What Microsoft Office Should I Buy For My Mac
When you're ready to install the latest version (either a subscription or non-subscription version of Office ), follow the steps in Download and install or reinstall Office on a PC or Mac. After the installation completes, your new version of Office should update automatically, or you might get a notification an update is ready to apply.
This article covers frequently asked questions about the availability of Office from the Mac App Store, and the differences between downloading Office apps directly from Microsoft.
Starting in January 2019, the following Office applications are available for download from the Mac App Store: Word, Excel, PowerPoint, OneNote*, and OneDrive*.
- 2020-4-3 Office for Mac buying guide 2019 Everything you need to know about Office for Mac 2019 and Office 365, including advice about the price, which version to.
- I currently own Office 2016 for Mac and want to upgrade my version of Office. Should I download Office from the Mac App Store? If you own the older perpetual release of Office, you can download the new version of the apps from the Mac App Store, and purchase a new Office 365 subscription using the in-app purchase option.
- Mar 28, 2019 The less-well-known German suite SoftMaker Office has a ribbon interface and uses Microsoft Office file formats by default, without conversion. It has a free version and a subscription version (£49.90 a year), but you can buy the full SoftMaker Office Professional 2018 for Mac, Windows or Linux for £89.99.
Buy the Office that's best for you—Create your best work with Office 365. Office 365 gives you the power and flexibility to get things done from virtually anywhere. Don’t buy anything yet. Try Apple’s solutions. They may be anything you need. If after a month, you feel you really need more, get LibreOffice. Its free and the closest thing to Microsoft Office you can not buy! (It’s free!) Finally, if you have. Mar 13, 2014 A well-integrated Mac and iPad Microsoft Office ecosystem would certainly be fierce competition for Apple, which is still in a rebuilding year after gutting the iWork apps to get them to work more seamlessly across iOS and OS X.
* These apps were also available from the Mac App Store in previous years.
What version of Office is available from the Mac App Store?
The Office apps available from the Mac App Store provide the very latest version of Office on the Mac. Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Outlook require an Office 365 subscription to activate. OneNote and OneDrive do not require an Office 365 subscription, but some premium features may require an Office 365 subscription.
Is this the same as Office 2019?
No. Office 2019 is the one-time purchase, non-subscription product (also known as perpetual). An Office 365 subscription provides always up-to-date versions of Office apps and access to additional premium features and services. The apps available in the Mac App Store are not compatible with Office 2019 licenses.
I currently own Office 2016 for Mac and want to upgrade my version of Office. Should I download Office from the Mac App Store?
If you own the older perpetual release of Office, you can download the new version of the apps from the Mac App Store, and purchase a new Office 365 subscription using the in-app purchase option. In-app purchase offers include Office 365 Home, and Office 365 Personal. Your license from the perpetual release of Office will not work with the app versions from the App Store. Click here to learn about Office 365 subscriptions and pricing.
I already have an Office 365 subscription, and the Office apps are already installed on my Mac. Do I need to do anything?
No. It's likely that you installed Office directly from Microsoft. The Microsoft AutoUpdate app will keep your existing apps up-to-date. The apps in the Mac App Store do not provide functionality beyond what you have today.
If I download Office from the Mac App Store, do I still use Microsoft AutoUpdate to get updates?
Microsoft AutoUpdate is only used to get updates for apps that you download directly from Microsoft. If you download Office from the Mac App Store, then the App Store will provide you with future updates of Office. You may have other Microsoft apps installed on your Mac, and AutoUpdate will continue providing updates just for those apps.
Can I have multiple versions and builds of Office installed on my Mac?
No. Office 365, Office 2019, and Office 2016 use the same application and file names. To see which version of Office you have installed on your Mac, open one of the apps, and look at the License text in the About dialog.
Can I get Office Insider builds from the Mac App Store?
No. The Office apps in the Mac App Store are production releases. Insider builds must be downloaded directly from Microsoft.
How do I cancel my Office 365 free trial that I purchased through the Mac App Store?
