Update of Office LTSC from 2016 to Office Ltsc 2024

Office 2016 LTSC is a volume license sold to enterprises in volume, and hence the KMS /MAK (KMS meaning Key Management Service and MAK meaning Multiple Activation Key). It is not sold to retail customers.

Did you get this license as part of your work? If that is the case then it would be good to contact your company admin.

Many online sellers offer highly discounted versions of this which are highly dubious, to retail customers. The source of the license is questionable.

Typically, Office versions that end with a year eg Office XXXX do not come with free upgrades, unless the company that licensed it purchases specific add-on to their licenses called Software Assurance. A company who wants the newest version needs to buy a new copy.

My suggestion -

1. If provided by a company, contact the admin.
2. If purchased from online source as retail purchaser, consider buying Microsoft Office 2024 or Microsoft365 from true authorized partners or Microsoft's website.

Warm Regards

I'm totally confused by what you are saying. I don't know anything about KMS or MAK keys. As I have already said, I downloaded Office 2024 LTSC from Microsoft, believing that my previous 2016 subscription covers the new version. Everything works OK, but Excel says the product is unliscensed, but continues to work without issue. All other Office applications do not have this issue. I want to know how to get rid of the unlicensed error message, but don't understand what you are saying about KMS an MAK. Is the not a key, or something else, you can provide to prevent Excel saying that it is unlicensed?

The 2024 LTSC Office was downloaded from Microsoft, after I learn't that I could upgrate my existing 2016 Office suite. I do not have a product key for Office 2024, but do have the key for Office 2016. I installed the downloaded Office 2024 and everything works as it should. I do have access to Office 365 online, but I have hundreds of spreadsheets, that don't function correctly with Excel 265, so I want to continue with the installed version rather than the online version. As I mentioned; everything works fine with the 2024 version, but on opening a spreadsheet, it says the product is unlicensed. I only have the product key for the 2016 version. None of the other Office 2024 components display this unlicensed message.

[Moderator note: personal info removed]

Hi @Joe Taranto, 

Thank you for posting your question in the Microsoft Q&A forum. 

Regarding that you cannot access your main email or identify your administrator, and I’m here to help. I’d like to ask a few quick questions to better understand the situation and assist you more effectively: 

Is your Office 2024 LTSC license a volume license (MAK/KMS) or a retail key tied to a Microsoft account? 

Was your Office 2024 LTSC license purchased from a reseller? 

Did you fully uninstall Office 2016 LTSC before installing Office 2024, or were both versions on the machine at the same time? 

In Control Panel/Apps & Features, what exact Office entries do you see (full product names and versions)? Do you still see any Office 2016 components listed? 

Confirm what’s actually installed 

1. Open Control Panel → Programs and Features (or Settings → Apps → Installed apps). 
2. Check for any entries like: 
   “Microsoft Office LTSC 2016 …” 
   “Microsoft Office 2016 Language Pack…” 
   Any other old Office components.
3. If you see any 2016 items, uninstall them, then restart Windows. 

Thank you again for your time and understanding. While my initial response may not resolve the issue immediately, I’d like to gather more details about your situation so I can assist you more effectively.      

I really appreciate your patience, and I’m here to help. Looking forward to your response. 

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Excel is showing as unlicensed because the old Office 2016 volume activation is still in place and Office LTSC 2024 uses the same 16.0 platform. The activation needs to be corrected for the new LTSC 2024 volume‑licensed installation.

Use these steps on the affected device:

1. Confirm this is a volume‑licensed Office LTSC 2024
   • Office LTSC 2024 is a volume‑licensed product and must be activated with KMS or MAK, not a Microsoft 365 subscription.
   • If this is an organizational device, contact the IT admin to confirm the correct KMS/MAK key for Office LTSC 2024.
2. Remove old Office 2016/LTSC 2016 volume license entries
   • Open an elevated Command Prompt.
   • Go to the Office16 folder (for 64‑bit Office on 64‑bit Windows):
     • cd "C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office16"
     • or, if 32‑bit Office on 64‑bit Windows: cd "C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Office\Office16"
   • Use ospp.vbs to list and then remove any old Office 2016 keys (your admin can follow the guidance in Troubleshoot volume activation of Office). This clears conflicting 2016 licenses.
3. Install and activate the correct Office LTSC 2024 key
   • From the same elevated Command Prompt and Office16 folder, use ospp.vbs to install the Office LTSC 2024 KMS or MAK key and activate it, following the procedures in the volume activation troubleshooting article.
   • Ensure activation completes successfully (no error codes in the ospp.vbs output).
4. Verify activation in Excel
   • Open Excel.
   • Go to File → Account.
   • Confirm that the product name shows Office LTSC 2024 and that the activation state is “Product Activated” (no unlicensed banner).

If this is a personal/home copy and not a volume‑licensed deployment, the installation is not supported; in that case, remove the LTSC volume build and install a supported retail or Microsoft 365 version instead.

References:

• Overview of Office LTSC 2024
• Troubleshoot volume activation of Office