new computer came with pre-installed 1-year Microsoft Office Sub. Because i already had a family subscription it said I could continue using it or install the personal sub later. Now my family sub is deactivated and i cant activate the pre-installed. it

Question

i purchased a computer with office 365 pre-installed. I tried to activate it, but choices were:

• stay with family sub (recommended)

change to personal at later time

if do not want to wait, contact support. After days of trying I finally got to support in chat. She told me i needed a product key to activate. But i do not have a product key.

I contacted the seller and they sent me a youtube video tutorial. But the 1st window that shows pre-installed prompts does not pop up?

So frustrating, because i wanted to change and activate my pre-installed from day 1, Now I do see how to?

Anyone know how to help me? Please... and Thank you!

Answer 1

Hi Jessica. Can you check which account is signed in on the Office apps?

Microsoft officially supports signing into Office with the account that has an active subscription. If your family subscription ended, you need to sign in with your personal subscription account to activate it. If the activation prompt doesn’t appear, go to account.microsoft.com/services, sign in with your personal account, and use the “Install Office” option to link it to your device.

Answer 2

Thanks for checking that. One quick question first. Did the seller confirm that the computer included a full 1-year Microsoft 365 license, not a trial?

If your Services page only shows an expired Family plan, your account does not have any 1-year subscription linked to it. Pre-installed Office on new PCs needs either a product key or a digital license that the manufacturer adds to your account. If neither shows up, the system cannot activate the subscription. The next step is to ask the seller for the product key or written proof of the included 1-year license.

Once you have that, go to microsoft365.com/setup and redeem it under your Microsoft account. If the seller cannot provide a key or proof, the recommendation is to go back to the retailer for resolution because activation depends on what the device actually shipped with.