When you download and install Microsoft Office 2016 on your computer without a product key, sooner or later, it will display on the title bar "Product Activation Failed." The reason is that Office 2016 is not free; you need to buy a product key to activate it.
However, KMS is a free tool you can use to activate Office without much fuss. But if you are conflicted about how the Office 2016 KMS key works, keep reading as we give you a complete breakdown of it in this article.
What is a Key Management Service (KMS)?
The Key Management Service, as the name implies, is an end-to-end service platform for managing key and data encryption. KMS is a simple, secure, reliable, and standard-compliant capability to protect and encrypt data. It is quite vast in function, consisting of four main components: certificate manager, key service, dedicated KMS, and secret manager. It supports varying platforms, but some of the most common services it manages include:
API key
SSH key pairs
SSL certificate private key
Database encryption keys
Document signing private keys
Code signing private keys
The benefits of the Key Management Service are numerous, such as its scalability, which allows large organization managers multiple keys to activate applications. It is also a cost-effective solution. Furthermore, KMS supports industry-leading cryptographic infrastructure, which meets the security compliance requirements.
How To Activate Office 2016 with KMS?
One of the many uses of KMS is to activate many Microsoft products, including Office. If you have Office 2016 on your computer, you can use KMS to activate it. But check if you have the volume-licensed version of Office 2016, as it comes preinstalled with the Generic Volume License Key (GVLK). Generally, GVLK allows you to install a copy of Office to automatically discover and activate Office on the KMS host using a special VLSC in DNS.
The advantage of a volume license is that Office will always activate itself by using a DNS record to search for a local KMS server during the installation process. And when it finds one, it activates itself for 180 days. Note that if the Office on your computer is joined to the Active Directory and has a GVLK installed, there's no need to enter the GVLK key manually.
Importantly, before you deploy a KMS activation host, consider the date Microsoft plans to end support for that volume version of Office. For Office 2016 and Office 2018, Microsoft will end support by October 14, 2025. With this in mind, take note of when the next reactivation.
To cut a long story short, to activate Office 2016 with KMS, first, you must install the Volume Activation Service. The steps below explain how to get the Volume Activation Service and use the KMS host service to activate Office 2016.
On your PC, search for PowerShell and open it as administrator. Use the Service Manager to install the Volume Activation Service by running the following command:
To be sure the Volume Activation Service is installed successfully, run the command below to check the state:
2Go to the Microsoft Volume Licensing Service Center (VLSC) website, sign in, and find/copy the KMS host key for Microsoft Office 2016.
Go to the Microsoft Volume Licensing Service Center and download the latest version of Microsoft Office Volume License Pack.
4. Open the command prompt as administrator and run the file you download using the command to find the file path.
When the installation is complete, you will be prompted to choose between direct activation with the KMS host and activation with activate directory-based (ADBA). For the purpose of this article, choose the direct activation with the KMS host.
After selecting the Activation Type, install the KMS Host Key by opening a command prompt with administrator privilege, then run the command "slmr –ipk xxxxx-xxxxx-xxxxx-xxxxx-xxxxx" and replace the "xxxxx" with the volume license key.
Alternatively, you can install the KMS host key with the Volume Activation Tools by entering the host key in the field provided.
Next, set the product type to Office 2016 and choose whether you want to activate it via phone or online.
If you choose the “activate online” option, ensure you are connected to the internet during the phase. But if you prefer to use the “activate by phone” option, run the command “slui.exe 4” to activate it. When activated, you don’t have to connect it to the internet to activate clients.
When activation is complete, a window with the current KMS configuration will pop up. Click on the close button to restart the Software Protection Service with a new configuration.
In the KMS host activation phase, a new SRV_VLMCS_TCP_domainname record will be created. This new record allows clients to discover the KMS server automatically in the domain. To find the KMS service in the current Active Directory domain, open PowerShell with administrator privilege, then run the command.
The above result means that the Software Protection Service listens to the TCP port 1688 to activate the KMS. To enable an inbound Microsoft Defender Firewall rule, run the command "Enable-NetFirewallRule –Name SPPSVC-In-TCP” using PowerShell with administrator privilege.
Finally, to test the KMS server connectivity from the computer with the installed Microsoft Office, use the Test-NetConnection cmdlet prompt to check with the Command Prompt opened as administrator. Remember to change the section "your KMS server" name with the name of your server.
Free Word, Excel, PPT, Office Suite Recommended – WPS Office
The Microsoft Office 2016 compared to the WPS Office suite is almost an unfair comparison as WPS stands out exceptionally. Firstly, the WPS Office is a more convenient office suite to download as you won't have to go through the trouble of downloading a series of things to use it.
It is very simple to download the latest version of the WPS Office for free; simply head to the WPS website and click on the download link. Similarly, the features and tools integrated into the WPS Office are quite extensive, making it a go-to solution for many individuals and organizations alike. Below, we elaborate on these features and tools a little bit more.
