Determining Your Serial Number

When you first installed Excel (or Office), you were asked for a Product Key number, which should have been located on something or another associated with the product. For instance, the Product Key (sometimes called a CD Key) may have been on the outside of the CD case, or it could have been on the manual or some other piece of documentation.

If you were the one that did the installation, you may vaguely remember that once you correctly entered the information, the installation program displayed a Product ID code that you were told to write down. Chances are good that you didn't do this. (Who does? Even if I did write it down, I would probably lose the paper I wrote it on.)

The problem is, if you ever need to get technical support from Microsoft, you need to supply that Product ID code. Fortunately, there is a way you can discover the code again, without resorting to some yellowing piece of paper you may have written it on.

All you need to do is choose About Microsoft Excel from the Help menu. (In Excel 2007 you click the Office button, click Excel Options, click Resources, then click About.) Excel displays the About Microsoft Excel dialog box, and this dialog box contains your Product ID code. When you are done writing it down (again), click on the OK button to dismiss the dialog box.