Activate Office 2013 MAK clients

Article
12/26/2016

Applies to: Office 2013

Summary: How to prepare and configure the Office 2013 client for Multiple Activation Key (MAK) volume activation.

Audience: IT Professionals

Multiple Activation Key (MAK) activation is used for one-time activation through Microsoft hosted activation services, either via the Internet or by telephone.

Activate MAK clients

If you use MAK, you must enter the MAK key by using one of the following supported methods:

Before you install Office 2013
- Use the Office Customization Tool (OCT) to activate a MAK client
- Config.xml file
After you install Office 2013
- Changing the MAK product key(s)
- The ospp.vbs script
- Registry entry that allows a non-admin user to activate an Office MAK key

Important

Because different products require different MAK keys, you should first verify that the MAK key for the product is correct.

Use the Office Customization Tool (OCT) to activate a MAK client

To enter a MAK key by using the OCT, follow these steps:

In the Type a valid 25-character volume license key with no spaces field, enter the MAK key (five sets of five numbers or characters), and then press ENTER.
After making any other necessary changes in the OCT, save the .msp file in the Updates folder.

Note

When you use a MAK key in the OCT, you can activate Office 2013 while you install the MAK key by setting the AUTO_ACTIVATE property value to 1. For more information, see Licensing and user interface in Office Customization Tool (OCT) reference for Office 2013.

Remember that you do not have to enter a product key in the OCT if you are using KMS activation. For more information about the OCT, see Office Customization Tool (OCT) reference for Office 2013.

Config.xml file

To enter a MAK key by using the Config.xml file (Config.xml file reference for Office 2013), follow these steps:

Add the following line to the Config.xml file:

<PIDKEY Value="AAAAABBBBBCCCCCDDDDDEEEEE" />

Where AAAAABBBBBCCCCCDDDDDEEEEE is the 25-character product key.
To apply the settings in Config.xml, at a command prompt, type the following command, and then press ENTER:

Setup.exe /config <path of Config.xml file>

Note

You can activate Office 2013 while you install the MAK key by setting the AUTO_ACTIVATE property value to 1. For more information, see Setting element in Config.xml file reference for Office 2013.

You do not have to enter the MAK key in the Config.xml file if you are using KMS activation.

Changing the MAK product key

If you have to change the product key on multiple Office 2013 clients after installation, we recommend that you use Volume Activation Management Tool (VAMT) 3.0. For more information about VAMT 3.0, see Volume Activation Management Tool Technical Reference.

To change the product key on one computer only:

Open an Office 2013 application.
Choose the File tab.
Choose Account.
Choose Change Product Key and enter the product key.

The ospp.vbs script

For information about how to enter a product key by using the ospp.vbs script, see The ospp.vbs script.

Registry entry that allows a non-admin user to activate an Office MAK key

An administrator can create a registry key that allows a standard user (a user who is not an administrator) to apply a MAK key and activate an Office 2013 application. This means that a standard user can switch a KMS client to MAK activation, manually activate a computer, and, if it is necessary, replace an existing MAK with a new MAK key. By default, all volume license editions of Office 2013 disable this behavior. To enable this behavior, add the following line to the Config.xml file:

<Setting Id="USEROPERATIONS" Value="1" />

Or, you can set the following registry key to enable or disable standard user (a user who is not an administrator) activation:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\OfficeSoftwareProtectionPlatform

Enable Standard User Activation: "UserOperations"=dword:00000001
Disable Standard User Activation: "UserOperations"=dword:00000000 (Office 2013 volume license products default setting)

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