First, you’ll need to register an Office 365 ProPlus account and qualify for an evaluation account. There you can test-drive the latest features and services the company offers, including Office 365 ProPlus. Microsoft provides evaluation versions of its products to potential customers through its Evaluation Center. You only get a single free trial per email and credit card, so unless you try to bend the terms of the license agreement, it’s a one-shot deal. This is a great option, but only for the short-term. Each person gets 1TB of OneDrive cloud storage, plus the ability to sync and share files across Windows, Apple, and Android devices. You can share the free Office 365 trial version with up to five other people. Unlike the online version, when Office 365 is installed locally you have full document editing capabilities offline. Remember to turn off recurring billing in your Account Settings unless you want to start paying. When it does, you will start getting billed automatically. Note: You will have to provide payment information to sign up for the free trial, though you won’t be charged until the trial expires. After that, you’ll have to begin a subscription or use one of the other methods here. This is the easiest free option for accessing premium versions of Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, Publisher, and Access.

If not, access the alumni discount they offer for Office 365 Personal. If you used to be a student, see if your school address will work. To keep working, you will need to subscribe to Office 365, or back up your files and use Office Online. Once your Office 365 Education plan expires, applications will become view-only after 30 days. In addition to your familiar MS apps, it comes with tools to encourage collaboration in the classroom, like Access, Sway, Teams, SharePoint, Stream, and Flow.Įvery so often, Office will verify you are still are still an active educator or student. This is a truly free version of Office 365, and you should enjoy this benefit for as long as possible. If you are a student or educator, and your institution is eligible, all you need is a valid school email address. Microsoft offers Office 365 Education for free through many schools and universities. On to the ways to get a full free Office 365. This is limited but will give you a chance to try it before you buy. Of course, one way is to simply get the free trial of Office 365 if you don’t have it already. If there is a legal way that you don’t have to pay, you’ll find it here.

I know, the prospect of a free Office 365 download sounds kind of farfetched. There are some options you should try first.

One time word purchase