Activate volume licensed versions of Office by using MAK

Applies to: Volume licensed versions of Office LTSC 2021, Office 2019, and Office 2016 (including Project and Visio)

Multiple Activation Key (MAK) activation is used for one-time activation through Microsoft-hosted activation services, either via the internet or by telephone. MAK activation requires that a MAK is installed on a client computer and instructs that computer to activate itself against those services.

Each MAK has a predetermined number of allowed activations and is based on your volume licensing agreement. Each Office activation that uses MAK counts toward the activation limit. After Office is activated, no re-activation is required unless the hardware changes significantly.

There are two ways to activate computers by using MAK:

• MAK independent activation requires that each computer independently connect and be activated with Microsoft, either over the internet or by telephone. MAK independent activation is best for computers that have direct access to the internet.

• MAK proxy activation by using VAMT enables one computer with internet access to process activation requests on behalf of multiple computers. MAK proxy activation is configured by using the Volume Activation Management Tool (VAMT). MAK proxy activation is appropriate for environments in which security concerns might restrict direct access to the internet or to development and test labs. For more information, see Perform Proxy Activation.

Activate Office LTSC 2021 by using MAK

If you're using MAK to activate Office LTSC 2021, you specify the key in the configuration.xml file used by the Office Deployment Tool when you deploy Office LTSC 2021 to the users in your organization. For more information, see Deploy Office LTSC 2021.

Activate Office 2019 by using MAK

If you're using MAK to activate volume licensed versions of Office 2019, you specify the key in the configuration.xml file used by the Office Deployment Tool when you deploy Office 2019 to the users in your organization. For more information, see Deploy Office 2019 (for IT Pros).

Activate Office 2016 by using MAK

If you're using MAK to activate volume licensed versions of Office 2016, you can enter the key by using one of the following supported methods:

• Before you install Office 2016, you can use the Office Customization Tool (OCT) or the Config.xml file.

• After you install Office 2016, you can use the product UI, the Volume Activation Management Tool (VAMT), the ospp.vbs script, or enable a non-admin user to activate Office using MAK.

Configure MAK activation in the Office Customization Tool (OCT)

To enter a MAK key by using the Office Customization Tool (OCT), follow these steps:

1. In the OCT, go to the Licensing and user interface page.

2. Select Enter another product key, and then in the Product key field, enter the multiple activation key (five sets of five numbers or characters).

3. After making any other necessary changes in the OCT, save the .msp file in the Updates folder.

Configure MAK activation in the Config.xml file

To enter a multiple activation key by using the Config.xml file, follow these steps:

1. Add the following line to the Config.xml file:

    <PIDKEY Value="AAAAABBBBBCCCCCDDDDDEEEEE" />

Replace AAAAABBBBBCCCCCDDDDDEEEEE with your 25-character product key.

2. To apply the settings in Config.xml, at a command prompt, type the following command, and then press ENTER:

    Setup.exe /config <path of Config.xml file>

Change the key by using the product UI

To change the Office 2016 product key on only one computer:

1. Open an Office 2016 application, such as Word.
2. Go to File > Account.
3. Choose Change Product Key and enter the product key.

If you need to change the Office 2016 product key on multiple computers after Office is installed, we recommend that you use Volume Activation Management Tool (VAMT) 3.1. For more information, see Volume Activation Management Tool (VAMT) Technical Reference.

Enable a non-admin user to activate Office by using MAK

An administrator can create a registry key that allows a standard user (that is, a user who isn't an administrator) to activate Office 2016 by using MAK. By default, volume licensed versions of Office 2016 disable this behavior.

This can be used if you want a user to manually activate Office by using MAK, replace an existing key with a new key, or switch from KMS to MAK activation.

To enable this behavior, add the following line to the Config.xml file:

 <Setting Id="USEROPERATIONS" Value="1" />

Or, you can set the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\OfficeSoftwareProtectionPlatform registry key to enable or disable standard user activation

• To enable, set "UserOperations"=dword:00000001
• To disable, set "UserOperations"=dword:00000000

Deploying multiple MAK keys

In some organizations, different groups have different MAK keys for their volume licensed versions of Office, Project, or Visio. Unfortunately, you can't include multiple MAK keys in the same configuration.xml file (for Office LTSC 2021 or Office 2019) or in the Office Customization Tool or config.xml file (for Office 2016).

If you don't want to create separate XML files for each group, you could use one of these other methods:

• Volume Activation Management Tool (VAMT)
• ospp.vbs script
• Enable a non-admin user to activate Office by using MAK

Related articles

• Overview of volume activation of Office
• Tools to manage volume activation of Office