Office 0x80070490: the licensing token vanishes on non-persistent VDI

Fix it now

On a non-persistent desktop the licensing token is written into the user’s profile and thrown away at logoff. Shared computer activation is the documented mechanism for this, and licensing token roaming is the documented way to make the token survive. Both are settings, not a different licence.

reg query "HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Office\ClickToRun\Configuration" /v SharedComputerLicensing
reg query "HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Office\ClickToRun\Configuration" /v SCLCacheOverride
netsh winhttp show proxy

1. If SharedComputerLicensing is missing or not 1, add it through the Office Deployment Tool: <Property Name="SharedComputerLicensing" Value="1" />, then run setup.exe /configure configuration.xml. It is a string value, not a DWORD.
2. Turn on licensing token roaming so the token does not live in the discarded profile: set SCLCacheOverride to 1 and SCLCacheOverrideDirectory to a folder that persists for that user.
3. Confirm the identity and licensing endpoints are reachable from inside a user session on that host, not just from the console.
4. Have one user sign in, activate, log off and log on again. If Office opens licensed in the second session, the token is persisting.

The licensing token is valid for 30 days and renews itself as it approaches expiry. A user who does not sign in for 30 days loses it whatever else you configure.

If the second session opens licensed you can stop here. If it does not, the next section explains where the token lives and which of these codes actually means what.

Why it happens

A standard Office activation writes a licensing token into the signed-in user’s local application data and leaves it there. That works on a physical PC because the profile persists. On a non-persistent virtual desktop the operating system volume, and usually the local profile with it, is discarded at logoff and recreated from the image at the next logon, and the token goes with it.

Shared computer activation exists for exactly this. It changes Office’s behaviour so activation is treated as temporary and per-user, obtained from the Office Licensing Service when the person signs in, rather than assumed to be a permanent property of the machine. It is enabled by one setting, and Microsoft publishes both the Office Deployment Tool property and the registry value it creates: SharedComputerLicensing, a string value set to 1, under HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Office\ClickToRun\Configuration.

With it on, the token lands in %localappdata%\Microsoft\Office\16.0\Licensing – not the Licenses folder used by an ordinary install, which is a detail worth getting right when you are deciding what a profile container has to cover. Microsoft also publishes licensing token roaming for precisely the non-persistent case: SCLCacheOverride set to 1, and SCLCacheOverrideDirectory pointing at a folder that roams with the user or lives on a share.

The entitlement side has one trap. Shared computer activation is supported by plans that include Microsoft 365 Apps for enterprise, by plans that include desktop Project or Visio, by Microsoft 365 Business Premium, and by education plans that include Microsoft 365 Apps for enterprise. Microsoft names Business Premium as the only business plan that supports it, and states it is not available for Office for Mac. A Business Standard estate cannot be configured into working here.

Full reference

Settings that decide whether the token survives

What the codes in this family actually say

0x80070490 carries two published readings and it is worth holding both. The raw code means an element was not found, which is consistent with a token that is not there. Microsoft’s activation troubleshooting table glosses the same value as the product key not working. On a session host the first reading is usually the relevant one, but if the machine has a key installed at all, check that before assuming.

Messages Microsoft publishes for shared computer activation

Diagnostics worth having on a session host

• netsh winhttp show proxy for the proxy that system services actually use, which is not the browser’s.
• dsregcmd /status for the device join and identity state, useful when sign-in rather than licensing is failing.
• The profile container’s own logs at logon, which tell you whether the disk attached before Office started.
• The contents of the 16.0\Licensing folder in the second session, which is the direct evidence of whether the token persisted.
• The admin centre, for whether the user’s plan is one that supports shared computer activation at all.

Whether to use it at all

Shared computer activation is required where more than one person signs in to a machine, or where the profile is discarded. That covers Remote Desktop session hosts and pooled desktops. It is not required on a persistent single-user virtual desktop, which keeps its token like a physical PC, and on a small estate a persistent desktop is a reasonable trade against the operational benefits of a pooled image.

The 30-day token life is what makes this less urgent than it feels on the day. A user who signs in regularly renews without noticing. A user who is away for five weeks comes back to an unlicensed Office and one sign-in fixes it. What you cannot fix by signing in is a plan that does not support the mechanism, which is why the entitlement check belongs early rather than late.

Every code this article covers

Confirm the fix worked

1. SharedComputerLicensing exists as a string value set to 1 under the Click-to-Run Configuration key.
2. A test user activates, signs out, signs in again, and Office opens with no activation prompt.
3. The licensing folder under that user’s local application data, or the roaming directory, is populated in the second session.
4. The setting is still present after an Office update has run on the image.
5. Two different session hosts behave identically, which tells you it is a property of the image rather than of one machine.

Questions people ask about this