Do you need to move your Office suite to another computer? Or you bought a new laptop and want to transfer your Windows OS from your PC to laptop? To be able to transfer your Office or Windows license, you will need to deactivate the software from the previous device first. Unfortunately Microsoft doesn’t provide the option to uninstall product keys directly within the user interface of its software, so you will need to uninstall the software product key with the help of Command Prompt (cmd.exe).
What is Command Prompt?
Command Prompt, also known as cmd.exe or simply cmd, is the in-built command-line console of Windows. It can be used to run various commands and scripts, to perform advanced administrative functions and to fix some types of Windows issues.
| Attention! Before uninstalling a product key, make sure the original license with the product key is safely stored somewhere (in digital or physical form) – for example, if it’s an electronic license, upload it to a secure cloud storage, send it to your email, put it on a USB drive etc. After uninstalling the software product key, it will no longer be in the system files, so you risk losing it. |
Choose which software you want to deactivate:
How to uninstall Windows product keys
In order to open Command Prompt, go to the Start menu search box and type:
cmd.exe
When Command Prompt shows up in the list, right-click on it and choose Run as administrator. It’s essential to open cmd.exe as an administrator, otherwise some commands will not work.
Windows might ask if you want to allow the program to make changes to your computer – click Yes and continue.
1) Once Command Prompt is open, type the following command:
slmgr.vbs /dli
A small window will pop-up, showing the current license status of your operating system:
-
If the system is
not activated or deactivated,
the result will be similar to this
image:
In this case you don’t have to do anything else.
- If the system is
activated, the result will be similar to this
image:
The line Partial Product Key shows the last 5 characters of the currently installed product key.
Note: Throughout this article we use blue Xs on top of the original characters in the illustrative images for security reasons.
Click Ok to close the pop-up and continue with the product key uninstallation.
2) To uninstall the product key from the current computer, start by typing the following command:
slmgr.vbs /upk
You should receive the following
pop-up:
After this the operating system will be in an unlicensed
state (deactivated) unless a new product key is installed.
3) After removing the key, continue with the following command:
slmgr.vbs /cpky
The pop-up will contain the
following message:
This command removes the product key from the system registry
to prevent it from being stolen or taken by malevolent code.
4) Next enter this command:
slmgr.vbs /rearm
You need to restart your computer
after this command. This will reset the licensing status of the
Windows OS –
it will give you 30 additional days in which you have to
activate the system with a genuine product key, if you
decide you want to continue using it.
And you’re done! Now your Windows is deactivated. You can transfer the key you just uninstalled to another computer or install another product key to the currently deactivated Windows.
How to uninstall Office product keys
In order to open Command Prompt, go to Windows Start menu search box and type:
cmd.exe
When Command Prompt shows up in the list, right-click on it and choose Run as administrator. It’s essential to open cmd.exe as an administrator, otherwise some commands will not work.
Windows might ask if you want to allow the program to make changes to your computer – click Yes and continue.
Once you have opened Command Prompt, you will need to use a command to navigate it into the folder where the licensing software of your Office is located. The command is not the same for all Office editions, so choose the combination of the Windows and Office architecture that you have from the table below:
| Office edition |
32-bit Windows + 32-bit Office
64-bit Windows + 64-bit Office |
64-bit Windows + 32-bit Office |
| Office 2010 | cd C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office14 | cd C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Office\Office14 |
| Office 2013 | cd C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office15 | cd C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Office\Office15 |
|
Office
2016
Office 2019 |
cd C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office16 | cd C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Office\Office16 |
If you do not know the bit architecture of your Windows and Office, just try both commands for your Office.
EXAMPLE: A computer with 64-bit Windows 10 + 32-bit Office 2016 Home and Business
Wrong command: cd
C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office16
Result:
unsuccessfully
executed command
Correct command:
cd C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Office\Office16
Result: successfully executed
command
Now that you are in the correct folder, you can continue with
the product key uninstallation.
First check the current license status of your Office. Type the following:
cscript ospp.vbs /dstatus
-
If the
Office is activated, the result will be similar to
this image:
Line Last 5 characters of installed product key shows the last 5 symbols of the currently installed product key.
Note: Throughout the article we use blue Xs on top of the original characters in the example images for security reasons.
-
If the
Office is installed in trial period, it is not
activated and the result will be similar to this
image:
To uninstall the product key from the current computer, type the following command:
cscript ospp.vbs /unpkey:XXXXX
In place of
XXXXX you need to
enter the last 5 characters of the product
key – you’ve learned these numbers when you executed
the
status command in the previous step.
Once the command is executed successfully, the Office will be
in an unlicensed state (deactivated) unless a new
product key is installed.
Now, if you run
cscript ospp.vbs /dstatusagain,
you will get this result:
And you’re done! Now your
Office is deactivated. You can transfer the key
you just uninstalled to another computer or install another product
key to the currently deactivated Office.
Mateusz
License Consultant