I purchased Office 2016 ten years years ago and activated it and have been successfully using it the past years. I turned my computer on a couple days ago, and I am getting a message that my Office ha

Question

I purchased Office 2016 ten years years ago and activated it and have been successfully using it the past years. I turned my computer on today, and I am getting a message that my Office has been dea-activated.

Answer 1

See https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/servicing/os/microsoft-365/kb5002907-optional-update-for-out-of-date-microsoft-365-apps-installations .

Answer 2

Hello,

I’m afraid this appears to be an emerging issue due to KB5002907 update. I’m already seeing multiple users reporting the same problem here on Microsoft Q&A and on Reddit.

At this time, Microsoft has not officially acknowledged the issue or published a workaround or mitigation. If that changes, I can update the information here.

For now, reinstalling or reactivating can work.

Here is one example of the same issue being reported:

https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/answers/questions/6014076/kb5002907-is-nuking-valid-licenses-for-office-2016

Answer 3

I had this happen to 2 of my 2016 stations yesterday (first time I recall this occuring). I was able to reactivate with the product KEYS though. Something unknown to me happened to spark this issue; I have a few more machines on 2016 and will monitor them for this issue now.

Answer 4

Which operating system are you running? If you have Windows, there is no reason why you couldn't use Office 2016. Reactivation may be required after a major hardware upgrade on your PC, though. For more on activating a one-time purchase license, see https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/activation/activate-microsoft-perpetual-products-using-the-product-activation-portal .

Answer 5

Hi Michael Holdstock,

I'm sorry to hear that your Office 2016 installation suddenly became deactivated after working normally for many years.

Could you let us know the exact activation message or error code you are seeing? If possible, please also share a screenshot with any personal information removed.

In the meantime, please check whether Office is signed in with the same Microsoft account that was originally used to activate the product. You can do this by opening any Office app and going to File > Account to review the activation status and account information.

It is also worth noting that Office 2016 has reached end of support (EOL). While this does not normally deactivate a properly licensed installation, Microsoft no longer provides security updates or support for Office 2016, and activation or licensing issues may be more difficult to troubleshoot than with currently supported versions.