MS account necessary to install, activate, use MS Office 2021?

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Wow. First time I have been first to post a message in a brand new forum topic . . .

I am trying to determine if it is possible to install, activate, and use MS Office 2021 (Home and Student) without having a MS account. And whether it’s possible to disable Office’s telemetry and automatic connection to OneDrive in a way that they don’t both just get turned back on again.

I have found conflicting information on all of that after reading Microsoft’s documentation (of course they want everyone to have a MS account), tons of reviews on Amazon, articles on Office-Watch, Google, etc..

Some sources I read said one has to be signed in to their MS account in order to do any\all of that. Some sources said there are ways to bypass some of it but that some functionality is lost or broken and eventually MS reverses settings back to their preferred default anyway.

I would like to be able to install Office 2021, activate it, use it, disable OneDrive and telemetry, and have it stick without having to use a MS account (which I don’t have and don’t want).

Is it possible to do that?

Input from anyone who is using Office 2021 would be welcome.

Thanks!

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Unfortunately no. All retail copies of Office since 2013 need to be paired to a Microsoft account for activation purposes. Only the volume licence (corporate/enterprise) versions don’t have this requirement.

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windbg, opti1

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I’ve set up about 5 systems with Pro Plus 2021 in the last month. Needed an MS account to activate but was then able to log out of office on the machines and it continued working… at least for now! I have even managed to do it on my machine with Office 365 but that was a REAL pain to accomplish lately! It used to be easy.

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windbg, opti1

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Office 2021 needs a MS account to activate, but it can be a new one, and I have not seen evidence that it is accessed again after the first installation day.   So no I think it is impossible.   As far back as Office 2013 it is difficult or impossible.  Office 2010, out of support and no patches, did allow it.

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opti1

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cyberSAR wrote:

I have even managed to do it on my machine with Office 365

@cyberSAR, I have been trying to find out how to do this – can you share how you did?

Thanks in advance.

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@btbs I wish I could!  I haven’t had time to play with it and try again but may this week. I think it went something like this. Installed an older version of 365 as I save the installers. I signed in, rebooted, set to deferred channel letting it update, turned off all connected services and rebooted again disconnecting from internet and launching word. Since I wasn’t online it couldn’t connect and saved the settings. Rebooted again and it has stayed like the old days as you can see in image. That was about 5-6months ago. I’ll try to do so again this week and see if I can reproduce

 

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cyberSAR wrote:

I’ve set up about 5 systems with Pro Plus 2021 in the last month. Needed an MS account to activate but was then able to log out of office on the machines and it continued working… at least for now!

Thanks for your response.

Interesting. Some folks said they had to ‘Sign in’ (upper right hand corner) to edit and\or save any files. Others said auto-save didn’t work if not signed in and also if OneDrive was disabled. That last one is a deal breaker for me. I don’t want OneDrive enabled.

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I don’t have one-drive installed.  Everything works as it should as far as I can tell. I use almost all programs and Outlook very heavily. I have a de-bloated version of 10 & now 11. I wanted to test 11 a bit longer as some of my clients are running it now, so did a fresh install. I prefer 10 a little more, so have been thinking of going back. I have images saved but will go a fresh install to test if I can reproduce the Office result.

I did notice that on my clients with Windows 7 it doesn’t seem possible to stay signed out any longer but the ones on 10 are still signed out and working. Not enough reason for me to try on 7 though as I only have a few left on it.

EDIT to add: Just noticed you mentioned auto-save. No, that doesn’t work but I don’t use it so doesn’t bother me. I got in the habit years ago of saving my docs repeatedly while working

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opti1

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opti1 wrote:

Others said auto-save didn’t work if not signed in and also if OneDrive was disabled. That last one is a deal breaker for me. I don’t want OneDrive enabled.

AutoSave only works with OneDrive (but local AutoRecover still works without):

AutoSave only applies to Office files stored in OneDrive, but the Office AutoRecover feature is on by default and saves your work every 10 minutes.

To view or change the AutoRecover settings, open an Office app, and select File > Options > Save.

Can I AutoSave to my computer?
[Microsoft Office Support]

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opti1, Cybertooth

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1. License is not yours, it belongs to account you activate with.
2. If this account is banned or closed due to inactivity, your license is lost, so no reinstall.
3. If you have purchase documents etc, you may be able to convince MS support to unlock your account, but its something I definitely wont recommend relay on.
4. Telemetry have access to all your files and everything else on your PC, MS can remotely delete stuff and this is in Windows so they don’t need Office for that, Office just give more info on your typing habits etc.

So use some alternative or actively take care of MS account.

P.S.  Drive encryption stores keys in MS account, so no account no data recovery, if you don’t save keys yourself somewhere safe.

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Now that EOL for Office 2013 coming on April 13, 2023, I am considering getting a license for Office 2021 Home and Business. I believe that one must create an MS account to enter a product key and activate the software. My OS is W10 Pro 22H2 and it has two local user accounts set up with individual folders/files. Since this is a perpetual digital license key to the MS account for use on one system at a time, I believe that each user account can use the Office apps when signed in respectively on the system. In other words, usage is not confined to the user with the MS account that the product key is activated under. Can anyone confirm that I am correct?

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You are correct. The Office license is per device, not per user.

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Re JanisT post above, Item 4, Telemetry in Windows giving MS free access to everything on your computer, see threads elsewhere on AskWoody regarding disabling telemetry.

See also O&O ShutUp 10, and SpyBot AntiBeacon re automatically disabling Windows telemetry services.

— AWRon

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