Microsoft product key FAQs — delivery, activation & refunds

Yes. Every key we sell is a genuine Microsoft product key that activates against Microsoft’s own activation servers — not a generated key, not a shared key, and not a cracked installer. When you enter it, Windows or Office contacts Microsoft directly and returns a normal “Product is activated” status, exactly as it would with a key bought from a retail store.

The reason we can sell the same licence for a fraction of the retail price is how the keys are sourced, not what they are. Volume licensing agreements and the legal secondary market for software licences — upheld in the EU by the Court of Justice in UsedSoft v Oracle — mean a licence that carries a $200 shelf price can legitimately change hands for far less. You download the software from Microsoft’s own servers using the official installer we link in your delivery email, so the files are never touched by us.

If a key ever fails to activate, we replace it or refund you inside the 180-day money-back window. That guarantee exists precisely because we are confident in what we are selling.

Your product key is emailed to the address you enter at checkout, normally within seconds of payment clearing. Nothing is posted, and there is no waiting for business hours — the delivery is automated, so a purchase at three in the morning arrives just as fast as one at midday.

The email contains three things: your product key, a direct download link to the official Microsoft installer for the exact edition you bought, and step-by-step activation instructions written for that specific product. You do not need to hunt for the right ISO or guess which version to install.

If the email has not arrived within a few minutes, check your spam or promotions folder first — automated delivery messages containing licence keys are the kind of thing filters occasionally hold back. It is also worth confirming there is no typo in the address you entered. If it is genuinely missing, contact us with your order number and we will resend it immediately; we can also send it to a different address if the original was mistyped.

Every licence sold on GetDigiMarket is a one-time purchase. You pay once, you own that licence, and it does not expire. There is no renewal date, no monthly or annual charge, and no card kept on file that quietly bills you next year.

This is the practical difference between what we sell and Microsoft 365. Microsoft 365 is a subscription: stop paying and the apps eventually drop into read-only mode. The editions we stock — Office 2024, 2021, 2019, 2016, Windows 11, Windows 10, Windows Server — are perpetual licences, the same model software was always sold under. Once activated, the software keeps working on that machine indefinitely.

The trade-off is worth understanding honestly. A perpetual licence does not gain new features over time the way a subscription does, and it does not include the cloud storage or multi-device rights that a Microsoft 365 plan bundles in. What it does give you is a fixed, known cost and software that carries on working whether or not you keep paying. For most people who mainly need Word, Excel, Outlook and a licensed copy of Windows, that is the better deal.

It depends on the specific product, and the exact number is stated on every product page before you buy — we deliberately put it in the title as well as the specifications, because this is the single most common source of confusion in software licensing.

As a general rule, most Windows and Office keys we sell cover one PC. Some Professional Plus editions are sold as 5-PC packs, and those are labelled clearly as such in the product name. A one-PC licence means exactly that: the key activates on a single machine and binds to that installation.

Buying the right count matters. If you try to activate a single-PC key on a second machine while the first is still using it, activation will fail, and that is correct behaviour rather than a fault with the key. If you need to cover several computers, either buy a multi-PC pack where one exists for that product, or buy separate single-PC keys — both are perfectly legitimate. If you are unsure how many you need for your situation, message us before ordering and we will tell you plainly.

Only if the product page says Mac. This catches more people out than anything else we deal with, so it is worth being blunt: a Windows product key will not activate on macOS, and an Office for Windows key will not activate Office for Mac. They are separate licences with separate installers, even when the version number looks identical.

Office for Mac is listed separately in our catalogue. We stock Office 2024, 2021, 2019 and 2016 for Mac, generally in Home & Student and Home & Business editions. Each is a perpetual licence, installed by signing in with a Microsoft account on the Mac and redeeming the key there rather than typing it into the app.

