- Joined
- Nov 5, 2018
- Messages
- 2,965
Free Activation for Microsoft Office 2021 directly from Microsoft
No need to download a sketchy version, this process gets all the required files directly from Microsoft and you can select which Office Apps you want to install.
This has been tested with the "Office 2021 Professional Plus" by @MicroMSV
If you have any previous version of Microsoft Office 2021 installed, please Uninstall that first so it doesn't mess this up. I haven't tested which versions you can run alongside each other, but I know it was possible in the past pending on the versions involved.
Step 1
Visit this Microsoft Site:
https://www.microsoft<dot>com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=49117 and click "Download" under "Office Deployment Tool" (change your language if needed first).
Don't run the file yet.
Step 2
First, we need to open a Command Prompt (click the Show/Hide button below if you need help with this)
By default, your prompt should be at your user directory C:\Users\<username>\ Type the following:
Code: Select all
CD C:\
MKDIR OfficeTemp
CD OfficeTemp
You can name the folder you create anything you want, just put it in the Root of the C drive like above and NO spaces or special characters in the name. Keep your Command Prompt/Terminal open for later.
Step 3
Now, grab the download from Step 1 and run it, check the box to agree to terms and click Continue, tell it to place the files in the folder you created in Step 2.
There should be 5 files (1 setup.exe and 4 *.xml files). Do NOT run setup.exe until told to do so later.
Step 4
Customizing what Office applications we want to install.
Visit the Office Customization Tool site.
https://config.office<dot>com/deploymentsettings
Section 1: Architecture
Select 32-bit or 64-bit pending on your system (most modern systems are 64-bit).
Section 2: Products
Under "Office Suites" select "Office LTSC Standard 2021 - Volume License"
OR select "Office LTSC Professional Plus 2021 - Volume License"
Under "Visio", ignore it (or select "None") if you don't want it. Or select between "Visio LTSC Professional 2021 - Volume License" or Standard 2021.
Under "Project", ignore it (or select "None") if you don't want it. Or select between "Project LTSC Professional 2021 - Volume License" or Standard 2021.
Under "Additional products" you can select the "Language Pack" if you want it, but do NOT select "Office 365 Access runtime".
Section 3: Update channel
Ignore this and do not make any changes.
Section 4: Apps
Toggle Off any of the apps you do not wish to install.
Selecting the OneDrive Desktop will just install the OneDrive app that you most likely already have installed and not give you any additional benefits like extra space.
Do not click "Next", click "Language" just below that.
In the first box, this will be your "Installed Language" but you can select an additional language and additional 'proofing tools' language if you like. I skipped them.
Step 5
Click "Export" in the upper right part of the page and on the screen that comes up, select "Office Open XML formats" in the center of the window. Click OK
Check the "I accept" box and name your configuration file as you like (I used 'configxml') and hit "Export".
Move the new XML file from your downloads folder to the folder you created in Step 2.
Step 6
If you are doing this to multiple computers, you can take a copy of the Config XML from Step 5 and continue from here on any new systems without repeating Step's 3 and 4.
Verfiy your folder (ex. C:\OfficeTemp) from Step 2 has the setup.exe, the 4 original XML files and your new config XML file.
Switch back to your Command Prompt and enter the following:
Code: Select all
setup.exe /download configxml.xml
Make sure to use the name you created if different from 'configxml.xml'. This process will take a few minutes.
Next, run the following command to Install the Office apps you selected earlier without User Input.
Code: Select all
setup.exe /configure configxml.xml
Step 7
Step 7 is optional if you want to test that Office is installed and not activated (yet). You can skip this step if you like.
In your Downloads folder, right-click an empty area and go to "New" in the menu and select "Microsoft Word Document (.docx)" and name it "ActivationTest.docx". Open the file and Word should open without problems. It may prompt you to accept the User Agreement, do that.
Once the file is open, in the upper right corner of the screen you should see either your Name or the name of your user account. Click that and select "Office User Info" You should come to a screen that says Activation Required. Close Word.
Step 8
Back in the Command Prompt/Terminal, navigate to where Office 2021 is installed.
On 64-bit computers, use:
Code: Select all
CD "C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office16"
For 32-bit computers, use:
Code: Select all
CD "C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Office\Office16"
Although the commands so far have not needed Admin rights, the following commands will fail if you are not in an Admin terminal/command prompt.
Make sure you're in the proper directory and run the following final two commands:
Code: Select all
cscript ospp.vbs /sethst:kms.03k.org
cscript ospp.vbs /act
This may take a minute, but you should get confirmation that it activated properly. If you got an error you probably weren't in an Admin prompt.
Final Step
Open the Word file you created in Step 7 if you did, or just create or find a new Word document on your computer.
Click your name/username found in the Upper right corner and select "Office user info" and you'll see you are fully activated.
Optional: On your activation screen, click the "Update Options" button and select the first thing listed to download any updates. You'll have to close Word for the updates to install if there are any.
