The Windows activation method that has been used for over 20 years has been invalidated overnight. The phone activation for Win11/Win10 suddenly fails, and Microsoft has neither issued an announcement nor given notice.

For many ordinary users, activating Windows only requires a few clicks of the mouse and a few seconds of internet connection. However, in the internal networks of numerous government and enterprise organizations, industrial control systems, classified terminals, and environments without external network access, the method of activating Windows has never been a trivial matter.

Now, this "lifeline" that has been maintained for over a decade may be quietly being cut off by Microsoft.

Recently, many users have discovered that the phone activation function on Windows 11, Windows 10, and even Windows 7 is no longer available. Surprisingly, Microsoft has not issued any official announcements, and the relevant support documents have not been updated. However, based on actual test results, almost all of Windows' official offline activation paths have become invalid.

Phone Activation: The Last Resort for Official "Network-Free Activation"

For a long time, Microsoft has provided two types of Windows activation channels:

Online Activation: Connect the device to the internet and complete the verification through Microsoft's servers.

Phone Activation: In the case of no internet connection, call Microsoft's activation hotline, enter the installation ID, and obtain a confirmation ID to activate the system offline.

Among them, phone activation is a verification method that was introduced since the Windows XP era and has been in use for over 20 years. For many government and enterprise organizations, phone activation is not an "alternative" but the only viable option. Many internal network terminals are not allowed to access the public network from system deployment to the end of their usage cycle.

As early as last November, Microsoft removed the unofficial KMS offline activation method. At that time, many people thought that at least there was still phone activation as a backup, leaving a way out for special scenarios. But now, this path has also been blocked.

User Test: All You Hear on the Phone Is "Activate Online"

Last month, a user with the ID nickname 3K posted a help request on the Microsoft Learn official community, saying that he couldn't complete the Windows phone activation no matter what.

For this reason, he specifically cited the support document still posted on Microsoft's official website, which clearly states:

Users "can choose to activate the device by phone."

According to the description in this document, the original phone activation process should be:

(1) Open: Start Menu → Settings → System → Activation;

(2) In the "Activate Windows Now" area, select "Activate by Phone";

(3) Follow the prompts to call Microsoft's product activation phone number to complete the activation.

However, the problem is that this process no longer works in reality.

A user named Ben Kleinberg directly recorded a screen test on YouTube. When he called Microsoft's product activation phone number, instead of the familiar manual or key - press instructions, he heard an automated voice response like this:

"Product activation support has moved online. To activate your product in the fastest and most convenient way, visit our online product activation portal: aka.ms/aoh."

In other words, the phone line no longer provides any manual or offline activation services. Instead, users are directly forced to switch to online activation. The link mentioned in the response points to Microsoft's official Microsoft Product Activation Portal, which requires an internet connection to continue.

Ironically, as of the time of publication, Microsoft's official support document still retains the description that "Windows can be activated by phone," but the actual situation is that although the phone number can still be dialed and the automated voice can still be played, the activation process has been completely removed.

Not only the latest Windows 11 and Windows 10, but even Windows 7 can no longer be activated by phone. Without issuing any announcements, Microsoft has quietly terminated all official offline activation paths.

Triggering a Backlash from Netizens: Even More Disliked

For individual users, this is at most a minor issue of "connecting to the internet one more time." However, for the following scenarios, Microsoft's move is almost a structural shock:

● Isolated internal network environments (classified, industrial control, government agencies)

● Enterprise terminals that cannot directly connect to the internet

● Maintenance processes that involve offline activation after batch deployment

In the past, these scenarios could enable the Windows system through the process of "deploying the system → generating the installation ID → obtaining the confirmation ID by phone → completing offline activation." But now, this entire well - established process has been directly "killed" by Microsoft.

As expected, after learning this news, many netizens launched a new wave of criticism against Microsoft:

"My goodness, Microsoft is doing everything it can to make people dislike them even more."

"I really can't understand why Microsoft doesn't take users' opinions into account. I dare say that the dislike Microsoft has incurred in the past 18 months is more than the total of the past 5 years."

"I recently activated Windows 11. Who would have thought that it took me 5 minutes to close those ads and trial interfaces! It was so annoying. Then, I had to spend another 10 minutes disabling all the bloatware that I didn't need in the first place. I don't need OneDrive, Copilot, and definitely don't want to automatically send telemetry data to the server!"

So, what exactly is Microsoft up to? In fact, from blocking the unofficial KMS to completely canceling phone activation, it can be seen that Microsoft is gradually tightening its control over Windows activation, directing all paths towards cloud and online services.

Combined with the in - depth integration of the AI ecosystem, many netizens have complained that the new generation of Windows is becoming more and more like a "cloud client" rather than a local operating system.

Reference link: https://www.neowin.net/news/report-microsoft-quietly-kills-official-way-to-activate-windows-1110-without-internet/#google_vignette

This article is from the WeChat official account "CSDN," compiled by Zheng Liyuan, and published by 36Kr with authorization.