A Microsoft 365 subscription includes Microsoft Word for writing, PowerPoint for creating presentations, Outlook for email and OneDrive for cloud storage. Typically a subscription isn't cheap, but there are ways you can access these tools for pennies or for free.
A paid Microsoft 365 membership starts at $2 a month or $20 a year for Microsoft 365 Basic or it can cost up to $130 a year for Microsoft 365 Family. While a few bucks a month may not sound too bad, subscription services can add up. Thankfully, you can get Microsoft 365 for free if you're a student or teacher. You can also use Microsoft 365 for free using the online-only versions of apps like Word, or take advantage of a free trial.
Whether you're a student, teacher, budget-conscious shopper or all of the above, here's how you can get Microsoft 365 for free.
Microsoft 365 Education for students and teachers
Microsoft Excel can be a great tool for crunching data sets, tracking grades and other applications in the classroom, and it's free for teachers or students.
If you're a student, teacher or faculty member with an active school email address, then you're probably eligible to get access to Office 365 for free through Microsoft. An Office 365 Education subscription provides free access to the web-based versions of Outlook, Word, Excel, PowerPoint and OneNote, plus other classroom tools.
All you have to do is punch in your school email address on this page on Microsoft's website: Office 365 Education. In many cases, you'll be instantly granted access thanks to an automated verification process. If you attend an institution that needs to be verified, it might take up to a month to confirm your eligibility.
College students can also get Microsoft 365 Personal for free for three months and then $5 a month afterwards with a valid school email address. That's a considerable savings when compared with the standard $10-a-month ($100 a year) price for non-students.
Sign up for a free version of Microsoft 365 or take advantage of a free trial
If you're not a student or teacher and can't take advantage of an academic email address to get Microsoft 365 at no cost, you can try out Microsoft's office suite with a one-month free trial. However, you do need to enter a credit card number to get the trial. Then, if you don't cancel your subscription before the month is up, you'll be charged $130 for a one-year subscription to Microsoft 365 Family (formerly Office 365 Home).
But if you'd rather not go that route, the good news is that you can access a number of apps online for free, including Word, Excel, PowerPoint, OneDrive, Outlook and Clipchamp. Here's how to activate Microsoft 365 for free:
1. Go to Microsoft365.com.
2. Click Sign up for the free version of Office just below the "Sign in" button.
3. Log in to your Microsoft account or create one for free. If you already have a Windows or Xbox Live login, you can use the same login information for Microsoft.
4. Select the app you want to use and save your work in the cloud with OneDrive.
You can access Words, Powerpoint and more from the browser-based version of Microsoft 365.
Wait, what's the catch with the free version?
You might be thinking, "If I can get all of those apps for free, why pay for Microsoft 365 in the first place?" The functionality of the free apps is limited, so they only run in your web browser and you can only use them while you're actively connected to the internet -- there's no offline version.
The free apps also have fewer features than the full Microsoft 365 versions. For instance, Microsoft Teams calls are limited to group calls of 100 participants for 60 minutes per month with the free app. Microsoft 365 Personal or Family plans can make Teams calls of up to 300 participants with a 30-hour monthly allowance.
For most folks, these limitations should still give them more than enough to work with. However, for more demanding situations, like small businesses and classroom settings, you may need to pay for a full account or snag a free copy of Microsoft 365 using a school email address.
There are still benefits to the free version of Microsoft 365, including the ability to share links to your work and collaborate in real time, similar to what the Google Workspace (formerly G Suite) productivity tools allow. If you're looking for basic versions of each of these apps, the free version should work well for you.
For more productivity coverage, check out what Microsoft 365 Basic offers customers. You can also check out how to get lifetime access to Windows 11, all of the best features in Windows 11 and how to take screenshots in Windows 11.