the old computer, but I had some questions about the process before removing it and attempting to re-assigning the license to the new user.

First, should I ensure MS Office 2019 is set up with all of my transferred MS Office 2011 files on the new computer before modifying the old MS Office 2011 program? I would presume the answer is "yes, obviously" but I want to make sure there won't be any issues with moving my Word/Excel files over from 2011 to 2019 (file conversion issues?).

Second, I also presume that once I've ensured my files show up properly on my new computer in MS Office 2019 that it is safe to fully delete all of my Word/Excel files from my old computer (not uninstalling the program, just deleting the documents and spreadsheets etc). This is correct?

Third, and most importantly, I've found some guides on how to remove the license from MS Office 2011 using a license removal tool from the Microsoft support website and then how to activate Office 2011 again from the Microsoft support website, but I wanted to ensure it was really as simple as giving the new user the MS Office 2011 product key and letting them enter in their email & etc info. Does removing the license from the old computer actually allow it to be added again under a new user, or when my relative types in the original product key would it show up with my name again? Plus, since MS Office 2011 is so old, would it even be able to activate once more or would there be issues? From what I found online it should simply open as long as I have the product key, but I'm very nervous about the process and wanted to ask for some technical expertise before proceeding.

If anyone has any answers to these questions, I would be most appreciative. Thank you

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  1. Jim G 134K Reputation points MVP Volunteer Moderator
    2020-12-27T01:17:29+00:00

    Hi CG

    Please give some thought to getting an Office 365 subscription instead of the stand-alone version of office 2019 - at least until Office 2022 comes out in a few months. The stand-alone version of 2019 lacks all of the new features that 2022 will have. It seems like a waste to spend that much only to be 3 years behind on a brand new Mac. Why not subscribe monthly until the new version comes out and then buy the stand-alone? A LOT of new features have been introduced since 2019 was released.

    Do not uninstall or remove Office 2011 from your old Mac. Office 2011 activation ended October 2017. If you attempt to re-use a previously activated product key, you will likely discover you can't. Occasionally someone gets a support person to give them a new key by calling, but that's rare. If you want to remove your name from the basic setup, go to Word > Preferences and change the user information there.

    You should move the Microsoft User Data folder from your old Mac to the new one. It goes into the Documents folder. Outlook 2019 will look for your data on the first run. If you skip import on the first run, just use File > Import. Don't repeat the process, though, or you'll wind up with double everything. Once everything is imported, you can delete the old Microsoft User Data folder.

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  1. Jim G 134K Reputation points MVP Volunteer Moderator
    2021-01-15T19:15:16+00:00

    That's correct. You can browse through the folder in Finder if you want to first, but you should be able to trash it.

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  2. Anonymous
    2021-01-15T05:58:29+00:00

    Oh! I should be fine then: I don't actually use the Outlook program on the computer. While I use a Microsoft email account, I have only ever used it online at outlook.live.com (and via my iPhone linked email). I hadn't even entered the product key in the original Office Outlook 2011 program on my old com. Since all of my data is stored online (contacts, emails, calendars, etc), I presume I don't have to do anything with the old Microsoft User Data folder then?

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  3. Jim G 134K Reputation points MVP Volunteer Moderator
    2021-01-13T14:52:51+00:00

    Hi

    It's good to hear that install went smoothly.

    The Microsoft User Data folder has all your Outlook accounts, settings, contacts, email, calendar info, etc. It doesn't have your documents unless you specifically saved them to that folder. Once your old Outlook stuff has been imported into Outlook 2019, you don't need that folder anymore. Office 2019 doesn't use that folder.

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  4. Anonymous
    2021-01-13T08:37:09+00:00

    Thank you so much for your thorough reply! I apologize for my late response but I do appreciate your swift response to my query, particularly since I recognize your name from my browsing of this website during my prior research. I appreciated your clear and informative responses to other user's questions and several have helped me with other issues I had.

    I weighed the pros/cons and opted for MS Office 2019 for simplicity's sake. I'm not sure what features MS Office 2021/2022 will have, but I can live without them if it means getting a cheaper program immediately that is old enough to have most of its kinks fixed. The timing just didn't work out for me with the future release date (and I'd rather not pay a temporary subscription charge while I wait), though my wallet is fairly happy with my decision, lol.

    I did take your advice in part: I will leave Office 2011 untouched on my old Mac and simply change the Preferences so that my name isn't attached to new files generated on the old computer. The set up for MS Office 2019 was very smooth with a download straight onto my new MacBook, and I'm currently testing by just manually moving over some Word docs and Excel spreadsheets to ensure all the settings look good and open properly (I am manually fixing Compatibility mode by opening old Word docs and selecting File > Convert Document, but I'm not very worried as it is a work in progress).

    I do have a follow up question however: Is there a specific reason to move the Microsoft User Data folder if I didn't personalize settings in Word/Excel? Everything seems to move over well enough by just transferring my Documents folder (where I keep Word docs and spreadsheets saved), so I'm not sure if there is something specific in that folder that I need.

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