How to use Word and Excel for free (on PC, on your phone and for students)

You don’t need to pay to open, edit and create Word documents and Excel spreadsheets. There are official, free options, each with its own limits. Stay away from “cracked Office” and “activators”: they’re a leading way in for viruses and ransomware.

In this article

1. 1. Word and Excel online, in your browser (free)
2. 2. Word and Excel apps on your phone
3. 3. Students and teachers: Office 365 Education (free)
4. 4. Free alternatives
5. Which one to choose
6. FAQ

1. Word and Excel online, in your browser (free)

1. Go to microsoft365.com (or office.com) and sign in with a free Microsoft account (Outlook.com, Hotmail, or create one).
2. Choose Word, Excel or PowerPoint and create or open a file.
3. Your files are saved to OneDrive (5 GB free).

Limits: the online version has the most-used features, but not everything in the desktop version (macros, some add-ins and advanced features). It requires an internet connection.

2. Word and Excel apps on your phone

The Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Microsoft 365 (Office) apps are free on Google Play and the App Store. On devices with a screen 10.1 inches or smaller (phones and small tablets), basic editing is free for personal use. On larger tablets, you can only view files without a subscription.

3. Students and teachers: Office 365 Education (free)

With their school or college email address, students and teachers at eligible institutions can use Office 365 A1 for free: Word, Excel, PowerPoint, OneNote and Teams on the web, with 1 TB of OneDrive storage.

1. Go to Microsoft’s Office 365 Education page.
2. Enter your school email address and complete the verification.

If your institution isn’t enabled, contact your school’s IT department.

4. Free alternatives

• Google Docs and Sheets: free with a Google account, and they open and save .docx and .xlsx files.
• LibreOffice: free and open source, installed on your PC, works offline. Download it only from the official website, libreoffice.org.

Which one to choose

• Occasional use: Word and Excel online.
• On your phone: the official apps.
• Students: Office 365 Education.
• No internet on your PC: LibreOffice.
• Heavy professional use (macros, add-ins, large spreadsheets): that’s when a subscription pays off. For businesses, see Microsoft 365 for business: which plan to choose.

FAQ

Does Excel online open spreadsheets with macros?

It opens the file, but doesn’t run the macros (VBA). For that you need the desktop version of Excel.

My Excel file opens with an error.

See corrupted Excel file.