Microsoft (Office) 365 Product Key installation error 0x80070005

When trying to activate or use Office products, we get the Microsoft (Office) 365 Product Key installation error 0x80070005. This error is faced by a lot of Office users regardless of the MS Office version they use. In this post, we will see how to resolve it.

The following is the exact error message we see.

Sorry, we ran into a problem while trying to install the product key. If this keeps happening, you should try repairing your office product.
(System error: 0x80070005)

Fix Microsoft (Office) 365 Product Key installation error 0x80070005

The problem is clear. Windows cannot validate your key or activate it post an upgrade of Office or suddenly. Since these products are under paid subscription, the company must validate before allowing users to get full access. So, to resolve Microsoft (Office) 365 Product Key installation error 0x80070005, follow the solutions mentioned below.

Check if your Microsoft (Office) 365 Subscription is Active
Make sure that Office Software is updated
Run an Office as an administrator to complete the activation
Activate from Command Prompt
Activation Troubleshooter for Microsoft (Office) 365 & Office 2019/2016
Run the Microsoft Support and Recovery Assistant (SaRA) to reset the Microsoft 365 activation state
Remove your credentials from the Credential Manager and reconnect to your account

Let us talk about them in detail.

1] Check if your Microsoft (Office) 365 Subscription is Active

If you have an Office subscription, you first need to check if the license is still active. You will have to check this on your Services & Subscription Page.

Go to account.microsoft.com and switch to that section.
Locate Microsoft 365 or Office 365 on that page, and see if it asks to renew or is activated.
If it asks to renew, then you need to pay and then activate it.

If it’s activated follow the link that says Install Office and check if you can install it on the PC or Mac i.e. Office 365 allows you to install it on a limited number of devices.

2] Make sure that Office Software is updated

If you have installed Office from the Microsoft Store, you need to revisit the store and see if an update is available. If yes, please update. In case you have installed Office by directly downloading from a Microsoft Website or a Disk, you need to follow the steps below:

Open any Office application, like Word Excel, or PowerPoint.
Click File > Account.
Under Product Information, click Update Options > Update Now.
If you don’t see Update Now, click Update Options > Enable Updates to turn on automatic updates. After that, click Update Options > Update Now.

After updating, check if the issue is resolved.

3] Run an Office app as an administrator to complete the activation

Often, Office fails to activate the license because it doesn’t have the correct permission. It’s a rare situation as most applications already have permission to activate their products. So maybe, running a Windows Office application with admin privileges might just help to activate it.

Close all Office programs. You can also check with the Task Manager to see if any of them are running in the background. Terminate the applications if that’s the case.
Find Word or any other application from the Start Menu list, and right-click > Run as administrator.
Go to File > Account and then activate your product.

See if this works.

4] Activate from Command Prompt

If you know how to open a command prompt with admin privileges, open it. If you do not know, then press Windows + X, and select Command Prompt (Admin).

Next, you need to copy and paste the following commands and press Enter after each command. Make sure to check your Windows version.

If you have a 64-bit environment:

CD C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office 16\root\Office16.

cscript ospp.vbs /act

If you have a 32-bit environment:

CD C:\Program Files(x86)\Microsoft Office 16\root\Office16.

cscript ospp.vbs /act

This should do the trick for you.

5] Activation Troubleshooter for Microsoft (Office) 365 & Office 2019/2016

If nothing helps, use this Troubleshooter. The Office team has built a troubleshooter application that can help you with activation. Download it from here from Microsoft, and run it with admin privileges.

Hopefully, this will do the trick for you.

6] Run the Microsoft Support and Recovery Assistant (SaRA) to reset the Microsoft 365 activation state

Microsoft Support and Recovery Assistant (SaRA) is the application that can reset the Microsoft 365 activation state. Navigate to learn.microsoft.com to download and use this tool. Once your activation state is reset, go ahead and retry activating your account. Hopefully, it will work this time.

Related: Fix Office Activation Error Code 0x80070005

7] Remove your credentials from the Credential Manager and reconnect to your account

When you save your Microsoft credentials, it gets registered in the Credential Manager and creates its file. If that file is corrupted, you will experience issues such as the one in question. To resolve this issue, we will remove the stored credentials from the utility and try to create one again. Follow the steps mentioned below to remove your credentials from the Credential Manager.

Open Credential Manager.
Click on Windows Credentials.
Now, look for the Microsoft account that’s having issues, expand it, and click on Remove.

Once done, reboot your computer and retry connecting to the account.

Error 0x80070005 is rather ubiquitous and this code is also displayed in the following scenarios:

What is error 0x80070005 on Windows activation?

Error Code 0x80070005 will appear when trying to activate Windows if the user doesn’t have administrative privileges. The error applies to both the KMS client/MAK and the KMS host. We recommend you check our guide to know how to resolve Error 0x80070005.

Read: Fix OneDrive Error Code 0x80070005

Why is Microsoft Store not downloading 0x80070005?

Microsoft Store Error Code 0x80070005 appears when there is something wrong with permissions for the folder in which apps are stored. To resolve it, we need to fiddle with the permissions of a few files, you can check our guide on 0x80070005 Microsoft Store apps error to do the same.

Also Read: Fix 0x80070005 Windows Update Error.