How to Transfer Microsoft Office to a New Computer (Without Buying It Again)

New computer, and Office is on the old one? Whether you can move it — and how — depends on which Office you own. Here's every case, with exact steps.

First: which Office do you have?

Check File → Account in Word. Microsoft 365 (subscription): trivially movable — skip to the 365 section. Office 2021/2024 retail (bought as a key): movable to a new machine. Office preinstalled by the PC maker (OEM): tied to the original machine — not transferable, see the last section.

Transferring Office 2021 / 2024 (retail license)

1. On the old PC — sign out and uninstall. Open any Office app → File → Account → Sign out, then uninstall Office from Settings → Apps. (A retail license covers one active install; removing the old one keeps you compliant and prevents activation conflicts.)
2. On the new PC — reinstall from your account. Go to account.microsoft.com → Services & subscriptions, find your Office 2021/2024 license, click Install. No key re-entry needed — the license lives in your Microsoft account from the day you redeemed it.
3. Sign in to activate. Open Word on the new machine, sign in with the same account, done.

Can't find the license in your account, or never redeemed the key? Dig out the key email (search your inbox — Nerdused customers, search "nerdused"; we re-send lost keys) and redeem at setup.office.com, then install. More on how keys and accounts interact in our Office product keys explainer.

Transferring Microsoft 365

Install Office on the new machine from account.microsoft.com and sign in — that's it. 365 allows multiple installs; if you've hit the device limit, deactivate an old device from the same page.

Mac ↔ PC?

Microsoft 365 licenses work on both. Perpetual licenses are platform-specific — Office 2021 for Windows won't install on a Mac; you'd need Office Home & Business for Mac.

When transfer isn't possible

OEM/preinstalled Office dies with the machine, and sometimes an old license is simply lost beyond recovery. The economical fix isn't Microsoft's retail price: a fresh Office 2021 or 2024 lifetime key is a one-time payment delivered by email in minutes — our version comparison helps you pick, and installation takes ten minutes with the download guide.

FAQ

Will my files transfer too? Documents are separate from Office — move them via OneDrive or an external drive; Office on the new PC opens them identically.

"This key has already been used" on the new PC? Correct behaviour for a redeemed key — don't re-enter it; sign in with the account it's attached to instead.

How many transfers am I allowed? Retail perpetual licenses support moving to a new machine (one active install at a time). There's no published lifetime transfer count for normal use.