"Unlicensed Product" means Office cannot find a valid licence for the copy that is running. To fix it in Windows 11, sign in with the account that owns the licence, check that any Microsoft 365 subscription is active, remove duplicate Office installs, correct the date and time, clear old licences with ospp.vbs or OLicenseCleanup, then repair Office and reactivate.
Written by the Softkeyworld technical team · Updated October 2026
The red or yellow bar reading "UNLICENSED PRODUCT", or "Most features of Word have been disabled because it hasn't been activated", is one of the most common Office problems we help with. It usually appears straight after a new laptop setup, a Windows reinstall, a Microsoft 365 renewal lapse, or installing a perpetual version such as Office 2024 on a PC that already had something else.
The good news is that it is almost never a faulty licence. In nearly every case, Office is either looking at the wrong licence or holding several at once. The eight fixes below are in the order we work through them, from quickest to most thorough. They apply to Microsoft 365, Office 2024, 2021, 2019 and 2016 on Windows 11, and equally on Windows 10.
Key takeaways
- The most common cause is two Office products installed side by side, often a preinstalled Microsoft 365 trial alongside a perpetual licence.
- Check File > Account first. It tells you which product Office thinks it is and which account is signed in.
-
cscript ospp.vbs /dstatuslists every installed licence./unpkeyremoves the ones you do not want. - The old Support and Recovery Assistant (SaRA) has been retired. Its Office activation troubleshooter now runs in the Get Help app.
Why Office shows "Unlicensed Product"
| Cause | Typical sign | Fix below |
|---|---|---|
| Wrong or no account signed in | "We couldn't find any Office products" when signing in | Fix 1 |
| Microsoft 365 subscription expired or payment failed | Banner appears on a set date, often after a trial | Fix 2 |
| Multiple Office versions installed | Two Office entries in Installed apps; activation prompt keeps returning | Fix 3 |
| Wrong date, time or time zone | Activation fails with certificate or connection errors | Fix 4 |
| Network, proxy or firewall blocking activation | Spinner then "something went wrong" | Fix 5 |
| Leftover or conflicting licences | Office reports a product you no longer use | Fixes 6 and 7 |
| Damaged installation | Apps crash or the Account page is blank | Fix 8 |
Before you start, open Word, go to File > Account and note what it shows under "Product Information". If it names a product you did not buy, such as "Microsoft 365" when you bought Office 2024, the cause is almost certainly a duplicate install or a leftover licence.
Fix 1: Sign in with the account that owns the licence
Microsoft 365 and retail Office versions activate against the Microsoft account used to redeem them. In File > Account, select Sign out, close all Office apps, reopen Word and sign in with the correct account. A personal Outlook.com address and a work or school account are different identities, and signing in with the wrong one is one of the most frequent mistakes we see. If you are unsure which account was used, check our software download and activation page for how keys are redeemed.
Fix 2: Check your Microsoft 365 subscription
If you use Microsoft 365, sign in at account.microsoft.com and open Services & subscriptions. Expired subscriptions appear under "Cancelled subscriptions". A failed card payment or an ended trial puts Office into reduced-functionality mode, and you can still open and print documents but not edit them. Renewing, or redeeming a new subscription to the same account, clears the banner after Office is restarted. Microsoft's support article on Unlicensed Product and activation errors in Office follows the same order.
If you have decided to move away from a subscription to a one-time purchase, our comparison of Microsoft 365 vs perpetual Office explains the trade-offs. Microsoft 365 suits people who want cloud storage and always-current apps. A perpetual licence suits those who want to pay once.
Fix 3: Remove duplicate Office installations
New Windows 11 laptops often ship with a preinstalled Microsoft 365 trial. If you then install Office 2024 or 2021, both sets of licences sit on the PC and Office may pick the expired trial. To check:
- Open Settings > Apps > Installed apps and search for "Office" and "Microsoft 365".
- If you see more than one suite (for example "Microsoft 365 - en-us" and "Microsoft Office LTSC Professional Plus 2024"), uninstall the one you do not have a licence for.
- Also remove the preinstalled "Microsoft 365 (Office)" Store app if present and you do not use it.
- Restart the PC, open Word, and check File > Account again.
If an uninstall fails or leaves fragments behind, Microsoft's "Uninstall Office" tool, available from the Get Help app or Microsoft's uninstall support article, removes it completely.
Fix 4: Correct the date, time and time zone
Activation relies on secure connections that fail if the clock is wrong. Go to Settings > Time & language > Date & time, turn on Set time automatically and Set time zone automatically, then select Sync now. This matters most on PCs that have had a CMOS battery replaced or have been restored from an old image.
Fix 5: Run the activation troubleshooter in Get Help
Microsoft has retired the standalone Microsoft Support and Recovery Assistant. Its Office scenarios now run in the Get Help app built into Windows 11. Open Get Help, search for "Microsoft 365 activation troubleshooter", and follow the prompts on the affected PC. It checks for conflicting licences, signs out cached identities and attempts reactivation.
If you look after several PCs, or the affected machine is remote, Microsoft also offers a command-line version of Get Help that can run the same activation scenario from a script. That saves walking each user through the app, and it produces logs you can review afterwards if a machine still refuses to activate.
At this stage it is also worth running Word once as administrator (right-click > Run as administrator). Temporarily disable third-party firewall or antivirus software, and turn off any manual proxy under Settings > Network & internet > Proxy. Corporate VPNs and DNS filters can block Microsoft's activation endpoints.
Fix 6: Remove old licences with ospp.vbs
For volume (LTSC) and retail keys, the Office Software Protection Platform script shows exactly which licences are installed. Open Command Prompt as administrator and change to the Office folder. Office 2016, 2019, 2021, 2024 and Microsoft 365 all use the Office16 folder.
- 64-bit Office:
cd "C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office16". For 32-bit Office on 64-bit Windows, usecd "C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Office\Office16". - Run
cscript ospp.vbs /dstatus. Each licence block shows LICENSE NAME, LICENSE STATUS and "Last 5 characters of installed product key". - For every licence you do not own, such as an old trial, a grace-period entry or a previous version, run
cscript ospp.vbs /unpkey:XXXXX, replacing XXXXX with those last five characters. - Install your valid key with
cscript ospp.vbs /inpkey:YOUR-25-CHARACTER-KEY, then activate withcscript ospp.vbs /act. - Run
/dstatusagain. You want a single entry showing "---LICENSED---".
A status of "---OOB_GRACE---" means the key is installed but not yet activated. If online activation is refused, telephone activation is the fallback for many retail and volume keys. Our Office telephone activation guide shows the process, which works the same way for later versions. Note that Microsoft 365 subscription licences are not always listed by ospp.vbs, so use Fix 7 for those.
Fix 7: Reset activation with OLicenseCleanup
When licences and cached sign-ins are tangled, Microsoft's documented reset is the cleanest option. Its guide to resetting Office activation state provides the OLicenseCleanup script.
- Close all Office apps. Download OLicenseCleanup.zip from the Microsoft article and extract it.
- Right-click OLicenseCleanup.vbs and run it with elevated permissions. It removes installed Office licences and cached account information.
- Open Control Panel > Credential Manager > Windows Credentials and remove entries that mention Office or MicrosoftOffice16.
- Restart, open Word, and either sign in with the licensed account or enter your product key when prompted.
The same article covers registry locations under HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Office\16.0\Common\Identity and ...\Common\Licensing for manual clean-up. Back up the registry before editing it.
Fix 8: Repair or reinstall Office
If the licence is clean but Office still misbehaves, repair it. Go to Settings > Apps > Installed apps, select the three dots next to your Office product, then Modify. Try Quick Repair first. It is offline and takes a few minutes. If that fails, run Online Repair, which is effectively a reinstall and needs an internet connection. Then install the latest updates through File > Account > Update Options > Update Now.
If you are starting again from scratch, our Office 2024 Pro Plus download, install and activation guide takes you through a clean installation with the correct edition.
Reading ospp.vbs status messages
The LICENSE STATUS line in /dstatus output tells you where you stand at a glance:
| Status | Meaning | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| ---LICENSED--- | Activated and valid | Nothing, unless it is a second, unwanted product |
| ---OOB_GRACE--- | Key installed, not yet activated | Run /act, or use telephone activation |
| ---NOTIFICATIONS--- | Grace period expired; reduced functionality | Remove with /unpkey if not yours; otherwise activate |
| ERROR CODE: 0xC004F074 | Volume licence cannot reach a KMS host | Common on ex-corporate PCs; remove the key and install your own |
| "No installed product keys detected" | No key-based licence present | Normal for Microsoft 365; sign in, or install your key |
How to stop it happening again
- Keep one Office suite per PC. Remove trials and older versions before installing a new one.
- Record which account and key you used, and store the key somewhere safe outside the PC.
- Match the installer to the licence. A Professional Plus key needs a Professional Plus installation; a Home and Business key will not activate Pro Plus.
- Watch subscription renewal dates if you use Microsoft 365, and keep payment details current.
Frequently asked questions
Can I still use Office when it says Unlicensed Product?
You can open, view and print documents, but editing and creating new files are disabled until Office is activated. Your existing files are not affected.
Why did Office become unlicensed after a Windows 11 update?
Major updates or resets can clear cached sign-ins and tokens. Signing back in (Fix 1) usually restores activation. If not, check for a duplicate install (Fix 3).
Does ospp.vbs work for Microsoft 365?
It works for product-key licences. Microsoft 365 subscriptions use a newer account-based licensing model, so the OLicenseCleanup reset in Fix 7 is the better tool for them.
Will reinstalling Office delete my documents?
No. Documents stored in your user folders or OneDrive are separate from the program files. Back them up anyway before major changes.
Where is SaRA now?
The consumer Support and Recovery Assistant has been retired. Its Office troubleshooters are available through the Get Help app in Windows, and IT administrators can use the Get Help command-line tool.
What if none of these fixes work?
Collect the output of cscript ospp.vbs /dstatus and a screenshot of File > Account. If you bought your key from us, contact our support team with them and we will help you resolve it.
Our recommendation
Work through the fixes in order. Most cases are solved by Fix 1 or Fix 3, and the ospp.vbs and OLicenseCleanup steps handle nearly all of the rest. If you have found there is no valid licence on the PC at all, perhaps because a trial ended or a previous key belonged to an old employer, a one-time perpetual licence avoids the problem returning when a subscription lapses. Office 2024 Pro Plus for Windows includes Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, Access and Publisher. Remove any other Office suites before installing it.
Related reading
| Resource | Why read it |
|---|---|
| Office 2024 Pro Plus install and activation guide | Clean installation after removing old versions |
| Office telephone activation | Fallback when online activation is refused |
| Microsoft 365 vs perpetual Office | Decide between subscription and one-time licence |