MS Office 2016 deactivates after update

[frtmover1]

Microsoft office became deactivated after windows update. How can I reactivate MS Office 2016? It came preinstalled on desktop

[itsmyname]

@frtmover1 -- was Office installed as a "30-day-free-trial" ? Or, do you have a subscription to Office 365?

[frtmover1]

It was preinstalled as an add on when I customized the desktop. It was not a trial

[itsmyname]

@frtmover1 -- what happens when you try to activate it?

If you originally activated it via a Microsoft Account, your product-key for Office should be available after you logon to your Microsoft Account.

[frtmover1]

It was 4 years ago  however, I don’t recall using a Microsoft account to activate it and, I have no record of creating a Microsoft account in my hard copy file. 

[WAWood]

@frtmover1 

Ever since Office 2013, Microsoft has distributed Office products in two different "versions".
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The first is something new known as Click to Run (abbreviated CTR). In this case, you download the installation package from Microsoft, install it, and use the product key obtained from Microsoft. With the CTR version, the product key is NOT stored on your local machine, but instead, in your account at Microsoft. There is no way to retrieve the product key from your machine because it simply is not stored there. IF you had the second version, the ONLY way to get the product key, is from your MS account.
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The second is similar to what they did previously, with the software installed locally on your PC, using a product key that came with the product. When done, that product key is stored locally in your PC, in the registry. This means that you can use a variety of registry scanning tools to retrieve that product key later -- should you need it.

If you have reformatted the drive or reinstalled Windows, you have wiped out the office key information previously stored there and that can NOT be recovered. You would have to contact HP Customer support directly to see if they can help in any way...