Transferring Office 2021 license to another laptop

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Transferring Office 2021 license to another laptop

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My old laptop is irrecoverable. It is now a brick. I want to transfer my Office 2021 license to my new laptop but keep getting an invalid activation key error. When I tried to activate the software over the phone, I keep getting directed to the website and never get any further.

I've already removed my old device frrom my account so I am totally stumped.

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2 answers

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Answer 1

Stefan Blom 353.5K MVP Volunteer Moderator

I have Microsoft Office Home & Business 2021. I was under the impression that the license could be transferred to a new device if the old one is dead.

You should be able to install Office on your new PC using your associated account at https://account.microsoft.com/services .

If you run into activation issues, see https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/activation/activate-microsoft-perpetual-products-using-the-product-activation-portal .

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Answer 2

DaveM121 936.1K Independent Advisor

When you first activated Office that licence should have become associated to your Microsoft Account as a digital licence online, you can no longer use the product key to activate Office and it is from your account online that you can re-install Office without the need for a product key:

https://account.microsoft.com/services/

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2026-09-08T15:29:22.6666667+00:00

Maybe because I bought Office from an authorized dealer, not from MS directly, the digital license does not appear in my account. My devices (new and old) were listed but not the license under subscription. I deleted the old device (saw somewhere I needed to do that) but still can't install Office on the new device.
DaveM121 936.1K Reputation points Independent Advisor

2026-09-08T15:35:45.2266667+00:00

Thank you for that information.

Even if you purchased Office from a 3rd party retailer, that should have become associated to your Microsoft account as a digital licence, if your Office licence is not listed on your account on that link, do you know what version of Office you purchased, is that Office Home, Office Standard or Office Pro Plus... etc.
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2026-09-20T18:23:42.2433333+00:00

Hi DaveM121 - Sorry for the delay in responding. I've had too many distractions. I have Microsoft Office Home & Business 2021. I was under the impression that the license could be transferred to a new device if the old one is dead.