Access to software help

Question

I am a director of a very small library. We were granted the lifetime 2016 microsoft office pro software through TechSoup in 2018. I am installing new computers and I can't get those licenses back. How do I get them? Microsoft Windows 11 doesn't recognize our email as a business email, although it is, so I can't get into Microsoft M365 admin center. That's where I was redirected when trying to open the Volume Licensing Center, which apparently is no longer a thing. The Volume Licensing Center is where my product codes were.

Answer 1

Hi ValDist, 

Thank you very much for sharing the details of your situation. 

Before we go any further, I’d like to gently clarify that this is a user-to-user support forum. I’m not part of the Microsoft billing, licensing, or nonprofit support team, so I don’t have the ability to directly access your organization’s license records, recover product keys, or make changes to your Microsoft/TechSoup licensing account. That said, I truly hope I can help review your situation, offer some guidance, and support you in finding the right next steps as best as possible. 

From what you described, it sounds like the main issue is not necessarily that your Office 2016 licenses are gone. Rather, the old Volume Licensing Service Center, where those product keys were previously available, has been retired, and Microsoft has moved volume licensing access into the Microsoft 365 admin center. 

For organizations that received Microsoft software through TechSoup, the licenses and product keys were typically associated with the organization account, the original TechSoup request, and/or the Volume Licensing account used at the time. If the email address you are using now is not being recognized as a Microsoft business or organizational account, or if it does not have the correct Volume Licensing permissions, you may not be able to see those previous Office 2016 product keys in the Microsoft 365 admin center. 

Because the licenses were granted through TechSoup, I would strongly recommend contacting TechSoup Support directly. They should be able to help review your original donation/order information and guide you on how to regain access to the Microsoft licensing details, or direct you to the correct Microsoft nonprofit/licensing support path. 

• You can refer to TechSoup Support here: https://support.techsoup.org/hc/en-us/ 

This link is shared by community members for your convenience. It points to a third-party site that is not managed or verified by Microsoft. We can’t guarantee the quality, safety, or suitability of any content or software found there. Please review carefully and make sure you understand any potential risks before using it. 

When contacting TechSoup, it may help to provide your organization details, original TechSoup email, any order/license numbers, the approximate 2018 grant date, and explain that the keys were previously in VLSC but are no longer accessible after the Microsoft 365 admin center migration. 

• As an alternative option, you may also refer to Contact Volume Licensing Support | Microsoft Learn

I hope this information is helpful. Should you have any further questions or need additional assistance, please feel free to share them in the comment below. I'm very happy to help.   

Thank you again for your patience and understanding. 

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