You’re probably making use of a free Microsoft Office suite on your laptop at this time. If so, congratulations. It hasn’t been easy for some people to have the free version, which means that even though they will love to have the free version on their device, they can’t.
The good news is that Microsoft Office is available to everyone for free if you know how to get it, and of course, we throw more light on how anyone can get it free. Secondly, if you use a free Office suite, it is possible that you may not be aware of what you could be missing. There are a few differences between the free and the paid. Read on to find out more regarding this.
What is contained in Microsoft Office?
Also known as MS Office, or Microsoft’s suite of productivity software or applications include the following tools: Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, OneNote, Microsoft publisher, Microsoft Teams, OneDrive, and SharePoint.
With these applications, you can easily complete common tasks on any computer. The suite helps with productivity so anyone can create and edit documents that contain text and images. You can also work with spreadsheets and databases, create presentations and posters. Other things you can also do are validate data, analyze data, run and create macros.
MS Office Paid
All the applications or software mentioned above cost money to use (also available for free) on any computer. It usually costs $150 for one-time installation, nothing else to be paid for. That price is for Office 365 which is more comprehensive by combining the traditional Microsoft Office desktop applications with other productivity services. These are offered as Office 365 and are available for purchase within Azure’s cloud platform.
You may decide not to have the full package so-to-speak, and go for subscription services access across your devices for about $70 to $100. Family members can also enjoy this package with you, as they get exactly what you get on their own devices. Don’t forget that you can also get MS Office for both Mac and Windows for a flat fee.
Office 365 offers more features than the average office application but as you see, you have to pay for what you get. Some people may not want all those features. They probably want to type words into a software – MS Word – and print them. If this is your resolve, don’t worry, the free version makes that possible, in fact, you may never need to pay a single dime for this one.
The question now is; how do you get the free version?
MS Office Free
If you just bought a new Windows computer, chances are it comes with a new MS Office suite, ready for you to use. But once the trial ends, you may need to insert a license key.
One main reason why many people find it hard to get the Microsoft Office free version is due to the fact that the license can be hard to get. That doesn’t mean that they don’t exist.
Here are some ways you can make use of Microsoft Office for free.
1. Microsoft Office Online
Microsoft has Office on the web or Office Online. You can visit it as you visit any website online. You need to sign up for free to use this. You don’t ever have to pay to use it on the web anyway. It works just like the one you have offline on your computer. There, you can even have the free version of Microsoft Teams.
You are welcome to use the following applications on the website:
- Word
- Excel
- PowerPoint
- OneNote
- Sway
- People
- Calendar
- OneDrive
This is very limited, more limited than the free edition offline. The online version doesn’t include text boxes, WordArt, equations, charts, and more. You may not be able to compile a company report. In Excel, you will not be able to use macros.
2. Microsoft Office Mobile Apps
MS Office is available for free on Android and iOS. Users are able to use a unified Office app that includes Word, Excel, and PowerPoint. It can also do other things such as process scanning, bringing up the PDF conversion tool, image and data extraction from files and spreadsheets.
That too comes with reduced functions. Remember, your phone screen is small. The functionalities are limited to what a small screen can do. Don’t even think of editing an excel sheet on the mobile edition because it is really frustrating.
3. Buy a New Laptop
Some laptops come with a free Microsoft Office license. It doesn’t come as an add-on to all computers. However, some new laptops have it bundled inside them. Some of the computers that come with a free Microsoft Office license are Acer, HP, and Asus. Even among these brands, some still come without the add-on.
4. Get Office 365 Education
This is one option for you to get the full version of Microsoft Office all for free. With this, you can get Office 2019 or Microsoft Office 365 all free. This is made possible because Microsoft is supporting schools with free Office 365 Education packages that you may check if this applies to you as a student or worker.
5. Office 365 ProPlus Trial
In this case, you will let the 30-day Microsoft Office 365 trial come to an end. Maybe at this time, you may be ready for something different. This is where the Office 365 ProPlus Trial becomes important. It is just a way to start another trial. With this, you get another 30 days to test Microsoft Office 2019. With this, you’re able to have access to the same range of Office programs as before.
Why Go for Paid Microsoft Office?
There are those who will always cherish using Microsoft Office for free. Probably, these are people who really don’t need to do more with these applications. Do you want to make use of Office for business, such as creating company reports or doing more? You definitely need a paid version of Office suite.
What are the advantages? Check them out below:
- You will have loads of templates to choose from. There are many templates for CVs and other pre-formatted documents.
- You won’t need the internet to do whatever you need to do on the paid version.
- Enjoy a wider range of apps that you can’t get in the free version.
- Edit more file types. The paid version will let you edit PDF files.
Conclusion
If you’re a student or a business professional in marketing or other departments where documents and files are indispensable, you need to get the Microsoft Office paid version. On the other hand, if you need software for light word processing, you could hold on to the free version.
