Technologies

You Can Get Microsoft Word, Excel and PowerPoint for Free. Here’s How

You could save $100 a year with these tips.

Microsoft 365 is the most recent version of the Microsoft Office set of tools, and it includes programs you already use at home, school or work. Some of the programs include Word, Outlook and Powerpoint, and buying a Microsoft 365 membership is still the most popular way to access these tools and more.

On Jan. 11, Microsoft announced the release of Microsoft 365 Basic which costs $2 a month, or $20 for a yearly subscription. However, you can snag Microsoft 365 at no cost under some circumstances.

Microsoft’s suite of productivity software consists of classics like Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Outlook, as well as newer apps like Microsoft Teams, OneDrive and SharePoint.

The suite typically costs $20 to $100 a year for subscription access across devices and family members. Microsoft also has a standalone version of Microsoft Office for Windows and Mac, called Office Home and Student 2021, for a flat $150 — no subscription required.

Here are the versions of Office 365, Microsoft 365 and their apps that you can find online for free.

Get Microsoft Office 365 Education free if you’re a student or a teacher

If you’re a student, teacher or faculty member with an active school email address, you’re likely eligible to get access to Office 365 for free through Microsoft, with Word, Excel, PowerPoint, OneNote and Teams, plus other classroom tools.

All you have to do is enter 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 $3 a month with a valid school email address.

Best Laptops of 2023

See at CNET

How to get Microsoft Office suite free if you’re anyone else

Anyone can get a one-month free trial of Microsoft 365. However, it does require you to enter a credit card number. If you don’t cancel your subscription before the month is up, you’ll be charged $100 for a one-year subscription to Microsoft 365 Family (formerly called Office 365 Home).

The good news is if you don’t need the full suite of Microsoft 365 tools, you can access a number of its apps online for free, including Word, Excel, PowerPoint, OneDrive, Outlook, Calendar, My Content, Skype, Designer and Clipchamp. Here’s how to get them:

1. Go to Microsoft365.com.

2. Click Sign up for the free version of Office under the «Sign in» button.

3. Log in to your Microsoft account or create one for free. If you already have a Windows, Skype or Xbox Live login, you have an active Microsoft account.

4. Select the app you want to use and save your work in the cloud with OneDrive.

Microsoft Word running in a web browser — Use the browser-based version of the Microsoft Word app for free.

Screenshot by Alison DeNisco Rayome/CNET

So what’s the catch for the free version?

You might be saying, «Wait a minute, 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. They also have fewer features than the full Microsoft 365 versions.

There are still benefits to the free version, 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, all of the best features in Windows 11 and how to take screenshots in Windows 10 or 11. You can also take a look at CNET’s list of the best Windows laptops.

Check out Microsoft 365

See at Microsoft

Technologies

How to Track Your Sun Exposure With This New App

Now in beta, the Sun Day app prompts you on how to prep for being out and about for your specific skin type and location.

Facing down a heat wave this summer? There’s a new beta app for iPhones from the founder of Twitter, Jack Dorsey, that helps you track your exposure to the sun. The Sun Day app is free to testers and contains information like sunrise, sunset and UV index in order to assess your potential burn-limit time and, as the app description says, «track your Vitamin D from the sun.»

Dorsey is currently testing UI updates and a solar noon notification, according to the app notes. In the app, you can describe the type of clothing you’re wearing, such as shorts and T-shirts or swimwear, and your Fitzpatrick skin type, which classifies how quickly you’ll burn.

The iOS app asks permission to connect to some Apple Health data when the app is installed.

Dorsey also recently released Bitchat, a private messaging client that uses Bluetooth as its communication platform. Although it’s meant to be a secure, private app, some users have flagged Bitchat for potential security flaws that are still being tested.

How to test the Sun Day app

If you’ve got an iOS device, download the Sun Day TestFlight app from the App Store and then follow the link to the app for Sun Day to join the beta test.

The effectiveness of an app such as Sun Day depends on giving it accurate information about your skin type and clothing, and while vitamin D levels are one way to gauge UV exposure, it’s not foolproof given that some people also take vitamin D supplements.

«Jack Dorsey’s new app Sun Day is exciting, not to detect vitamin D levels but really to help us understand our UV index which is so important in sun safety,» said Tanya Kormeili, an LA-based dermatologist. «The app does have an interesting promise as far as I am concerned, in that using the UV index can show you the risk for the level of UV exposure.»

The risks of too much sun exposure include sunburns, aging skin and skin cancer. Tracking UV levels is one way to help mitigate those risks.