To cancel your Office 365 free trial that you purchased through the Mac or iOS App Store, follow the instructions on this page: View, change, or cancel your subscriptions.
This link redirects to the App Store, so please open this link on a Mac, iPad or iPhone.
While Pages is a great word processor, Microsoft Word and other programs available with Microsoft Office are still widely used. It can be frustrating to pass documents between Apple's applications and Microsoft Office. I have dealt with getting Word documents from friends, only to open them in Pages a realize they aren't formatting correctly, or the spacing is off, etc.
The good news is Microsoft Office for Mac is pretty great. If you've ever used a PC before, you're likely familiar with the interface, and personally, I think the design of the Office programs for Mac is stellar. Of course, Microsoft offers two versions of Office for Mac, Microsoft Office 2016 and Microsoft Office 365, so here's a breakdown of each one so you can choose the right one for you.
Users and devices
When deciding what Microsoft Office package you want, you're going to need to know how you intend to use it. Are you one of those people who want to use Office on your Mac, iPad, and iPhone, or do you only need it on your MacBook Pro you use for work or school every day?
- Office 2016 Home & Student: Installed on one Mac
- Office 2016 Home & Business: Installed on one Mac
- Office 365 Personal: Installed on your Mac, iPhone, and iPad with only one user allowed to access the 1TB One Drive storage.
- Office 365 Personal: Installed on up to five Macs, PCs, iPhones, and iPads with five users allowed to access the 1TB One Drive storage.
Programs
Which programs you need in your Microsoft Office suite will also be a critical deciding factor in which version you buy.
- Office 2016 Home & Student: Comes with Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and OneNote
- Office 2016 Home & Business: Comes with Word, Excel, PowerPoint, OneNote, and Outlook
- Office 365 Personal: Comes with Word, Excel, PowerPoint, OneNote, Outlook, Publisher (PC only), and Access (PC only).
- Office 365 Home: Comes with Word, Excel, PowerPoint, OneNote, Outlook, Publisher (PC only), and Access (PC only).
Cloud storage
Microsoft OneDrive is a cloud storage service that you can use to store files, photos, documents, and other data. If you get either version of Microsoft Office 365, you'll get a free TB of OneDrive storage to access and use.
- Office 365 Personal: 1TB of OneDrive storage for one user, plus 60 minutes per month for Skype calls.
- Office 365 Home: 1TB of OneDrive storage accessible by up to five users, plus 60 minutes per month for Skype calls.
Neither tier of Microsoft Office 2016 comes with OneDrive storage.
Pricing
The most significant difference by far is pricing and payment model. Microsoft Office 2016 is a one-time payment, while Office 365 is a monthly subscription model.
- Office 2016 Home & Student: $149.99 and doesn't come with updates.
- Office 2016 Home & Business: $229.99 and doesn't come with updates.
- Office 365 Personal: $69.99 per year (or $6.99 per month), includes updates.
- Office 365 Home: $99.99 per year (or 9.99 per month), includes updates.
The bottom line
Office 365
The enormous benefit to Office 365 is the 1TB of OneDrive storage. This means all your work documents, personal finance spreadsheets, or school presentations can be saved locally and in your OneDrive, keeping all your data safe and accessible to you whenever you need it.
Chances are Office 365 Personal is the best bet for most people, but if you love the free cloud storage and you need Office for your entire family, the Office 365 Home version is your best bet.
Office 2016
If you're looking for the basic Office program like Excel, Word, and PowerPoint, and don't need OneDrive cloud storage, Office 2016 is perfectly fine for one person.
How Do I Buy Microsoft Office For Mac
You'll only have to pay once, meaning you don't have to worry about that yearly subscription fee hitting your credit card every year. Of course, the lack of updates is a little annoying, but for most users, you'll probably not even notice or miss the extra features Office 365 provides anyways.
Office 2016 Home & Student is going to be all the majority of people will need; however, if you do want Outlook your can always get the Home & Business version as well.
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