Windows and Windows Server keys are for PC hardware only. If you are running Windows on Apple silicon through a virtual machine such as Parallels, a standard Windows licence still applies to that virtual machine — but the licence covers the Windows installation, not macOS itself. If your setup is unusual, ask us first; it takes a minute and saves buying the wrong thing.

You contact us and we fix it. Practically speaking, almost every failed activation falls into one of three buckets, and only the third one needs a new key.

The most common cause is an edition mismatch — a Windows 11 Pro key entered on a machine running Windows 11 Home, or an Office Professional Plus key typed into a Home & Student installation. The fix is changing the installed edition, not replacing the key. The second is a leftover previous installation: an old Microsoft 365 or Office copy that has not been fully removed will block a new perpetual install from activating. Removing it resolves it.

The third is a genuinely faulty key, and in that case we replace it. Message us with your order number and the exact error code on screen — codes like 0xC004C003 or 0x80070005 tell us immediately what went wrong, so including them gets you a real answer instead of a round of questions. If we cannot get you activated, you get your money back under the 180-day guarantee. Nothing is at risk while we work through it.

Yes. Because you are running genuine, properly activated Microsoft software, it receives updates through Microsoft’s normal channels exactly as any other licensed copy does. Windows pulls patches through Windows Update; Office receives its updates automatically in the background. We are not in that loop at all — the software talks to Microsoft directly.

What matters is understanding each product’s support lifecycle, which is set by Microsoft and is the same regardless of where the licence came from. Every product page on our store lists the end-of-support date in the Product Specs section, so you can see it before buying. Office 2024, for example, receives security updates until October 2029.

The distinction to be aware of is between security updates and new features. A perpetual licence keeps receiving security and stability fixes for its full lifecycle, but it does not gain the new features Microsoft adds to the subscription version over time. The version you buy is the version you keep. For most users that is a feature rather than a limitation — the software stays predictable and does not change under you.

That depends on the licence type, and the type is shown on every product page so you can check before you buy.

A Retail licence can generally be moved. If you replace a laptop or rebuild a PC, you remove the software from the old machine and activate on the new one. Occasionally the online activation will refuse a transfer and you will need to complete it by phone through Microsoft’s automated activation line — a five-minute process, and one we walk customers through regularly.

An OEM licence is different. OEM keys are tied to the hardware they were first activated on, usually the motherboard. Replace the motherboard or move to a different machine and the licence does not travel with you. That restriction comes from Microsoft’s licensing terms, not from us, and it is part of why OEM keys cost less.

If you know you will be changing machines, buy Retail. If the key is for a machine you expect to keep, OEM is the cheaper and perfectly legitimate choice. Message us if you are unsure which suits your situation.

Both are genuine Microsoft licences that activate identically and give you identical software. The difference is entirely in the licensing terms, and it comes down to two things: transferability and support.

A Retail licence is the version sold in shops to consumers. It can be moved between computers as long as it is only active on one at a time, and it entitles you to direct support from Microsoft. It costs more because of that flexibility.

An OEM licence was designed to be pre-installed by a manufacturer on a new machine. Once activated, it binds to that hardware permanently — specifically to the motherboard. Replace the motherboard and the licence is spent. OEM licences also route support through the hardware supplier rather than Microsoft directly, though in practice our own support team handles most questions people would otherwise take to Microsoft.

Neither is more or less “real” than the other. The software is the same, the updates are the same, the activation is the same. Choose Retail if the machine might change; choose OEM if it will not and you want the lower price.

Buying a genuine, properly transferred software licence is legal. In the European Union this is settled law: the Court of Justice ruled in UsedSoft v Oracle (2012) that once a copy of software has been sold within the EU, the rights holder’s distribution right in that copy is exhausted — meaning the licence can lawfully be resold. Similar principles apply in a number of other jurisdictions.

What matters is that the licence is genuine and properly transferred, which is exactly the distinction between a legitimate reseller and the grey market. We are not selling generated keys, keys pulled from stolen accounts, or activation cracks — those are neither legal nor functional in the long run, because Microsoft deactivates them.

