Key conflict

Question

I have Office 2019 purchased, installed and activated.  But, my surface still wants me to put in a code for Office 2016.  Initially, I used a key code for 2016 because I thought I still had one extra license. It said I used them all up.  So, I bought 2019 and have it installed, but my computer is still asking for a key code for 2016.  Do I need to uninstall and try to reinstall again? This problem is keeping me from using my licensed software.

Answer 1

All Office product keys are version (2016, 2019, 365 etc ) and bundle (Home, Home and Student, Professional etc) specific. A 2016 key can only activate 2016 etc.

If you have 2 unactivated copies of Office, the activation system WILL get confused if you try to activate the more recently installed one.

• Go to Control Panel > Programs and Features.
• Look through the list of installed programs
• If you find 2 versions/bundles uninstall the unwanted one
• Repair the required one

Answer 2

What is the exact message that you receive?

Note that if you do have duplicate versions of Office installed, you should uninstall the version(s) which you do not need.

Answer 3

Thank you.  It seemed to be a glitch asking for an Office 2016 key when we had 2019 installed.  We ran a troubleshooter program and it seems ti be fixed.  It is no longer telling us to put in a 2016 product key.  Thank you for your responses. I need to keep better track of my licenses.

Answer 4

Hi Glory

Thanks for participating in Microsoft Community, I'm Skypper G. I'm Independent advisor, let me help you with this.

If you have trouble activating your Office 2019 try the Activation Tool mentioned in the link below:

https://support.office.com/en-us/article/unlice...

If you have both products Office 2016 and 2019 these will cause conflicts between each other, please uninstall the Office you won't use.