Extensive tools
One of the benefits of choosing to use WPS Office over Microsoft Office is the extensive tools integrated within the office suite. With WPS, you get the standard tools such as Writer, Presentation, and Spreadsheet.
In addition, WPS Office has a PDF tool that you can use to edit, sign, merge, and perform several other functions. Also, you'll get an OCR tool to extract text from printed documents by scanning it and several other tools.
Price
Another benefit of choosing the WPS Office suite over Microsoft Office is its affordability. Unlike Microsoft Office, which requires a product key to activate to use its software, WPS is free to download and use.
Moreover, downloading the WPS Office is easier compared to Microsoft. All you have to do to download the WPS Office is to go to the WPS website to download the latest version. Alternatively, you can visit the store of your device, such as the App Store, Microsoft Store, PlayStore, etc. If you choose to subscribe to WPS Premium, it will set you back $9.99 for three months or $29.99 for a year, which is considerably more affordable than Microsoft Office.
Compatibility
WPS might be a lightweight office suite, yet it is quite powerful. Due to its lightweight design, the WPS Office will run on low-end devices smoothly. Hardly will you have to deal with issues such as lagging when using the WPS Office suite because it is not resource-demanding. It is compatible with many operating systems, namely Windows, MacOS, Linus, Android, and iOS. Additionally, you can use the WPS Office suite to run files like text document formats (such as doc, docx, dot, wps, wpt), Spreadsheet documents (such as et, ett, xlsx, xls, csv), XML documents formats (such as html, htm, xml, mhtm) and slideshow documents format, nos (such as ppt, pot, dpt, pps, ets).
Collaboration
In terms of collaboration, the WPS Office suite offers impressive collaboration functions. With functions like the AirPage, you can share documents with others and collaborate in real time. Whether you want to edit, make comments, or view the document, the AirPage option in WPS software makes the process seamless.
Cloud integration
It's also important to note that the WPS Office comes integrated with a cloud function that allows users to access all their files saved to the cloud. The WPS Office supports clouds like WPS Cloud, OneDrive, Google Drive, and so on.
With its cloud support, you can easily switch between devices, which improves productivity. For example, suppose you were working on your PC. In that case, you can save a document on the cloud, access that document with the WPS mobile app on a tablet or mobile device, and pick up from the last section you stopped without worrying about sending or receiving any file.
Massive template store
It would also interest you to know that WPS Office comes with a very wide template store. This store allows users to find document templates that suit a particular purpose.
So, whether you are trying to come up with a sales report, a letter, a presentation, and so on, you can easily search from the thousands of templates available on the WPS template store to speed up the process.
Using the WPS Office template saves you a lot of time as you won't be creating documents from scratch. The template gives you a framework to work with. Hence, all you will be doing when you have a template is to make minor changes to the theme to personalize it, then change the wording based on what you are working on.
User-friendly interface
The interface of the WPS Office is intuitive. In other words, the WPS Office interface has been designed to be user-friendly. So, even if you are a complete beginner and it is your first time using an Office Suite, you won't find it challenging to navigate through the app. Its interface is modern and sleek.
When you launch the app, it presents you with a tab-style format, more like a web browser. And on each tab, you can open separate documents, making navigating between documents easy.
WPS AI
Finally, it is important to take note of the WPS AI. This AI is more like a copilot when creating or editing documents. It makes suggestions on how to make your writings, slides, or spreadsheets look more organized and engaging. The WPS AI is a useful feature that generates content, summarizes and analyzes data, and offers an interactive chat with PDFs, amongst other functions.
Whether you are a student, educator, or professional in your field, the WPS AI is a useful feature that will improve your interaction with an Office Suite.
FAQs
Is KMS activation permanent?
The activation is not permanent when you use the KMS activation for a Microsoft product. The activation often stays valid for 180 days. After this activation validity interface, the KMS client must be renewed by connecting to a KMS host at least once every 180 days to stay activated.
How do you activate volume-licensed versions of Office by using KMS?
To activate a volume-licensed version of Office with KMS, set up a host server using the steps listed above. When the host server is set up, you can then run the activation code. Note that you can always configure the KMS host caching depending on what you want to achieve. If you want to disable the KMS host caching, run the following command.
Alt tag: Disabling KMS host caching in the command prompt
But if you want to enable the KMS host caching, then run the following command.
Alt tag: Enabling KMS Host caching in the command prompt
Take away
KMS is one of the best ways to activate Office 2016. Compared to other activation processes, the KMS method offers a more long-term solution. Even though the product needs to be connected to the KMS host at least once every 180 days, it is still better than paying the price of purchasing a Microsoft Office product key.
Furthermore, to save yourself from the headache of worrying about activation and connecting to the KMS server to remain activated, you can opt for the WPS Office suite. The WPS Office is a free office suite that allows you to create Word, Excel, and PowerPoint documents and still provide additional functions. So, it's no surprise why the WPS Office stands out as a preferred office suite by many professionals.
