That said, if you want Microsoft Office, you will have to pay with your own pockets. The continued popularity of Office has never made Microsoft take a softer position. The price remains high, but it is a large and quality product.
Microsoft Office 2019 Home & Business currently retail for € 299 for a single PC license. If this causes your wallet to cry, see these methods to use Microsoft Office for free.
1. Use Microsoft Office Online
Microsoft itself offers a remarkable collection of free Microsoft Office utilities. Office Online is essentially a browser-based version of the latest Microsoft Office suite. Currently includes:
- Word
- Excel
- PowerPoint
- OneNote
- Sway
- people
- Calendar
- OneDrive
However, there is a problem: online versions of Microsoft Office apps only provide limited Microsoft Office experience.
Word Online, for example, does not include text boxes, WordArt, equations, charts, and more. You can still write a term, but you will not be able to complete a business report. In the same way, you will be able to open and view the Excel spreadsheet, but your custom macros will not be loaded.
While Office Online lacks some features, it is a versatile alternative to a paid license. The free versions will easily open your files, allow editing and, above all, will always keep the formatting of documents active.
2. Microsoft Office mobile app
Office Mobile is exactly what it sounds like Microsoft Office, in mobile form. It is an experience very similar to Office Online. The functionality, editing, and creation of documents are simple, but it is extremely dependent on the size of the screen.
For example, editing a Word document on my Samsung Galaxy S9 is reasonable, but trying to navigate an Excel spreadsheet is complex and frustrating. In contrast, editing a Word or Excel document on a larger screen of tablet size is actually quite pleasant.
Android
Microsoft offers individual mobile apps for Android 4.4 (KitKat) and later. For a long time, Microsoft has offered users of Android 4.3 or lower the previous Microsoft Office Mobile app. However, this all-in-one Office app is no longer available.
Post-4.4 Android users must download the new apps individually:
iOS
Microsoft has phased out the Microsoft Office Mobile iOS app long before the Android version. Like Android, there is no legacy version of the app. Note– iPad Pro users need an appropriate Office 365 subscription to create and edit documents.
I’m not going to list individual apps like I did for Android as there are differences between the iPad and iPhone versions. But here you can find the page of the Microsoft Corporation App Store, which contains the individual download links. Like Android, Microsoft is actively developing its iOS apps, bringing new features and Office updates to Apple’s mobile operating system.
3. Sign up for the Office 365 trial
Office 2019 has introduced numerous changes in the suite. If you have not already signed up for Office 2019 elsewhere, you can try it before buying it. You can take a free one-month Office 365 trial.
The trial version will give you access to the full suite of Microsoft Office 2019. In addition, you receive 1 TB of OneDrive cloud storage and 60 minutes of Skype credits per month. You must provide a valid credit, debit or PayPal account during the registration process. Microsoft will automatically charge your account once the trial period has expired.
4. Trial version information for Office 365 ProPlus?
Once you’ve finished your 30-day trial of Microsoft Office 365, you’ll be ready to try something different or buy the product. But why not try another trial for free? This time you use the trial version of Microsoft Office 365 ProPlus.
You have another 30 days to test Microsoft Office 2019 and access the same range of Microsoft Office programs.
5. Buy hardware with Office provided
Microsoft Office is rarely bundled with a new desktop or laptop. Unless it is a specific introductory agreement, you will purchase Microsoft Office as an add-on. If you are building your PC, well, you will not be so lucky.
That said, these types of agreements are not impossible, you just have to find the right offer. An option is the Acer Aspire One Cloudbook series. Most of these laptops come with a one-year personal subscription to Microsoft Office 365.
Likewise, there are some Dell Inspiron 2-in-1 laptops equipped with a complete installation of Microsoft Office 2016, without subscription.
6. Ask your employer or school
Everything we’ve analyzed so far allows you to download Microsoft Office for free, but it also includes limitations- availability, functionality, hardware. The latter option, however, offers many of you a great chance to get a complete version of Microsoft Office 2019 or Microsoft Office 365 completely free.
First, you need to contact your employer, or if you are a student, your school. Many companies and schools can offer a free Microsoft Office license or at extremely low costs for one reason- people who work or study need it. Companies will have to pay, but mass licensing can mean that the employer can provide a free or cheap option.
In addition, Microsoft has long supported schools with free Office 365 Education packages.
