Troubleshooting Office 365 Licensing Issues with PowerShell

Audience: Technicians & Support Engineers

Applies to: Microsoft 365 Apps (Click-to-Run), Windows 10/11

Overview

This article provides a step-by-step procedure to troubleshoot and fix Microsoft 365/Office 365 activation and licensing issues on Windows devices. Typical symptoms include “License not valid”, “Product not activated”, grace period warnings, or activation error codes (e.g., 0xC004F009, 0xC004E022).

Pre-Requisites

• Run all PowerShell commands in an elevated (Administrator) session.
• Verify the user has a valid Microsoft 365 Apps license assigned in the Microsoft 365 Admin Center.
• Confirm the device has reliable Internet connectivity and system date/time are correct.

Step 1 — Locate the Office Installation (Click-to-Run)

Identify installation root, platform (x64/x86), and build:

$k1 = 'HKLM:\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Office\ClickToRun\Configuration'
$k2 = 'HKLM:\SOFTWARE\WOW6432Node\Microsoft\Office\ClickToRun\Configuration'
foreach ($k in $k1,$k2) {
  if (Test-Path $k) {
    Get-ItemProperty -Path $k | Select-Object InstallRoot, Platform, ProductReleaseIds, ClientVersionToReport
  }
}

Step 2 — Find OSPP.VBS (Activation Script)

Locate the activation management script path:

$paths = @(
  "C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\root\Office16",
  "C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Office\root\Office16"
)
foreach ($p in $paths) {
  $f = Join-Path $p 'ospp.vbs'
  if (Test-Path $f) { $f }
}

Step 3 — Check Current Activation Status

Show installed licenses and their states:

cscript.exe //nologo "C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\root\Office16\ospp.vbs" /dstatus

List all known license SKUs (trials/demos included):

cscript.exe //nologo "C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\root\Office16\ospp.vbs" /dstatusall

Step 4 — Remove Expired or Invalid Keys

Uninstall any keys in Grace or Notifications state. Replace XXXXX with the last 5 characters of the key from /dstatus:

cscript.exe //nologo "C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\root\Office16\ospp.vbs" /unpkey:XXXXX

Repeat for each invalid key found.

Step 5 — Reactivate the Subscription License

After removing invalid keys, trigger an activation refresh:

cscript.exe //nologo "C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\root\Office16\ospp.vbs" /act

Step 6 — Confirm Activation

Verify final state:

cscript.exe //nologo "C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\root\Office16\ospp.vbs" /dstatus

• LICENSE STATUS: LICENSED
• REMAINING GRACE: ~30 days (auto-renews when user is signed into Office)

Step 7 — Validate in Office Apps

1. Open Word or Excel.
2. Go to File > Account.
3. Confirm it shows Product Activated and that the correct Microsoft 365 account is signed in.

Common Error Codes (Quick Reference)

• 0x4004F00C — In grace period; needs activation.
• 0xC004F009 — Grace period expired; remove bad key(s) then activate.
• 0xC004E022 — Secure store mismatch; remove stale keys and reactivate (clear tokens if needed).
• 0xC004F014 — Placeholder trial/demo license; can usually be ignored or cleaned up.

Optional Cleanup (Trials/Demos)

After successful activation, you may remove leftover trial/demo stubs for cleanliness by repeating /unpkey:XXXXX for any unwanted entries shown by /dstatusall. This is optional and does not affect a successful activation.

Notes & Best Practices

• Always use the Click-to-Run path: C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\root\Office16 (or Program Files (x86) for 32-bit installs).
• If activation keeps failing with secure store errors, sign out of Office apps, close them, and try again after removing stale keys. As a last resort, clear cached Office tokens and identities, then reactivate.
• Ensure only the intended Microsoft 365 account is signed in under File > Account.

Change Log

• v1.0 — Initial KB with PowerShell-based remediation steps and error code guide.