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Office Suite Versions

Danielle Kelly Levine 0 Reputation points
2026-01-14T20:27:26.9466667+00:00

I recently purchased a product key of Microsoft Office Home and Business 2021. My previous version was Office 2016 Professional Plus. The new key isn't working because it keeps defaulting to the Professional Plus version. I have fully uninstalled all versions, but the new version continues to download Professional Plus 2021 with the key not working. Please assist.

Microsoft 365 and Office | Other
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  1. Harold Milan 17,195 Reputation points Independent Advisor
    2026-01-14T21:11:48.15+00:00

    Hi,

    What you’re experiencing is a common Office licensing conflict: the system keeps detecting remnants of Office Professional Plus (volume license) and therefore installs the wrong edition even when you purchased Office Home & Business 2021 (retail).

    What I suggest is:

    Run the SaRA Tool https://aka.ms/SaRA-officeUninstall Choose Uninstall Office → remove everything → restart

    Install Office ONLY from your Microsoft account https://account.microsoft.com/services Click Install Office under Office Home & Business 2021.
    Do not use any old installer or setup file. Otherwise it will reinstall Professional Plus again.

    I hope this helps!

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