said by bbear2:Maybe I'm missing something if I change PCs and there's no way to link this key to me? Now you have me thinking.
A year ago I bought a boxed copy of 2019 Home & Student, with a DVD. Bought it online and all indications seem to show it is legit. I installed from the DVD (I don't remember the exact sequence of events), entered the key from the card inside the box... it told me I had to link it to my MS account in order to 'activate' it. Now, when I open Word and go to Accounts, I can see that it "belongs" to me. I can also see it online in my MS Account as a purchase for $0 - it was added there when I activated - I did not buy direct from MS. Also note that I am not "signed in". Signing in will sync settings or let you easily save to OneDrive or something like that. I don't do any of that. I did the bare minimum, linking it to my MS account to activate, but that's it.
