How to Activate Windows or Office by Phone (Confirmation ID)

Phone-activation keys are activated through Microsoft’s Product Activation service rather than over the internet. It takes about two minutes, and you never have to call anyone: we issue your Confirmation ID online.

What you will need

• Your product key, delivered with your order.
• Your activation code, sent in the same email. It is what lets you get a Confirmation ID from us.

See It in Action

Windows 10 and Windows 11

1. Open Settings → System → Activation, choose Change product key and enter your key.
2. Activation will fail with an error such as 0xC004C008. This is expected for a phone-activation key: it simply means the key must go through the phone route. Windows then offers Activate by phone or Activate via the Product Activation Portal.
3. Choose your country. Windows shows an Installation ID as a long row of digit groups.
4. Go to Get your Confirmation ID, enter your activation code and the Installation ID, and we return a Confirmation ID instantly.
5. Back in Windows, click Enter Confirmation ID, type the blocks A–H and click Activate.

If the phone option does not appear, press Win + R, type slui 4 and press Enter. From an administrator Command Prompt you can also run slmgr /dti to display the Installation ID and slmgr /atp CONFIRMATIONID to apply the Confirmation ID.

Office, Visio and Project

1. Install the suite and open any app, such as Word or Excel.
2. Enter your product key when prompted. When activation cannot complete online, choose the option to activate the software by telephone.
3. The wizard shows your Installation ID in step 2.
4. Get your Confirmation ID from our Get CID page, then type it into step 3 and click Next.

Good to know

• Your activation code works only with the key it was issued for. If the Installation ID comes from a different key, nothing is used up and you can try again.
• The Confirmation ID is tied to that specific installation. Reinstalling Windows or changing major hardware means repeating these steps with a new Installation ID.
• Activation is permanent once accepted. There is nothing to renew.