Office is the most popular suite of productivity support programs in the world. This means that you are likely to find Office documents at certain times when working on a computer. If you need to open, edit, or create Office documents, but you don't want to pay for the program, there are several options available to follow. You can use the trial version to get access to all Office features in one full month. You can also use the free Office web applications to create and edit documents over the internet. In addition, there are several free Office applications available for mobile devices, and you can also use alternative programs that still support Office file formats.
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Method 1 of 4: Get a Trial Version of Office
Step 1. Use the trial version of Office 365 for one month
You can use Office for free for one month by downloading the trial version. This download package includes Office 2016 versions of Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, and other Office programs. Office 365 is the only version of Office available in a free trial version.
To use the trial version, you will need to register and enter valid credit card information, but you will not be charged until the start of the second month. By canceling before the end of the first month, you will not be charged anything and can use the trial version for the first full month
Step 2. Visit the Office trial version site
You can download a trial version of the program from the official Office website. Go to products.office.com/try to access the trial version page.
Step 3. Click the “Try 1-month free” button provided
After that, the registration process will begin.
Step 4. Sign in with a Microsoft account, or create a new one
You will be asked to sign in with a Microsoft account. You can use an email address, either Hotmail, Live.com, or Outlook.com to sign in, or you can create a new account for free. To download and use the trial version, you must first create an account.
Step 5. Enter valid credit card information
You will need to enter your credit or debit card information to start the trial version. You won't be charged immediately, but a monthly Office 365 fee will be charged if you don't cancel your trial version before the expiration date.
Step 6. Download the Office 365 installation file
Once you've created your account and entered your credit card information, you'll be given a link to download the Office 365 installation file. The file itself is very small and the download only takes a minute.
Step 7. Run the file after the download is complete
Once the file is downloaded, run the file to begin the actual download and installation of Office programs. You will be asked to re-enter your Microsoft account before the download takes place.
- During the installation, you will be asked to select the Office products you want to install. You can save time and hard disk space by deselecting programs you won't be using. If you eventually need it, you can always plug it back in later.
- The installation process will take significant time, especially if you have a slow internet connection.
Step 8. Run the installed Office program
You can find recently installed Office programs in the “Start” menu. After that, you can use all the features of the program during the trial period.
Method 2 of 4: Using Free Office Web Apps
Step 1. Visit the Office website
Microsoft offers programs such as Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and other programs to be accessed via the internet for free. While it's not as powerful as the desktop version, you can still do whatever you need without having to install programs on your computer or pay anything. Visit office.com to see the available Office web applications.
Step 2. Click the Office program you want to run
You can see some of the available programs by swiping through the Office site page. After that, click the application you want to run.
Step 3. Sign in with a Microsoft account
You need to sign in to a personal Microsoft account or a work or school account. Once logged in, you can start using the selected program. If you don't have a Microsoft account, you can create one for free. Once your account is created, you'll be given 5GB of OneDrive storage space to store your documents and access them on any computer or device.
Step 4. Use the selected program
The layout of the Office web apps is pretty much the same as the desktop version. Use the tabs at the top of the screen to move from one editing option to another. You may also notice that some features are missing or limited. To access the more advanced features, you will need the desktop version of the Office program. Visit this Microsoft support page for a complete list of the differences between the web version and the desktop version of Microsoft Word.
Step 5. Save your document
The Office web apps don't provide an auto-save feature so make sure you save your files manually from time to time. You can save the document by clicking the “File” tab and selecting “Save As”.
- When you save a document, it will be saved in the OneDrive storage space.
- You can also choose to download the document to your computer via the “Save As” menu. There are several format options available, including PDF and other open formats.
Step 6. Upload your document to the OneDrive storage space to open it via the Office web app
If you receive an Office document from someone, you can open it via the web app by first uploading it to your OneDrive storage space.
- Visit onedrive.live.com in a browser. You can also use the OneDrive app if you're on a mobile device.
- Drag and drop your files into the browser window to upload them to the OneDrive storage space. Uploading small documents only takes a moment, but uploading large documents like PowerPoint presentations can take longer.
- Click an uploaded document on OneDrive to open it in the Office web app. After that, you can view and edit the document (if the document is not protected).
