Reset Office 365 Apps activation state

It's very common to switch devices or change O365 tenants. After a user is activated, multiple locations must be cleared to reset the application to a clean state.

In this article

1. Step 1: Remove Office 365 license for subscription-based installations
2. Step 2: Remove cached identities in HKCU registry
3. Step 3: Remove the stored credentials in Credential Manager
4. Step 4: Clear persisted locations
5. OLicenseCleanup.vbs

Step 1: Remove Office 365 license for subscription-based installations

1. In an elevated command window, run the cd command based on your install location:

   ConsoleCopy

    

   cd "C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Office\Office16"

   or

   ConsoleCopy

    

   cd "C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office16"

2. Run the following cscript command:

   Visual Basic ScriptCopy

    

   cscript ospp.vbs /dstatus

   The ospp.vbs command generates a report of the licenses currently in use. The output is in this format:

   

    Note

   The report could include multiple licenses. If the output contains a "No installed Product Keys" message after you run ospp.vbs /dstatus, skip the section below and go to "Step 2: Remove cached identities in HKCU registry".

   Take note of the Last 5 characters of the installed product key.

3. If a partial product key is returned from /dstatus, run the following command:

   Visual Basic ScriptCopy

    

   cscript ospp.vbs /unpkey:"Last 5 of installed product key"

   For example:

   Visual Basic ScriptCopy

    

   cscript ospp.vbs /unpkey:WB222

   Repeat the command until all keys are removed.

   

   If the output contains the message "product key uninstall successful", close the Command Prompt window and go to Step 2.

Step 2: Remove cached identities in HKCU registry

In Registry Editor, locate the following registry:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\16.0\Common\Identity\Identities

Remove all identities under the Identities registry entry.

Step 3: Remove the stored credentials in Credential Manager

1. Open Control Panel > Credential Manager.

2. Remove all Windows credentials listed for Office16 by selecting the drop-down arrow and Remove.

   

Step 4: Clear persisted locations

Clear the following persisted locations if they exist:

Credential Manager

• %appdata%\Microsoft\Credentials
• %localappdata%\Microsoft\Credentials
• %appdata%\Microsoft\Protect
• HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Protected Storage System Provider

Office 365 activation tokens and identities

• %localappdata%\Microsoft\Office\16.0\Licensing
• %localappdata%\Microsoft\Office\Licenses (Microsoft 365 Apps for enterprise version 1909 or later)
• HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\16.0\Common\Identity
• HKEY_USERS\The user's SID\Software\Microsoft\Office\16.0\Common\Identity

OLicenseCleanup.vbs

The four steps above can be automated using OLicenseCleanup.vbs. Simply download and run the script with elevated privileges.

Source: https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/office/troubleshoot/activation/reset-office-365-proplus-activation-state