Claim Office Home and Business 2024 at no cost - Only paid options available

BW 0 Reputation points
2026-09-01T02:37:35.25+00:00

I purchased a new microsoft surface pro and when I activated/set-up the device, made the mistake of purchasing M365 family plan, which I do not need. I want to claim the Office Home and Business "at no cost" as I should be able to and just simply use word, excel, powerpoint in their simplest forms.

When selecting the "Claim" option in the ribbon from any office application for "Claim your Office Home and Business 2024 today at no cost", it navigates me to Japanese version of the Microsoft store. This is strange, seeing as I am in the U.S.. After selecting the prompt to use the U.S. option, there is no option to download the free version of office 2024 to use the basic applications. This is asinine that I would need to pay an annual subscription to use the most basic microsoft applications for personal use.

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Microsoft 365 and Office | Install, redeem, activate | For home | Windows
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  1. Kai-H 26,385 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator
    2026-09-01T08:42:31.54+00:00

    Hi, BW

    The message is not a general offer for every Surface. This Office Home & Business 2024 conversion offer is intended for certain Office-preinstalled PCs sold in Japan, which explains why the Claim button opens the Japanese Store; changing the Store to the United States will not transfer that Japanese entitlement.

    Here are some suggestions you can try:

    Check the Surface receipt or original product listing for wording such as “Office Home & Business 2024 included.” If the device was sold in the U.S. without that wording, the banner may have been incorrectly displayed and Office 2024 is not included free.

    If the seller advertised Office as included, contact the seller and request a U.S. replacement or refund. The device may be a Japanese-market model or have the wrong regional Office package installed.

    Contact Microsoft Support under Surface > Surface Pro, and provide the Surface serial number, purchase receipt, and the screenshots. Ask support to verify the device’s sales region and bundled Office entitlement. Reinstalling Office or changing Windows region will not correct a mismatched device license.

    Since Microsoft 365 Family was purchased accidentally, turn off recurring billing and request a refund from the Microsoft account’s order history if the purchase is eligible. Avoid canceling it until important OneDrive files are backed up.

    Please be advised that this is a user-to-user support forum. Moderators and contributors, including external Microsoft employees, are not allowed to directly interfere with Microsoft product features or access back-end systems. Our role is limited solely to providing technical guidance on reported incidents, requests, or ideas.   

    Thank you for your patience in reading, I hope this information has been helpful to you. 

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