Method 3 of 4: Using Mobile Version of Office Apps
Step 1. Download the Office mobile app for your iOS or Android device
Microsoft provides free Office applications available for Android and iOS devices. You can download it from the Google Play Store or from the Apple App Store. The free version of this application provides basic document editing and creation features. If you subscribe to Office 365, you can access more and more advanced features.
Step 2. Allow Office apps to access device storage space
When the application is run for the first time, you may be asked to grant permission so that the application can access the device storage space. Allow access so you can easily save and open files.
Step 3. Sign in with a Microsoft account to connect with OneDrive
You will be prompted to sign in with a Microsoft account when you first run the app. While you can skip this, logging into your account or creating a new one will give you 5GB of OneDrive storage space and be able to sync Office files from one device to another.
Step 4. Touch “Open” to open files from various directories
You can open files that have been downloaded to your device, documents stored on Google Drive or Dropbox, files stored on OneDrive, and more. This Office application supports all commonly compliant formats (eg the Word application can open documents in DOC, DOCX, and TXT formats).
Step 5. Touch “New” to create a new document
At the top of the “New” screen, you can see a menu for specifying where to create or save the document. If you're signed in to a Microsoft account, your OneDrive personal directory will be the default storage location. You can also save documents on your device.
Step 6. Use the buttons at the top of the screen to access the formatting tools
When the “A” button with the pencil icon is pressed, the format bar will appear on the screen. You can select basic editing tools and formatting from the familiar Office tabs on the bar. Touch the “Home” button to see the different tabs you can access. You can also swipe the bar up and down to see all the available options.
When the keyboard is open on the screen, you can slide the bar above it left and right to see the quick access format tools
Step 7. Touch the “Save” button to save the document
Your document will automatically be saved for a certain period of time, but you can touch the “Save” button that appears to save the document immediately. You can also touch the menu button in the top left corner of the screen and select “Save” whenever you need to.
Method 4 of 4: Using Alternative Programs
Step 1. Find out what Office replacement desktop programs are available
There are alternative programs that offer almost all of the features that are available in Office (some programs actually offer features that are not present in Office). These programs can open and edit Office documents, as well as a variety of other open formats. Some of the most popular productivity support programs are FreeOffice, OpenOffice, and LibreOffice.
FreeOffice is the easiest choice of programs to use, while OpenOffice and LibreOffice are the more advanced programs. If you're familiar with the Office interface, try using FreeOffice or LibreOffice
Step 2. Download the program
Once you've made your selection, you can download the installation files for the program. Visit the following sites to download the installation file for the desired program:
- LibreOffice: libreoffice.org/download/libreoffice-fresh/
- FreeOffice: freeoffice.com/en/download
- OpenOffice: openoffice.org/download/index.html
Step 3. Run the installation file
You can choose any program you want to install. By selecting only the programs to use, you can cut installation time and save storage space.
Step 4. Familiarize yourself with the new program
All the alternative programs mentioned have different appearances and 'characters', and are fully equipped with features. Therefore, you will learn a bit about its use, especially if you are familiar with using Office. The basic features are generally pretty easy to use, and you can find instructions for doing more complex tasks on YouTube or here on wikiHow.
- Check out the article on how to use OpenOffice.org Writer for more information about Writer, the alternative Microsoft Word program provided by OpenOffice.
- Look for articles on how to use LibreOffice for tips to get you familiar with LibreOffice's built-in word editing program.
Step 5. Try using an alternative program based on digital servers (cloud-based)
With the development of increasingly sophisticated online tools, the need to install productivity support programs on computers has decreased. In addition to the Office web applications described earlier, there are several digital server-based productivity support programs that can be used. All of these services allow you to upload and edit Office documents.
- Google Docs is the most popular choice of digital server-based alternative programs. You can create and edit documents, spreadsheets, and presentations using Google tools available online. You can also access anything from Google Drive that contains all the stored documents. If you have a Gmail account, you can access Google Docs. Read the article on how to use Google Drive for more information about creating and editing documents in Google Docs.
- Zoho is another Office replacement program based on digital servers. The interface is much more like Office than Google Docs. However, just like Google Docs, you can create documents, spreadsheets, and presentations. Look for articles on how to use Zoho Docs for instructions on using the program.
- OnlyOffice is an Office alternative internet program that allows you to create documents, spreadsheets, and presentations.
