Here’s Why Microsoft Ditched Phone-Based Windows Activation for an Internet-First System

If you relied on the official phone-based method to activate Windows 10/11 and Office, you may be aware of an earlier report where we mentioned that the company had already deprecated that method.

The news first came to light after The Verge’s senior editor Tom Warren posted an exclusive report about it in his newsletter “Notepad.” At the time, it was reported that as of December 3, 2025, Microsoft had quietly retired the traditional phone-based activation for perpetual Windows licenses, replacing it with a fully online process.

The company had previously mentioned that all “customers will instead use the Product Activation Portal.” Now, Microsoft has published an official guide explaining why it killed the phone-based activation in favor of online activation and has detailed a step-by-step guide to activate Microsoft products using the Product Activation Portal.

Microsoft thinks online Windows activation prevents fraud

The guide also reiterates the things we mentioned above and adds a few extra details that are worth noting. Per the company, the new online-based activation method offers “a more secure, reliable, and user-friendly activation experience and helps prevent fraud.”

The company continues, “While the process has been updated, offline activation capabilities remain supported. Customers who rely on traditional offline activation can continue using it without changes to their environment. The Product Activation Portal enables activation for a wide range of perpetual Microsoft products and supports both connected and non-connected devices. This evolution ensures activation remains simple, flexible, and dependable while offering a modern, streamlined interface for all users.”

Microsoft further notes that to access the Product Activation Portal, you need to complete a CAPTCHA and sign in using a supported account. The supported account types include personal Microsoft accounts, work or school accounts, Microsoft Entra ID accounts, and Azure Government tenant accounts. That’s not all; the account you use to sign in is not linked to your product license. It is only used to verify secure access to the portal.

If you want to go through the complete process, you can head over to the support article here, which was first spotted by folks at Neowin.