Bought an official product key for office 2016 in 2016. Now I can only use it on one computer?

The product key for Office 2016 is typically associated with a specific number of activations based on your volume licensing agreement. If you purchased a retail version of Office 2016, it generally allows installation on one computer at a time. If you need to install it on a new computer, you would need to deactivate it on the old one first.

This policy has been consistent, and if you are now being informed that you can only use the product key on one computer at a time, it is likely not a change in policy but rather a standard enforcement of the licensing terms.

If you want to install Office on multiple computers, you may need to consider purchasing additional licenses or a different licensing option, such as a subscription to Microsoft 365, which allows for installations on multiple devices depending on the plan.

Big change after 9 years for me. Thank you for your reply.

Hello, Robert Steffen.

The retail license for Office 2016 (for others, too, by the way: 2019, 2021...) allows you to use only one copy of the software on one PC at a time. This is written in the EULA:

https://www.microsoft.com/content/dam/microsoft/usetm/documents/office/2016-office-home-student-windows-and-mac/retail-packaged/Useterms_Retail_Office_2016HomeAndStudent_ENG.pdf

The conditions for this Office 2016 have been and have remained unchanged since 2015. Why you had one license working on two PCs is not entirely clear, there may have been a bug on the activation servers (this sometimes happens). But in any case, you should adhere to the EULA in order to legally use the software.