Technologies

Get Microsoft Office with Word, Excel and PowerPoint for free with these tips

There are some caveats, but we’ll show you how to use all the tools in Microsoft 365 for $0.

It’s likely you’ve needed access to a Microsoft Word document, a PowerPoint presentation or other basic tools from Microsoft 365 at least once — for either work, school or personal use. Although the software may seem like a necessity, its high price tag makes some people run the other way. If you don’t want to spend your money on Microsoft 365, don’t stress. There are a few ways to get the service for free.

Microsoft’s suite of productivity software includes Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, Microsoft Teams, OneDrive and SharePoint. The collection typically costs between $70 and $100 every year for subscription access across devices and family members (as Microsoft 365). Microsoft also released a new stand-alone version of Microsoft Office for Windows and Mac, called Office Home and Student 2021 — for a flat price, no subscription required — on Oct. 5, the same day Windows 11 began its rollout.

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

How to get Microsoft Office 365 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 are likely eligible to get access to Office 365 for free through Microsoft — including Word, Excel, PowerPoint, OneNote, Microsoft Teams and additional classroom tools.

All you have to do is enter your school email address on this page on Microsoft’s website: Get started with Office 365 for free. 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.

Recent graduates who want to stick with Office 365 can also get Microsoft 365 Personal for $12 for 12 months, with a valid school email address.

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

Anyone can get a one-month free trial of Microsoft 365 to try it out. However, it does require you to enter a credit card, and if you don’t cancel 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 and Skype. Here’s how to get them:

Go to Office.com.
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.
Select the app you want to use, and save your work in the cloud with OneDrive.

So what’s the catch for the free version?

You may 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 reason is that the functionality of these apps is limited: They only run through your web browser, and you can’t use them if you aren’t online. There are also fewer features than the full Microsoft 365 versions.

There are still a number of benefits, however, including the ability to share links to your work and collaborate in real time, similar to G Suite tools. If you’re looking for basic versions of each of these apps, the free version should work well for you.

For more, check out all of the best new features in Windows 11 and what you need to know about upgrading from Windows 10 to Windows 11.

Technologies

Today’s NYT Connections Hints, Answers and Help for March 29, #1022

Here are some hints and the answers for the NYT Connections puzzle No. 1,022 for Sunday, March 29.

Looking for the most recent 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, Connections: Sports Edition and Strands puzzles.

Today’s NYT Connections puzzle is a fun one. You might recognize the four green group words right away. Read on for clues and today’s Connections answers.

The Times has a Connections Bot, like the one for Wordle. Go there after you play to receive a numeric score and to have the program analyze your answers. Players who are registered with the Times Games section can now nerd out by following their progress, including the number of puzzles completed, win rate, number of times they nabbed a perfect score and their win streak.

Read more: Hints, Tips and Strategies to Help You Win at NYT Connections Every Time

Hints for today’s Connections groups

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

Yellow group hint: You might spot these while driving around.

Green group hint: Everyone boogie!

Blue group hint: Certain silent letter.

Purple group hint: Zuckerberg is one.

Answers for today’s Connections groups

Yellow group: Images seen on the street.

Green group: Retro dance crazes.

Blue group: Silent «P.»

Purple group: ____ mark.

Read more: Wordle Cheat Sheet: Here Are the Most Popular Letters Used in English Words

What are today’s Connections answers?

The yellow words in today’s Connections

The theme is images seen on the street. The four answers are graffiti, mural, poster and stencil.

The green words in today’s Connections

The theme is retro dance crazes. The four answers are hustle, mashed potato, robot and twist.

The blue words in today’s Connections

The theme is silent «p.» The four answers are corps, coup, psycho and receipt.

The purple words in today’s Connections

The theme is ____ mark. The four answers are beauty, check, question and stretch.

Technologies

Today’s NYT Strands Hints, Answers and Help for March 29 #756

Here are hints and answers for the NYT Strands puzzle No. 756 for Saturday, March 29.

Looking for the most recent Strands answer? Click here for our daily Strands hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Mini Crossword, Wordle, Connections and Connections: Sports Edition puzzles.

Today’s NYT Strands puzzle is fairly difficult. Some of the answers are difficult to unscramble, so if you need hints and answers, read on.

I go into depth about the rules for Strands in this story.

If you’re looking for today’s Wordle, Connections and Mini Crossword answers, you can visit CNET’s NYT puzzle hints page.

Read more: NYT Connections Turns 1: These Are the 5 Toughest Puzzles So Far

Hint for today’s Strands puzzle

Today’s Strands theme is: A bit peckish?

If that doesn’t help you, here’s a clue: Feathered friends’ food.

Clue words to unlock in-game hints

Your goal is to find hidden words that fit the puzzle’s theme. If you’re stuck, find any words you can. Every time you find three words of four letters or more, Strands will reveal one of the theme words. These are the words I used to get those hints, but any words of four or more letters that you find will work:

FORT, FORTS, SEEN, STORE, BATE, RATE, FILE, LIFE, LIFER, TIES, FORTH, SILL

Answers for today’s Strands puzzle

These are the answers that tie into the theme. The goal of the puzzle is to find them all, including the spangram, a theme word that reaches from one side of the puzzle to the other. When you have all of them (I originally thought there were always eight, but learned that the number can vary), every letter on the board will be used. Here are the nonspangram answers: