retrieve product key for office 365

Dan:

FYI, searching the forum for possible answers is good. But if you do not find an existing answer, it is MUCH better for you to start a new question. At the top of the page click on the "Participate" button and "ask a question".   If you tag your new issue onto an existing question that has been marked answered, very few people will look at it.  I am replying because I'm still on the email list for the old question.

What is the same?

Did you buy a separate license for Office, or did it "come with" the computer?  Guessing, it sounds like "came with" is your problem. In that case take a look at this subpge of the MS Support "install" pages:

https://support.office.com/en-us/article/Activate-Office-on-a-brand-new-PC-5bd38f38-db92-448b-a982-ad170b1e187e?ui=en-US&rs=en-US&ad=US

I have the same problem, but I am installing the Office 365 for the first time. I purchased it together with my Dell computer at the Best Buy store of Miami Plantation.

I am guessing that you, or your daughter, have not actually used it yet. In that case the link to contact MS support on the page Anthony linked you to probably won't help. That is to general MS support.  You would be better served contacting the MS Support Billing department in the link provided by  Mayra Aqu

on June 12.  They are probably the only group that can help you. And frankly, I doubt they will, sorry.  What you are going to have to ask them to do is cancel the old product key and issue you a new one. The problem is. to the best of my knowledge, the front line support people that you initially talk to do NOT have that authority. When they say no, YOU will have to ask them to transfer you to a supervisor and repeat the whole story.  IF that happens, the problem is being transferred to the "right" person. And that is like getting winning lottery ticket.

<hint> this next part is not "politically correct" </hint>

Bottom line is the "bottom line". MS has your money, that is all they care about.  MS support tends to treat the situation this way. You went to the bank (MS) and withdrew a $100 bill (the key) which you then CLAIM to have lost. Do you expect the bank to give you another $100? Not likely to happen. The burden of proof is on you. Which is why the only way you can make it work is if THEY can find the product key issued to you and cancel it. That way they are not out any money, but I expect them to say the system does not allow them to retrieve that information.

Hint: The first thing you should do when you contact support is ask for a trouble ticket number. This clues support that you are not totally clueless, and the support person is SUPPOSED to record information about your conversation in the trouble ticket system. The theory is that when you get handed off, the next person can read it. Rarely works that way, but is still worth the effort.

Hint: go into this process with patience. Similar experiences reported her suggest you can  expect a lot of run-around, they will say they can't help you and transfer you. Back and forth between the same useless support "groups" ... <sigh>. They may offer to call back, and then don't. If you use the phone, expect that they will "accidentally" disconnect your call.  Not pretty, but all reported experience

Hint:  Personally I prefer to use the "online chat" form of contact to MS support rather than phone support (PS we are in the same generation).  I find it has a several of advantages. For example, since most support is outsourced to the lower bidder (in the 3rd world, lowest minimum wage) English is the 2 or 3 (or more) language they speak. They are good linguists, but dealing with an accent over the phone can be ... "interesting" (as in the Chinese curse).  The other main advantage is the online chat gives you a TIMESTAMPED transcript of (all) your conversation(s!) with MS.  This can prove handy when you complain to the BBB, a public ombudsman or simply post the whole transcript in an angry blog (I've seen it done) post to complain about the quality of support you received.

Good luck (you are going to need it) please let us know how it turns out, either way.

Hi Paul,

If you lost your product key, the good thing is you can still retrieve it. Please refer to this article for the steps on how to retrieve your Office 365 product key.

We're looking forward to your reply.