No need to download a sketchy version, this process gets all the required files directly from Microsoft and you can select which Office Apps you want to install.
This has been tested with the "Office 2021 Professional Plus" by @MicroMSV
If you have any previous version of Microsoft Office 2021 installed, please Uninstall that first so it doesn't mess this up. I haven't tested which versions you can run alongside each other, but I know it was possible in the past pending on the versions involved.
Step 1
Visit this Microsoft Site:
https://www.microsoft<dot>com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=49117 and click "Download" under "Office Deployment Tool" (change your language if needed first).
Don't run the file yet.
Step 2
First, we need to open a Command Prompt (click the Show/Hide button below if you need help with this)
By default, your prompt should be at your user directory C:\Users\<username>\ Type the following:
Code: Select all
CD C:\
MKDIR OfficeTemp
CD OfficeTemp
You can name the folder you create anything you want, just put it in the Root of the C drive like above and NO spaces or special characters in the name. Keep your Command Prompt/Terminal open for later.
Step 3
Now, grab the download from Step 1 and run it, check the box to agree to terms and click Continue, tell it to place the files in the folder you created in Step 2.
There should be 5 files (1 setup.exe and 4 *.xml files). Do NOT run setup.exe until told to do so later.
Step 4
Customizing what Office applications we want to install.
Visit the Office Customization Tool site.
https://config.office<dot>com/deploymentsettings
Section 1: Architecture
Select 32-bit or 64-bit pending on your system (most modern systems are 64-bit).
Section 2: Products
Under "Office Suites" select "Office LTSC Standard 2021 - Volume License"
OR select "Office LTSC Professional Plus 2021 - Volume License"
Under "Visio", ignore it (or select "None") if you don't want it. Or select between "Visio LTSC Professional 2021 - Volume License" or Standard 2021.
Under "Project", ignore it (or select "None") if you don't want it. Or select between "Project LTSC Professional 2021 - Volume License" or Standard 2021.
Under "Additional products" you can select the "Language Pack" if you want it, but do NOT select "Office 365 Access runtime".
Section 3: Update channel
Ignore this and do not make any changes.
Section 4: Apps
Toggle Off any of the apps you do not wish to install.
Selecting the OneDrive Desktop will just install the OneDrive app that you most likely already have installed and not give you any additional benefits like extra space.
Do not click "Next", click "Language" just below that.
In the first box, this will be your "Installed Language" but you can select an additional language and additional 'proofing tools' language if you like. I skipped them.
Step 5
Click "Export" in the upper right part of the page and on the screen that comes up, select "Office Open XML formats" in the center of the window. Click OK
Check the "I accept" box and name your configuration file as you like (I used 'configxml') and hit "Export".
Move the new XML file from your downloads folder to the folder you created in Step 2.
Step 6
If you are doing this to multiple computers, you can take a copy of the Config XML from Step 5 and continue from here on any new systems without repeating Step's 3 and 4.
Verfiy your folder (ex. C:\OfficeTemp) from Step 2 has the setup.exe, the 4 original XML files and your new config XML file.
Switch back to your Command Prompt and enter the following:
Code: Select all
setup.exe /download configxml.xml
Make sure to use the name you created if different from 'configxml.xml'. This process will take a few minutes.
Next, run the following command to Install the Office apps you selected earlier without User Input.
Code: Select all
setup.exe /configure configxml.xml
Step 7
Step 7 is optional if you want to test that Office is installed and not activated (yet). You can skip this step if you like.
In your Downloads folder, right-click an empty area and go to "New" in the menu and select "Microsoft Word Document (.docx)" and name it "ActivationTest.docx". Open the file and Word should open without problems. It may prompt you to accept the User Agreement, do that.
Once the file is open, in the upper right corner of the screen you should see either your Name or the name of your user account. Click that and select "Office User Info" You should come to a screen that says Activation Required. Close Word.
Step 8
Back in the Command Prompt/Terminal, navigate to where Office 2021 is installed.
On 64-bit computers, use:
Code: Select all
CD "C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office16"
For 32-bit computers, use:
Code: Select all
CD "C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Office\Office16"
Although the commands so far have not needed Admin rights, the following commands will fail if you are not in an Admin terminal/command prompt.
Make sure you're in the proper directory and run the following final two commands:
Code: Select all
cscript ospp.vbs /sethst:kms.03k.org
cscript ospp.vbs /act
This may take a minute, but you should get confirmation that it activated properly. If you got an error you probably weren't in an Admin prompt.
Final Step
Open the Word file you created in Step 7 if you did, or just create or find a new Word document on your computer.
Click your name/username found in the Upper right corner and select "Office user info" and you'll see you are fully activated.
Optional: On your activation screen, click the "Update Options" button and select the first thing listed to download any updates. You'll have to close Word for the updates to install if there are any.
