Microsoft 365

Question

I want to use my Microsoft 365 on a second laptop that has an expiring licence, can I simply "share" and will it overwrite the expiring licence without problems

Answer 1

Sorry, I wasn't notified earlier of your last reply.

I hope this helps: Switch between Microsoft 365 subscriptions

You share your Microsoft 365 subscription with another person or another Microsoft account that you may own, not with another device. A device, like a computer, can have multiple individual accounts, each with unique sign-in credentials.

Share your Microsoft 365 Family subscription

"Do I uninstall the Personal license and then share a license from the Family?"

You can cancel an existing license (subscription) on your Microsoft account.

The software to install (the Microsoft 365 apps) is the same regardless of whether you are on a Microsoft 365 Family or a Microsoft 365 Personal plan. The license is for your account (accounts) or other family member accounts, not devices. If you so desire, you can uninstall Office and then reinstall using the link in your Microsoft account.

"Will all docs and emails etc be retained on the Personal laptop if I do so."

Your account, emails, and data will remain unchanged.

Do you have some other version of Office, other than Microsoft 365, installed on that computer?

Would someone please confirm that the software is the same? I've been on the family plan for many years.

Answer 2

Thanks Craig, but the second laptop has an existing 365 licence, can I just overwrite this? I don't want to keep paying for two when I am allowed additional 365 licences.

Kind regards

Hi Ewan, no. You need to cancel the existing 365 licence once closed uninstall it before installing your new subscription. I am not sure how you have two subscriptions? Are they associated with two different Microsoft Accounts? Not a good thing.

As Craig says you can install Office 365 Personal on all of your devices but only signed in on 5 at the same time. See: How sign in works in Office 365 - Office 365

If you purchased another instance of Microsoft 365, either from the Microsoft Store, or a Product Key from a third-party vendor you can install it over the existing subscription. This will extend the subscription. You extend the subscription up to 5 years. See the link posted by Craig.

Answer 3

Thanks Craig, but the second laptop has an existing 365 licence, can I just overwrite this? I dont want to keep paying for two when I am allowed additional 365 licences.

Kind regards

Check this out:

What happens if I add another Microsoft 365 for home subscription to my account?

"If you add thesameMicrosoft 365 subscription to your Microsoft account, you’ll have the same subscription benefits (same number of Microsoft 365 devices you can sign in to and the same amount of Skype minutes and OneDrive storage) as before. You're extending the amount of time for that subscription, not increasing the number of Microsoft 365 devices you can sign in to or amount of online storage you get. You can extend the duration of a Microsoft 365 subscription for up to 5 years."

"For example, if you use a Microsoft 365 Personal product key to renew, and you currently have a Microsoft 365 Family subscription, you'll be offered a choice to stay with Microsoft 365 Family subscription and receive less than a year of subscription benefits, since Microsoft 365 Family costs more, or you can switch to Microsoft 365 Personal."

The Microsoft 365 license applies to your account, not your devices. If you try to purchase a second Microsoft 365 subscription of the same type on a single account, the expiration date on a single license will be extended.

If you use more than one account, a Microsoft 365 Family subscription will save you a lot of money.

Answer 4

Thanks Craig, but the second laptop has an existing 365 licence, can I just overwrite this? I dont want to keep paying for two when I am allowed additional 365 licences.

Kind regards

Answer 5

Hi, and welcome to the Microsoft Community.

What kind of license is expiring on your second laptop?

Regarding Microsoft 365 and Office for Home:

"With Microsoft 365, you can install Office on all your devices and sign in to Office on five devices at the same time. This includes any combination of PCs, Macs, tablets, and phones."

Source: How sign in works in Microsoft 365

So sign into your Microsoft account on your second computer and install Microsoft 365. Go to acccount.microsoft.com, then to Services and Subscriptions > Microsoft 365 > Manage, and you will see this:

Also go to account.microsoft.com/devices and register your devices with your account.

I hope that helps. I'll do my best to answer any questions you may have.

Craig