Pre-installed Office 2021 gone

[Newton2012]

Hey HP community,

I have an HP laptop that originally came with Office 2021 preinstalled. After doing a clean install of Windows 11, Office disappeared and now won’t activate. I’ve checked my Microsoft account—there’s no record of a product key or subscription. My warranty expired five months ago, so I’m handling this on my own.

Has anyone else experienced this? Is there any way to recover the Office license or get it activated again without restoring the entire factory image?

Thanks in advance for any help or advice.

[VikramTheGreat]

Hi @Newton2012,

Welcome to the HP Support Community.
 

Thank you for posting your query. I will be glad to help you.

I understand that you’re using an HP laptop that came with Office 2021 preinstalled. After performing a clean install of Windows 11, Office is no longer installed and won’t activate. Your Microsoft account doesn’t show a license, and your HP warranty has expired.
 

Let’s walk you through what you can do now, even without restoring the full factory image.

Step 1: Check HP Digital Delivery Tool (Optional)

HP may have delivered your Office license through HP Digital Delivery, which is lost during a clean install.

1. Go to HP’s driver page for your laptop model
2. Look under Software - Solutions for:
   • HP Digital Delivery Recovery Tool
   • Install and run it
3. If your device was eligible, it may reinstall Office or restore the license

HP Digital Delivery only works once and often fails after clean installs unless backup partitions were preserved.

Step 2: Try to Reinstall Office from Microsoft

If you had a valid full license, you should be able to reinstall:

1. Go to: Login | Microsoft 365 Copilot
2. Sign in with your Microsoft account
3. Click My Account > Services & Subscriptions
4. If Office 2021 is listed, click Install

I hope this helps.

Take care, and have an amazing day!
 

Did we resolve the issue? If yes, please consider marking this post as "Accepted Solution" and click "Yes" to give us a helpful vote - your feedback keeps us going!

Regards,

VikramTheGreat

[Newton2012]

Hello again,
Unfortunately, under the Software - Solutions of my specific HP Laptop, there is not a HP Digital Delivery Tool listed.
And under Step 2, there is no Office license listed in my Microsoft Account, I am quite stumped here, can you find any ways I can recover Office? thanks again for the help.
Regards,
Newton2012

[VikramTheGreat]

Hi @Newton2012,

Please help us with your HP unit serial number or the product number in a private message for further assistance.
 

Here is the link to find the product Serial number: - Click here

To access your private messages, simply click the private message icon on the upper right corner of your HP Support Community profile, next to your profile and send a private message to me with the serial number because we value your privacy.

VikramTheGreat

HP Support