Don't remember email address used to activate Microsoft Office

Anonymous
2013-11-19T04:12:13+00:00

Hi,

After I installed the new Windows 8.1 update, my Microsoft Office 365 had to be reinstalled.  I reinstalled Office, which then asked that I activate it.  I had my product key, which I entered when prompted and got the green check to move on to the next step.  The next step was to enter the email address that Office was activated with.  I don't remember activating Office with an email address OR I don't remember what the email address was.

How can I retrieve the email address so that I can complete activation?

Side note:  I think it's absolutely absurd that requesting your email address or username for any Microsoft product is so difficult.  I have read several forums with people having the same issue and wanting one simple thing - their username/email address that is linked to the product that they paid for.  Microsoft needs to find a way for their customers to have a way to get this information without having to post in a forum.

Thanks.

Microsoft 365 and Office | Install, redeem, activate | For home | Windows

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Anonymous
2016-12-07T16:13:47+00:00

I think poor Girish has been beaten up enough.  If you carefully read his post and follow the link, http://commerce.microsoft.com/help , it does indeed take you to a very helpful site to resolve your issue, at least in 2016.

What you need to know:

  1. If you don't have an MS account created, create one.
  2. Save this account information (user name and password) so you don't have to go through this misery again.
  3. The email address you use doesn't have to be a Microsoft email address, feel free to use your standard address.
  4. If it was a retail purchase, know where you bought it and from what country.

What I found;

  1. Once on the help site
  2. Click on Manage Subscription
  3. Click on Manage My Microsoft Subscriptions
  4. Click on Contact Support
  5. On the Contact page, click Get Started
  6. Restate your problem, you'll get a bunch of stuff that's not useful.  In the chat box, scroll down and click on Talk to Someone.
  7. Surprisingly, you'll not have to restate your issue, just confirm that their understand is correct and proceed with the chat.

Just be prepared to answer what they ask and you should be good to go.

Worked for me,

Good luck

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  1. Anonymous
    2015-09-07T07:14:28+00:00

    It is a pity that Bill Gates and his company have resorted to tricks milking people out of money to accumulate to his billions still not satisfied I said let me be a legal person buy my office as a good fool that I am and what did I get in return I cannot reinstall because I don't know which email I registered it with.

    SHAMEEEEEEEE

    SHAMEEEEEEEEEEEEE

    SHAMEEEEEEEEEEEEEE

    MICROSOFT PLEASE IS THERE NO WAY IN THIS TO SUE MICROSOFT?

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  2. Anonymous
    2015-10-22T15:48:28+00:00

    I've had this problem today and spent over an hr with CS chat online going back and forth without getting anywhere and telling me that she cant give me the email address that I had set up. I tried again and got someone else different, and guess what... He give me my email address that I had setted for Office 365, it took all of 6 mins!

    I guess it just depends on who you talk to?

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  3. Anonymous
    2015-10-22T17:24:28+00:00

    I guess it just depends on who you talk to?

    You got lucky, your experience was atypical of what we see in this forum. For future reference ...

    Oh yes, it totally depends on who you talk to.  The front line "script parrots" you first talk to have very limited skills and very limited permission to do "advanced stuff".  They just walk you through a prepared script, which handles most of the "normal'/simple problems. 

    For more advanced solutions you have to get transferred to second level / "supervisor" help. They have technical skills and permission to do "bigger things".  The problem is, there are so many of them that you still have to get LUCKY and get transferred to the right individual.

    So that makes MS support very much a random event.  The key to getting MS support to work for you if the person you are talking to can't, is to ask to be transferred to a supervisor.  And keep asking to be transferred till your problem is fixed.  Plan on spending several hours talking to them. And EXPECT to have your call "accidentally" disconnected (yes, they just hang up on people).  Just call back again and start over.

    There are 2 ways to mitigate the hang up problem.

    One is to ask them to open a trouble ticket, and get the ticket number.  This way they have to record info online at MS. So when you call back, you can refer to the ticket number. That gives you a little head start, bypassing a little of the repetitive carp. 

    The other way is to use online chat rather than phone support.  The key advantage is that it automatically provides you with a timestamped transcript. That way, when you reconnect you can simply copy and paste previous questions and replies when they repeat stuff you've already done.  And the transcript is handy when you contact an ombudsman outside of MS to get help. Or when you are so P.O.'d that you publish a rant about the service you didn't get.

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  4. Anonymous
    2015-11-03T22:46:01+00:00

    Could you give an updated road map or a direct link to where I could get help to retrieve the microsoft account details?  

    Just don't follow possibly due to changed layout, etc since your article.  

    Many thanks.

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