Microsoft Ends This Decades-Old Offline Activation Method For Windows

by Aaron Leong — Monday, January 12, 2026, 11:07 AM EDT

Microsoft has officially retired the traditional phone-based activation system for Windows and Office that served as a reliable fallback for users for over two decades.

Indeed, the "slui 4" command has up until now been served PC builders, privacy advocates, and IT administrators well since the days of XP. It allowed users to activate a software license by calling an automated hotline and exchanging long strings of numeric codes without ever connecting the computer to the internet. This was particularly crucial for air-gapped/high-security systems such as in research labs or manufacturing plants where network isolation is a security requirement. Instead, administrators are now required to have a browser and internet connection to register any Windows and Office license.

Anyone calling the activation hotline today will receive this message: "Support for product activation has moved online. For the fastest and most convenient way to activate your product, please visit our online product activation portal at aka.ms/aoh."

We can see how retiring phone-based activation modernizes the activation experience (and we can imagine the service having a low user traffic anyway), but yet some in the tech community are rightfully concerned. According to a report by Windows Latest, which obtained a statement confirmed the change, while the target PC can technically stay offline, the user must now use a separate internet-connected device to access a web-based portal. Crucially, this new portal requires a mandatory sign-in with a Microsoft Account (MSA), which is Microsoft basically blocking the last loophole for users who preferred to keep their software licenses anonymous and untethered from a centralized digital identity.

By forcing activation through an online account, the company ultimately gains a more direct line of sight into its user base, facilitating telemetry and data collection that obviously wouldn't be obtained from an offline setup. For average home users, the impact will likely be minimal, but for enthusiasts and professionals, it feels like a final erosion of control over their hardware.

Critics argue that this silent killing of a legacy feature ignores the needs of specialized sectors, with some pointing out that requiring a web portal for activation introduces new risks into secure workflows. If an environment prohibits smartphones or networked devices, admins are now left with a challenge to legally license their machines.

Despite Microsoft's own support documentation still listing phone activation as a valid path, make no mistake, the phone-in service has gone the way of the dodo as of December 3 last year.