We would rather be straightforward about this than hide behind marketing language: the reason our prices are low is the sourcing route, not a trick. You get the identical software, downloaded from Microsoft’s own servers, activating through Microsoft’s own service. If it ever fails to activate, our 180-day money-back guarantee covers you. If you have specific compliance requirements — a corporate audit obligation, for example — contact us before ordering so we can tell you honestly whether we are the right supplier.

For most people the honest answer is Home, and the difference is smaller than the price gap suggests.

Windows 11 Home gives you the complete operating system: the same interface, the same Microsoft updates, the same app compatibility, the same performance. Nothing about day-to-day use is cut down.

Windows 11 Pro adds four things that matter to specific people. BitLocker encrypts the whole drive, so a stolen laptop does not become a stolen filing cabinet. Remote Desktop host lets you connect into that machine from elsewhere — Home can connect out, but cannot be connected to. Hyper-V runs virtual machines natively. Domain join lets the PC join a company network.

So the decision is simple. If the computer stays at home, holds nothing confidential, and is used for browsing, documents and study, Home is the right buy and the money saved is real. If you work from the machine, carry it around, store client data on it, or need to reach it remotely, buy Pro — BitLocker alone justifies the difference. If you already own Home and want Pro, an upgrade key changes the edition in about ten minutes without reinstalling anything.

They are two different products sold under two different models, and the right one genuinely depends on how you work.

Microsoft 365 is a subscription. You pay monthly or annually, and in return you get the apps across multiple devices, roughly a terabyte of OneDrive storage, and continuous new features. Stop paying and the apps drop into a read-only mode — your files remain yours, but you cannot edit them until you subscribe again.

Office 2024 is a perpetual licence. You pay once, install it on the number of PCs the licence covers, and it keeps working indefinitely. It receives security updates through to October 2029 but does not gain new features over time. There is no cloud storage bundled in and no multi-device rights beyond what the licence states.

Choose Microsoft 365 if you work across several devices, need the storage, or want the newest features as they ship. Choose Office 2024 if you mainly work on one computer, want a fixed known cost, and would rather not have a recurring charge. For a great many people — students, households, one-machine businesses — the perpetual licence is both cheaper over time and entirely sufficient.

In the large majority of cases, yes. The keys we sell activate through Microsoft’s global activation service, which is not geo-locked in the way people often assume, and the software itself is fully multilingual — you choose your display language during installation regardless of where you bought the licence or where you are using it.

There are two honest caveats. First, a small number of Microsoft SKUs are region-specific by design, and where that applies to a product we sell, it is stated on the product page. Second, if you activate a licence in one region and later move continents, an online activation can occasionally be refused as a precaution. That is not the key failing — it is Microsoft’s fraud check being cautious, and it is resolved through the automated phone activation route, which takes a few minutes.

Practically, we have customers activating successfully across Europe, North America, the Middle East, Asia and Australia. If you are buying from somewhere unusual or planning to use the licence in a different country from where you bought it, send us a message before ordering and we will confirm rather than have you guess.

Every purchase is covered for 180 days from the order date. If a key does not activate and our support team cannot get it working, you get a full refund. There are no restocking fees and no requirement to justify yourself beyond telling us what went wrong.

The process is deliberately simple. Email us or use the contact form with your order number, the product name, and the exact error message or code you are seeing. The error code matters — it usually identifies the cause immediately, which often means we solve the problem in one reply rather than several.

From there we do one of three things: walk you through the fix if it is a configuration issue such as an edition mismatch or a leftover Office installation, send a replacement key if the original is genuinely faulty, or refund you if neither of those resolves it. Refunds go back to the original payment method.

A hundred and eighty days is a deliberately long window — considerably longer than the fourteen or thirty days most software sellers offer. It exists so that buying from us carries no real risk, and so we have every incentive to sell keys that work.