activate without adding a payment method

Question

I want to activate Microsoft 365 without adding a payment method.

I have a Product Key.

Answer 1

Hello Lilyana J,

Welcome to Microsoft Community.

I am a Microsoft user just like you, I hope you are doing well.

If you have Microsoft 365 product key, you need to redeem the product key to your Microsoft account in order to install and activate Office on your PC. The redemption process shouldn't require a payment method but if you are prompted to, please specify at which point you are prompted to enter a payment method.

To redeem the Office 365 product key:

Step 1: Go to www.office.com/setup or Microsoft365.com/setup.

Step 2: Sign in with your Microsoft account, or create one if you don't have one.

Step 3: Enter your product key, without hyphens, if prompted.

Step 4: Follow the prompts to finish the redemption process.

Once you have redeemed the product key to your Microsoft account, you can then install Office 365 by signing in https://office.com/myaccount on the PC.

You will find Office 365, click install. Once you have successfully completed installation, you need to sign in your Microsoft account in any Office app to activate Office.

Find guidance to install Office: https://support.microsoft.com/office/4414eaaf-0478-48be-9c42-23adc4716658

Source: https://support.microsoft.com/office/0a82e5ae-739e-4b92-a6f4-2ec780c185db

Please let me know if you need more assistance.

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Warm Regards

Answer 2

I too am having trouble activating a Office 365 renewal without agreeing to "Recurring Billing"

You state, "The redemption process shouldn't require a payment method, but if you are prompted to, please specify at which point you are prompted to enter a payment method."

Once I enter the product key the next and only step is to enter recurring billing details.

I have been able to renew annually in the past without setting up recurring billing.

How do I go about this now please?

Answer 3

I have the same problem. Is there a response?

Answer 4

I ended up activating and entering card details to move forward, then went into account and checked "cancel auto renew" option.

Then removed the card details from the account.

I prefer not to have my card details stored anywhere.

Answer 5

Hi, Microsoft will not allow you to setup Microsoft 365 without a payment method. If it is a trial period Microsoft will take a payment for a year. You can then turn off recurring billing within the trial period and Microsoft will refund the payment at the end of the trial period. Turn off recurring billing well in ADVANCE of the end of the trial period.