How To Remove Product Activation Failed In Microsoft Office 2013

If you get the product activation failed error on MS Office 2013 application, then there might be more than one copy of the Office package installed within the computer. This error might also occur

while launching any application like ‘Word’, ‘Powerpoint’, ‘Excel’ and etc. 

When the activation of the Office package fails, then in the title bar of the specific application window, there will be the message ‘Unlicensed Product’ along with its name.

Also, if you do not execute the Office package as an administrator, then there is a probability of encountering this issue. 

Further, if the firewall of the computer blocks the accessibility to the Office server, then this problem can appear. Moreover, if the time, date and time zone are not set correctly, then even you can get this issue.

Methods to Fix Microsoft Office Product Activation Error:

This section provides you with a multitude of methods that helps you to get rid of the product activation error within Microsoft Office easily.

Method 1: Inspect and Remove Other Copies of Microsoft Office

If there are multiple copies of Office present within the computer, then there are chances to encounter the Office 365 unlicensed product error. Now, the best answer to resolve this problem is to uninstall all the other copies of the Office package. To do it, follow the steps below.

• First, click the ‘Cortana’ logo on the taskbar. This will open up the default search section of the Windows.
• Within that section, input the following text “control panel” on the blank space and then from the search output, choose the ‘Control Panel’ option.
• As soon as you click on that option, then a new window having the title ‘Control Panel’ will come up. Inside that window, locate and choose the ‘Programs’ category.
• At this moment, a new page will come up. In it, find and choose the ‘Programs and Features’ option. When you click on that option, another page with a list full of all the applications installed within the computer will come up.
• From that list, locate and choose the version of Office that you do not use and right-click on it. Next, from the popup menu that comes up, select the ‘Uninstall’ option.
• Once you click on that option, the Uninstaller window will appear in it. Read the on-screen confirmation message accordingly and at last click the ‘Yes’ button.

This action will trigger the uninstallation process, so wait for it to get over. Once the removal process is complete, reboot the machine.

At last, open the Office software that is present. Then try to activate it and see if this issue is still there or not.

Method 2: Inspect the Date, Time and Time Zone of the Computer

If the time zone, date and time of the computer are not set correctly, then you can get Microsoft unlicensed product error. The best solution to rectify this problem is to set the time and date of the machine correctly. To do that in the right way, follow the steps below.

• First, if there are any Office application currently running, then close those programs.
• Next, go to the right side of the taskbar and choose the date and time displayed there.
• As soon as the bottom-up menu appears, choose the ‘Date and time settings’ link. This action will open up a ‘Settings’ window with the date and time settings page already open.
• Inside that page, locate and choose both the following options – “Set time automatically” and “Set time zone automatically”. If you do not get the option to set the time zone automatically, then check the ‘Time zone’ and check if the local time is shown or not.
• Finally, start the Office application once again and see if it gets activated or not.

Method 3: Repair the Office Licence

If the Office license somehow gets corrupted, then you can even face this error. The one and only answer to resolve this problem is to repair the license of the Office package. Follow these steps underneath to get rid of this problem as soon as possible.

• First, open the ‘Command Prompt’ window by right-clicking on the ‘Windows’ logo and choose the option ‘Command Prompt (Admin)’.
• Inside that window, input the following two commands – ”cscript ospp.vps /dstatus” and “cscript ospp.vbs /unpkey:(give the last five characters of the product key)”. Press ‘Enter’ key after each of the commands.
• Once the removal of the product key is over, next, close the ‘Command Prompt’ window.
• Now, restart the computer and then launch any Office application to activate it with a new account.

Method 4: Execute the Office as an Administrator

If the Office package is not executed as an administrator, then you can encounter the Microsoft Word unlicensed product error. The easiest answer to resolve this issue is to run the Office package as an administrator. 

• First, quit all the Office applications that are open.
• After that, tap on the combination of ‘Windows + S’ keys together to open the search section of the Windows OS.
• Inside that section, type in the name of an Office application like ‘Word.’ Then from the search results, locate and right-click on the option ‘Word’.
• Next, from that popup menu that comes up, find and choose the ‘Run as administrator’ option. If a ‘User Account Control’ message box appears on the screen, then click on the ‘Yes’ button.
• This action will launch the Word application in administrator mode.

Method 5: Examine the Firewall of Windows Operating System

If the default firewall of the Windows OS does not allow communication with the Office servers, then you can even encounter this problem. The best answer to resolve this error is to disable the Windows Firewall.

Here are the steps on how can you do it.

• First, press both the keys ‘Windows + R’ simultaneously to open a new dialog box having the name ‘Run’ will come up.
• Within that dialog box, beside the label ‘Open’, input the following text ‘control panel’ on the blank area and then press the ‘OK’ button.
• Once a new window with the title ‘Control Panel’ comes up, then in it, locate and choose the ‘System and Security’ category. After that, from the new page that appears, choose the ‘Windows Defender Firewall’ option.
• Next, another new page will come up, in it, go to the left pane and choose the ‘Turn Windows Firewall on or off’ link. As soon as you click on that link, then a new page with the title ‘Customize Settings’ will come up.
• Inside that page, under the following sections ‘Private network settings’ and ‘Public network settings’, choose the option ‘Turn off Windows Defender Firewall (not recommended)’
• Lastly, click on the ‘OK’ button to save any alterations.

Method 7: Update the Office 2013 Application

If the Office 2013 is not up to date, then you might face this issue. The best solution to get rid of this error is to update Office 2013. The steps are here as follows.

• First, launch any Office application like ‘Word’ for example and make a new document.
• After that, go to the menu bar and choose ‘File’ -> ‘Account’. Next, a new page will appear, in it choose the ‘Product Information’ section.
• Under that section, select the ‘Update Options’. Now, from the drop-down menu that comes up, choose the ‘Enable updates’ option.
• Once again from that drop-down menu, select the ‘Update Now’ option in order to check manually and install the updates.
• After checking for some available updates if the Office application found any, then those will be installed automatically.
• At last, close down the window with the message ‘You’re up to date!’.

Hopefully, the error will get resolved after following any of the methods discussed above.