Help Center

Keys are sent automatically to the address used at checkout, normally within a few minutes. Check your spam, junk and promotions folders first, then search your mailbox for “OfficeGSM” or your order number. The next most common cause is a small typo in the email address, which happens a lot on phone keyboards. Message us with your order number and we will resend the key, or send it to a corrected address, straight away.

Start with the edition: a Windows 11 Pro key does not activate Home until you use it to change the edition, and an Office Professional Plus key does not activate Home and Business or a Microsoft 365 trial. Then follow the guide for your product, which lists the error codes and the fix for each one. If Windows or Office reports an activation server problem, use phone activation and a Confirmation ID. Still stuck? Send us the error code and a screenshot and we will sort it out, replace the key or refund you.

Tell us what the computer runs and what you need it for, and we will recommend the right license before you spend anything. As a rule: Windows Home covers everyday use, while Pro adds BitLocker, Remote Desktop, Hyper-V and domain join. Office Home and Student covers Word, Excel, PowerPoint and OneNote, and Professional Plus adds Outlook and Access. On a Mac, only the Office for Mac editions apply. Our guides compare the editions product by product.

On the same computer you can reinstall as often as you like and enter the same key again. Moving to a different computer depends on the license: consumer Office and Office for Mac keys live in your Microsoft account and can be reinstalled elsewhere, while volume Office keys and Windows keys tie to the machine they first activated. A replaced motherboard counts as a new computer to Microsoft. Ask us before you rebuild a PC and we will tell you exactly where your license stands.

No. Everything we sell is a perpetual license: you pay once and the software keeps working, with no renewals. Microsoft 365 is the subscription alternative, with cloud storage and always-current apps for a monthly or yearly fee. If you only need the desktop apps, a one-time Office license is almost always cheaper over two or three years. We do not sell Microsoft 365 subscriptions.

Checkout runs over an SSL-encrypted connection through our payment providers, and your full card number never reaches our website. We accept Visa, Mastercard, Maestro, American Express, Discover, Diners Club, JCB, Apple Pay and Google Pay. If you need an invoice with your company name and tax number, add the details at checkout or message us and we will issue one.