How to Remove License / Product Key for Office 2019 / 2016 / 2013

May 18, 2019 updated by Admin Leave a reply »

How to update / replace Office license key before the expiration date? Is there a way to change the product key without reinstalling Office suite? Do you have an old PC you want to sell, but also want to transfer your Office license to your new PC? In this tutorial we’ll show you an easy way to remove the existing product key registered with your Microsoft Office 2019 / 2016 / 2013 application.

Part 1: Check the Office License Status

To get started, open the Command Prompt as administrator. Navigate to the Microsoft Office program folder using the cd command. The subfolder varies depending on your Office version:

  • Office 2016 / 2019: C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office16 or C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Office\Office16
  • Office 2013: C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office15 or C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Office\Office15

Now you can check the license status by running the script called ospp.vbs, which is located in your Office program folder.
cscript ospp.vbs /dstatus

You’ll see some license details such as the license type (a retail copy, a volume licensed copy, or Office subscriptions copy) and the last 5 characters of the product key.

Part 2: Remove Existing Office Product Key

To remove your Office product key, you need to use the /unpkeyswitch, along with the last 5 characters of the product key.
cscript ospp.vbs /unpkey:{last five characters of product key}

You will be told that your Office product key has been uninstalled. Now, Open any Office application like Word and it’ll ask you to enter new product key.

That’s it!