Removing License Key from Office 2008 for Mac

I figured out something today. I’m using one of works license keys for Office 2008 for Mac and accidently used the same key that one of our Sys Admins is using. I dreaded having to completely uninstall and reinstall office. I figured out a go around for removing the information about the keys so the next time you start Office 2008 (for Mac) you will be prompted again to insert a new license key.

There are two files on your Mac you will have to delete:

1. Library -> Preferences -> Microsoft -> Office 2008 -> Microsoft Office 2008 Settings.plist
2. HD -> Applications ->Microsoft Office 2008 -> OfficePID.plist

Now just start up any of the office apps and enter in your new key!

This entry was posted on Wednesday, February 6th, 2008 at 7:24 pm and is filed under Apple, Fun, Geek . You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

  • AC

    Thanks!

    Reply

  • http://www.yolospat.com Jen

    No problem!

    Reply

  • Anonymous

    Thanks that was a great help!

    Reply

  • Mark

    Thank you. Saved me a ton of time considering I couldn’t get the old “uninstall office” + hold some command key trick to work on the newer version.

    Reply

  • Bruno

    Thanks, works perfectly…

    Reply

  • Norm

    Is there another way to remove the Microsoft Office 2008 Settings.plist, I do not have this file on my Macbook.

    Reply

  • Marco

    Man this was a LIFE SAVING advice….

    Reply

  • cool1o

    Great post, thanks! God bless the hackers

    Reply

  • Skipper

    That was absolutely amazing! It only took about two minutes!

    Reply

  • Hallo

    On MacBook, you only need to delete the OfficePID.plist file (although I only wanted to change the person to whom it was registered, not the registration key altogether).

    Reply

  • mako

    I can find the OfficePID.plist but I can’t find the Office 2008 Settings.plist. In fact, i don’t even have an Microsoft folder in the Preference folders.

    Reply

  • Wienke

    I also can’t find the Settings.plist. And after removing OfficePID.plist I get prompted for automatic update settings.

    Reply

  • Dan

    Thank you! I could not figure this out on my own!

    Reply

  • Office User

    If you just want to change the name of the person that the program is registered to, all you need to do is to open the OfficePID.plist file in textedit and change the name. You’ll see the old name seven lines down within the section…write the new name in, save and your done.

    Takes five seconds.

    Reply

  • Oliver

    awesome tip! thanks a lot

    Reply

  • Kwesi Springer

    Worked like a charm had no problems with this soloution.

    Reply

  • brian

    awesome…thanks so much for your help. i thought i was going to have to call MS to get this figured out…..you ROCK!

    Reply

  • VK

    Thanks a lot. worked like a charm.

    Reply

  • Sara

    This information is incorrect. The path for 2. is incorrect. It should be
    2. HD -> Applications ->Microsoft Office 2008 -> Office ->OfficePID.plist
    And I do not have a Microsoft folder in 1. ~/Library -> Preferences -> Microsoft -> Office 2008 -> Microsoft Office 2008 Settings.plist This file is in your users folder not in the root Library as was indicated by the given path.

    Reply

  • http://www.avanta.co.uk Office space

    You've just saved me the stress of either spending money on someone to fix it or messing my system up. Thanks

    Reply

  • MK

    Works nicely… Although the directory route for 1.. is:

    Macintosh HD, Users, John Smith example, Library, Preferences, Microsoft, Office 2008 (file is located in this folder)

    Reply

  • dongilbert

    Easiest way – Open Terminal and type in (or copy paste) the following and hit enter

    rm -rf ~/Library/Preferences/Microsoft/Office 2008/Microsoft Office 2008 Settings.plist ; rm -rf /Applications/Microsoft Office 2008/Office/OfficePID.plist

    That'll do it

    Reply

  • dongilbert

    Easiest way – Open Terminal and type in (or copy paste) the following and hit enter

    rm -rf ~/Library/Preferences/Microsoft/Office 2008/Microsoft Office 2008 Settings.plist ; rm -rf /Applications/Microsoft Office 2008/Office/OfficePID.plist

    That'll do it

    Reply

  • josteinkrogedal

    Thank You. just what i´ve looking for!!!

    Reply

  • bill1

    Thank you all so much! This has been a headache!

    Reply

  • Sami

    brilliant !!!!!
    been fussing with this for an hour. many many thanks for sharing.

    Reply

  • Miguelelchef

    Gracias lo pude arreglar. Desde Puerto Rico.

    Reply

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  • http://www.kaltechsolutions.com website development

    Thanks, it solved my problem.

    Reply

    yolospat reply on June 25th, 2011 1:34 am:

    Glad to help :)

    Reply

  • http://www.arhelectric.com electrical contractor

    Thanks for the great tip. Wasted many hours troubleshooting. 

    Reply

    yolospat reply on June 25th, 2011 1:33 am:

    You’re welcome, glad it was helpful! Sure beats having to completely uninstall and re-install!

    Reply

  • Rafiazam

    I can’t find Microsoft in Preferences:-( Thus can’t get to the Settings.plist.

    Reply

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  • Ine

    hi, I was a bit to fast in deleting .plist files and instead of deleting settings.plist I deleted setupinfo.plist. After that I found settings.plist and deleted that one too but now when I open Office 2008 it gives me all the time the Instalation assistent of Microsoft Office 2008 and it doesn’t let me in. How can I recover the setupinfo.plist and why don’t I get the screen to enter the new Product Key? Many thanks for your help.

    Reply

  • Fuchsbaerga

    Thank You!!! YMMD!!!!

    Reply

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  • Hawksurfs

    Piece of Cake!!!!!

    Reply