People tend to think about sun exposure and protections like sunscreen most during the summer, when the sun is strongest and the days are long, and when you’re heading to the beach or out gardening, golfing or otherwise getting in quality sun time. But there is always a risk of sun damage to your skin while you’re outside — year round.

«Sometimes it is hard for patients to be convinced that there can be an excessive UV risk on a cloudy day,» Kormeili says. «The app would provide an objective measure of that UV index and guide you in safer sun practices.»

The dermatologist suggests that Dorsey putting the app out for public consumption without medical experts endorsing it might be a missed opportunity. «I am surprised that they have not involved actual dermatologists in pointing out the true value and limitations of this app,» she said.

Technologies

YouTube’s Age-Estimation Tech Will Spot Kids Pretending to Be Adults. Here’s How It Works

The streaming service will use various methods to make sure kids aren’t watching age-restricted content.

If kids are lying about their age, YouTube will know about it. Or at least will try its best to find out. The streaming service announced Tuesday it’s rolling out age-estimation technology that will use various data to determine if someone is under the age of 18, and then use that signal «to deliver our age-appropriate product experiences and protections.»

Basically — assuming it works as it should — kids will not be able to access what YouTube deems as age-restricted content.

Google, YouTube’s parent company, announced in February that it would begin deploying this type of technology, which relies on AI, to determine users’ ages.

YouTube said it will test the machine-learning tech on a small set of users in the US to estimate their age. Some of the signals it will look at include «the types of videos a user is searching for, the categories of videos they have watched or the longevity of the account.» After ensuring the age verification is working as intended, YouTube will then roll it out more widely.

Donna Rice Hughes, president and CEO of children’s online safety organization Enough is Enough, welcomed YouTube’s move toward age verification.

«It’s always encouraging to me as a veteran working in the internet safety space for over three decades to see big tech companies being proactive to better protect youth online,» Hughes told CNET. «Since the advent of social media, which began with age limits of 18 years and older then reduced to 13-plus with absolutely no age verification technologies in place, kids have learned to lie about their age to get on these platforms, including YouTube.»

Hughes said YouTube can take it a step further: «I also encourage YouTube to turn on safety defaults to block sexually explicit videos and advertising and other harmful content for all users under 18.»

YouTube’s age-verification move is another step in the growing age-verification push that is being hastened by the US and other governments trying to prevent children from accessing content deemed harmful, unhealthy and not appropriate for their age.

What happens when YouTube decides someone is under 18?

If its age-estimation system decides someone is under 18, YouTube will then:

Disable personalized advertising.
Turn on digital wellbeing tools.
Add safeguards to recommendations, including limiting repetitive views of some content.

People who are actually adults but who have been wrongly identified as children will be able to verify that they are 18 or older by using a credit card or a government ID.

Hughes of Enough is Enough said that strong measures are needed to protect kids when it comes to their online use of YouTube videos and more.

«At EIE, we have encouraged turning on safety defaults — including filtering, monitoring and time-limiting controls — on all internet-enabled devices and platforms,» Hughes told CNET. «This simple step by big tech companies would greatly empower parents, who now must do this themselves on every device and every social media platform, which is overwhelming.»

Technologies

Today’s NYT Connections: Sports Edition Hints and Answers for July 31, #311

Here are hints and the answers for the NYT Connections: Sports Edition puzzle for July 31, No. 311.

Looking for the most recent regular Connections answers? Click here for today’s Connections hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Mini Crossword, Wordle and Strands puzzles.

Today’s Connections: Sports Edition is heavy on NFL clues, so football fans should do well. The purple category felt like an easy one for me today and it has nothing to do with the NFL. Keeping reading for hints and the answers.

Connections: Sports Edition is out of beta now, making its debut on Super Bowl Sunday, Feb. 9. That’s a sign that the game has earned enough loyal players that The Athletic, the subscription-based sports journalism site owned by the Times, will continue to publish it. It doesn’t show up in the NYT Games app but now appears in The Athletic’s own app. Or you can continue to play it free online.

Read more: NYT Connections: Sports Edition Puzzle Comes Out of Beta

Hints for today’s Connections: Sports Edition groups

Here are four hints for the groupings in today’s Connections: Sports Edition puzzle, ranked from the easiest yellow group to the tough (and sometimes bizarre) purple group.

Yellow group hint: Starts with a break.

Green group hint: Part of one of two conferences.

Blue group hint: Special Philly.

Purple group hint: For the court.