How can you get Microsoft Office for free? All available options

Just like most software, Word, Excel, and Pow­er­Point typically aren’t free. However, Microsoft 365 does offer some ways to access Microsoft Office apps for free. Here’s an overview of the available options.

Is Microsoft Office free to use?

Yes, you can use free Microsoft Office, now known as Microsoft 365. However, this applies only to the limited web versions of Office services Word, Excel, and Pow­er­Point. Al­ter­na­tive­ly, free licenses are available for char­i­ta­ble or­ga­ni­za­tions, teachers, and students. Ad­di­tion­al­ly, Microsoft offers a free trial month for Microsoft 365.

Microsoft 365 for free – what options are available?

Below, we present the various ways to use free Microsoft Office, including the re­spec­tive re­quire­ments and lim­i­ta­tions.

Web ap­pli­ca­tion

Microsoft 365 is available as a free web ap­pli­ca­tion, formerly known as “Office Online.” With a free Microsoft account (reg­is­tra­tion required), you can use apps like Word, Excel, or Pow­er­Point for free through your browser. The following lim­i­ta­tions and re­quire­ments apply to the Microsoft Office Online web apps:

• You need your own Microsoft account.
• The web services can only be used through the browser.
• The online versions of Word, Excel, and Pow­er­Point are feature-limited versions.
• Usage is only possible with internet access.
• Files, apart from images, cannot be saved locally but only in the cloud.
• Team functions such as co-editing, editing, and sharing documents are heavily limited.
• Input via touch­screens or tablet pens is not possible.

To access the free, limited online version of Microsoft 365, visit Microsoft Office Online.

Free trial month

For those who want to try out Microsoft 365 first, Microsoft offers a free 30-day trial version. The trial month includes premium features, enhanced security functions, and sig­nif­i­cant­ly larger cloud storage than the free 5 GB of a Microsoft account. A personal Microsoft account is required to use it.

The benefits of the trial month specif­i­cal­ly include:

• Every important Microsoft app free as a desktop version (including Word, Excel, Pow­er­Point, Outlook, OneDrive, OneNote, Defender, Clipchamp, and Microsoft Designer)
• Available for one to six people per offer
• For up to five devices per free trial month
• For PC, Mac as well as iOS and Android
• Up to 6 TB of cloud storage with 1 TB per person
• Without active can­ce­la­tion, the trial month tran­si­tions to a paid, cancel-anytime sub­scrip­tion after the trial period.
• Free trial versions are available for families and as a business trial phase for companies.

You’ll find the offer on the Microsoft page for a free trial month of Microsoft 365.

Microsoft Office 365 Education for students and teachers

Under the name Office 365 Education, Microsoft offers a free ed­u­ca­tion­al plan in the form of Microsoft 365, including the latest Microsoft apps and premium features. The following con­di­tions apply for use:

• The free Microsoft 365 plan is valid for eligible ed­u­ca­tion­al in­sti­tu­tions, as well as for students and teachers.
• A valid email address from the eligible ed­u­ca­tion­al in­sti­tu­tion is required for ap­pli­ca­tion and reg­is­tra­tion.
• Usage is valid for up to five PCs and Macs as well as up to five iPads or tablets with Android or Windows.

The free plan includes:

• the latest Office versions like Word, Excel, Pow­er­Point, Access, and Publisher
• an Office online version
• ad­di­tion­al ed­u­ca­tion­al tools
• 1 TB cloud storage on OneDrive

Find the free offer on the Office 365 page.

Microsoft 365 for non-profit or­ga­ni­za­tions

Microsoft provides non-profit and char­i­ta­ble or­ga­ni­za­tions, along with their employees, free, dis­count­ed, or donation-based full versions of Microsoft 365. The free versions vary according to the size of the or­ga­ni­za­tion:

• For small and medium-sized non-profits: Free version Microsoft Business Basic for up to 300 users, including 1 TB of OneDrive cloud storage, ap­pli­ca­tions like Word, Excel, Teams, Pow­er­Point, Outlook, and Exchange, as well as reliable data pro­tec­tion; or heavily dis­count­ed versions of Microsoft Business Standard and Premium
• For large non-profits: The sub­scrip­tion plans for very large companies are available to non-profit or­ga­ni­za­tions and their employees at heavily dis­count­ed prices (annual price for the E3 plan: $9.00 per month instead of $33.75, annual price for the E5 plan: $22.80 per month instead of $54.75).

You can find offers for nonprofit or­ga­ni­za­tions on the Microsoft page. For more in­for­ma­tion on Microsoft’s support for non-profits, visit the overview page for Microsoft’s nonprofit solutions.

What free al­ter­na­tives to Microsoft 365 are there?

If you don’t want to buy Microsoft 365 or use the pro­duc­tiv­i­ty solution for free, you can also opt for powerful, free Office al­ter­na­tives like Li­bre­Of­fice or OpenOf­fice. Ad­di­tion­al­ly, Google, as one of the largest Microsoft com­peti­tors in business solutions, offers Google Workspace — a free, cloud-based office ap­pli­ca­tion and col­lab­o­ra­tion software.

Who are the free Office versions suitable for?

The free online versions of Word, Excel, and Pow­er­Point offer numerous ad­van­tages even for non-business use, despite their limited features. After all, Microsoft’s Office services are con­sid­ered the standard in their field.

For busi­ness­es, the Office online versions are not a sensible al­ter­na­tive. They lack important team features for many par­tic­i­pants, which are standard in sub­scrip­tion plans with Microsoft Teams or the Exchange Server. Ad­di­tion­al­ly, the web apps require constant internet access, do not offer large cloud storage in OneDrive, and do not have enhanced security features or adequate GDPR data pro­tec­tion compared to business versions.