Microsoft Office is one of the core products from Microsoft, and just like any other product, Activation Errors haunts it as well. In general, Activation Error shows up when the system, i.e., Office software on Windows is not able to validate the license even though everything looks right. Office 2016 Product Key installation error 0x80070005 is one of the errors which is common for Office 365, Office 2013, or Office 2016. In this troubleshooting guide, we will share how you can fix Microsoft Office 2016 Activation error 0x80070005 easily.
The error code might show up as-
“We’re sorry, something went wrong and we can’t do this for you right now. Please try again later. (0x80070005)” or “Sorry we ran into a problem when trying to install the product key”
You can use the Activation Troubleshooter for Office 365 & Office 2016 or troubleshoot manually to fix Office 2016 Activation error 0x80070005. This shows up in case Office is not able to validate your license. The issue could be with the version, upgrade, temporary failure, number of installations or product expiry.
Office Product Key installation error 0x80070005
The problem is clear. Windows is not able to validate your key or activate it post an upgrade of Office or all of a sudden. Since these products are under paid subscription, it’s important for the company to validate before it allows users to get full access.
Check if your Office 365 Subscription Active:
If you have an office subscription, the first thing you need to do is check if the license is still active. You will have to check this in your Services & Subscription Page.
- Go account.microsoft.com and switch to that section.
- Locate 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 its activated follow the link which says Install Office and check if you can install it on the PC or Mac i.e. Office 365 allows you to install on a limited number of devices.
Make sure Office Software is updated:
If you have installed Office from the Microsoft Store, you need to revisit the store and see if there is an update available. If yes, please update. In case you have installed office by directly downloading from Microsoft Website or a Disk, you need to follow the steps below:
- Open any Office application, like Word or 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.
Run Office as an administrator to complete the activation
Many a time, Office fails to activate the license because it doesn’t have the correct permission. It’s a rare situation as most of the applications already have permission to activate their products. So maybe, running Windows 10 Office application with admin privileges might just help to activate it.
- Close all Office programs. You can also check with 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 > Activate Product.
See if this works.
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, 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 Office 64-bit:
CD C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office 16\root\Office16. cscript ospp.vbs /act
If you have Office 32-bit:
CD C:\Program Files(x86)\Microsoft Office 16\root\Office16. cscript ospp.vbs /act
Activation Troubleshooter for Office 365 & Office 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.
All these should actually help, and in case it doesn’t, you might want to get in touch with the Microsoft Office Support Team either on-call or through chat. They will help you to fix Microsoft Office 2016 product key installation 0x80070005.
Error 0x80070005 is rather ubiquitous and this code is also displayed in the following scenarios:
