Finding Microsoft Office 2021 product key

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[Kathy Stevens]

We use Microsoft Office Home and Business 2021 and have run into a problem with Outlook on one of our computers.

Somehow, we have managed to have

• Two calendars:
  • Calendar (This computer only) and
  • Calendar as well as
• Two sets of contacts:
  • Contacts (This computer only) and
  • Contacts

Our primary problem is that one of the calendars has stored appointments going back years and the other only a couple of months. And it is the one that goes back a couple of months that opens by default.

Our secondary problem is that when we click on the contacts icon the screen that opens has no data and we have to click on the other contact file to see the hundreds of contacts that we have  in the database.

We have tried to delete the useless calendar and contacts files by right clicking on the file under My Contacts or Calendar but the Delete Folder option is gray and will not remove the problematic item.

As a last resort we are considering exporting the useful calendar and contacts using Outlook’s Import/Export tool, reinstalling Office, setting up the new installation, and importing the exported files.

Our problem with reinstalling Microsoft Office Home and Business 2021 is that we have multiple licenses for the software and are not sure what product key and/or subscription is set up on the problematic computer.

Apparently, the product key is not stored on a computer after Office 2021 is setup.

Would appreciate any thought related to cleaning up the mess.  If all else fails we will have to purchase another copy of Office.

• This topic was modified 2 months, 2 weeks ago by Kathy Stevens.
• This topic was modified 2 months, 2 weeks ago by Kathy Stevens.

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Hi Kathy

Does this help for the second calendar

To delete a second calendar in Office 2021 (Outlook), navigate to “File” > “Info” > “Account Settings” > “Calendar” and then select the calendar you want to delete and click “Delete”

First it might be good to take a image of the computer

in case things  go wrong and you del the wrong Cal

 

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Kathy Stevens

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sudo

I do not see ““Calendar” after “Account Settings”/

But while in “Info” the thought came to me to simply “Remove” the two Email Accounts listed and then add them back.  Then “Import” the backup calendar and contacts.

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I found this online and it seems to work:

Press Windows + S to open the Windows PC search.
Type CMD and open a command line as administrator.
Use the command “wmic path SoftwareLicensingService get OA3xOriginalProductKey.”

Dell XPS17, 11th Gen Intel I7, 64gb RAM, Windows 11 Home 24H2

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Kathy Stevens

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Paul

We have already tried the, “Press Windows + S to open the Windows PC search” and typing, “CMD and open a command line as administrator” option without success.

As I mentioned earlier, it is our understanding that in Windows 10 & 11 Microsoft Office 2021’s product key is not retained after its installation is complete.

We have also used Belarc Advisor and SYSGeeker Technology’s DrKey to  try to discover Outlook’s Software License. Both failed.

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Sorry to hear that.  I tried my suggestion on my Windows 11 Home 23H2 PC and it coughed up my Office 2021 product key.  Fingers crossed that Rick Corbett’s suggestion works for you.

Paul

Dell XPS17, 11th Gen Intel I7, 64gb RAM, Windows 11 Home 24H2

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Kathy Stevens

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… or, from an elevated PowerShell console:

(Get-WmiObject -query ‘select * from SoftwareLicensingService’).OA3xOriginalProductKey

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Kathy Stevens

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I have now successfully recovered Microsoft Office product keys from three Windows 10 computers by opening Power Shell and then running “wmic path SoftwareLicensingService get OA3xOriginalProductKey”.

However, it has not work on a new HP Z2 Tower G9 Workstation running Windows 11 Pro Version 24H2.

It is possible that the problem with the Z2 Workstation is that Office 2021 was moved to it from a HP ENVY Desktop – 795-0050 running Windows 10 Professional using Laplink’s PCmover.

In any event, I have recovered the needed product key from the ENVY Desktop.

Now we will see if we can uninstall and then reinstall Office 2021 on the Z2 Workstation

Thanks all for your help.

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It has been an interesting time figuring out how to reinstall Microsoft Office 2021.

Just discovered that there is a difference between the Product Key that “ships with the software” and is used to install Office for the first time and the Activation Code (activation key) that is used to activate the software after installation.  And that an Activation Code may be linked to a specific computer or user account.

It appears that the code that is revealed when using PowerShell “wmic path SoftwareLicensingService get OA3xOriginalProductKey” is an Activation Code.

My conclusion is based on the fact that none of the “Product Keys” shipped with our Office software match the codes revealed using Power Shell,

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I give up.

After finding Product Keys and Activation Codes (activation keys) for our Microsoft Office 2021 licenses and multiple failed attempts to reinstall Office on a new (replacement) PC, I simply reached an impassable Wall.

The barriers to entrance included:

• Complexity (difficulty navigating) of the Microsoft website,
• Microsoft’s efforts to push users to Office 365, and
• An inability to disassociate the license from the old computer and assign it to the new PC.

From a time management standpoint my only option is to purchase and install a new copy of Microsoft Office Home & Business 2024.

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The key obtained by running wmic path SoftwareLicensingService get OA3xOriginalProductKey is your Windows product key*, not Office.

With modern Office versions, once you redeem the key to a Microsoft account, the key is then useless. You need to reactivate it by logging in with that Microsoft account.

* More specifically, the key that the device was shipped with, not necessarily the one you’re using. If you’ve upgraded from Home to Pro for example, this will be the Home key.

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