Context
This issue occurs if an OEM version of Office has been preinstalled on the system by the system manufacturer and has not been removed before you install the Volume License copy of Office 2016.
Installed Office 2016 on my Windows 10 machine and activated the VPN off campus. When opening an Office app, it was consistently opening to the Let’s get started page promoting to activate and/or other options, however, Office 2016 is listed as being activated.
This article mentioned some of the 100% working free activation keys of Microsoft Office 2016 Product Key which can be used for activation. You May Also Like 10 Best Free DVD Players For Windows 10 and Mac. The 'Microsoft Office Activation Wizard' pop-up overlays all computer applications. It contains a message stating that the MS Office activation has expired and that the victim has two choices: 1) activate via the Internet, or; 2) call tech support via the telephone number provided (1 800 935 6918). Some new computers arrived and with them keys for office 2016. The rest of us are using older office at the moment. Now the problem with office 2016 in particular is that it requires me to sign in to an MS account if I want to activate the product. Googling has revealed that it is now mandatory to tie the licence key to a Microsoft account. The latest versions of Microsoft Office (Office 365 and Office 2016, 2019) all need activating by logging into an Office 365 account. This is normally achieved upon installation, however we have noticed that Windows or Office automatic updates can sometimes result in the products being “ Disabled ” or requiring “ Activation ”. Office 365 and Office 2016 are pretty much doing away with the Product key in favor of a user login. Each user will have 5 activations and as long as they have separate user profiles you can set this up once and as the use the Office applications they will be required to login at least once a month to keep it activated without login prompts.
This article from the Microsoft Knowledge Base outlines the workaround listed below: You're repeatedly prompted to activate after you install a Volume License copy of Office 2016
Workaround
Registry key information
This section, method, or task contains steps that tell you how to modify the registry. However, serious problems might occur if you modify the registry incorrectly. Therefore, make sure that you follow these steps carefully. For added protection, back up the registry before you modify it. Then, you can restore the registry if a problem occurs.
For more information about how to back up and restore the registry, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base How to back up and restore the registry in Windows
Step-by-step instructions:
- Close the activation screen.
- On the Start menu, click Run.
- Type regedit, and then press Enter.
- Locate and select the following registry subkey:
- Right-click the OEM value, and then click File>Export.
- Save the subkey.
- After the subkey is backed up, click Edit>Delete.
- Repeat steps 4-7 with the following subkey:
- Exit Registry Editor.
Office 2016 Mac Release Date
Result: The Let’s get started page should no longer appear.