What is the difference between Office 365 and Microsoft 365? (2024)

FAQs

What are the differences between Office 365 and Microsoft 365? ›

What is the difference between Office 365 and Microsoft 365? Microsoft 365 includes everything you know in Office 365. Microsoft 365 is designed to help people and businesses achieve more with innovative Office apps, intelligent cloud services, and world-class security.

You might know Word, Excel, PowerPoint and other apps as Office. In fact, they've always been part of the Microsoft 365 subscription, so we are simplifying the brand to reflect that. The changes--which include the new name, colors, and icon--began rolling out on November 7, 2022.

Put simply: Office 365 Personal is for a single user. Office 365 Home is for a family or small group of users.

On April 21, 2020, Office 365 was rebranded as Microsoft 365, to emphasize the service's current inclusion of products and services beyond the core Microsoft Office software family (including cloud-based productivity tools and artificial intelligence features).

Click Settings, and then under My app settings, choose Office 365. On the My account page, choose Subscriptions. You'll see the services that you're licensed to use, such as the latest desktop version of Microsoft 365, SharePoint in Microsoft 365 or OneDrive for work or school, and Exchange Online.

If you have a Microsoft 365 subscription or non-subscription version such as Office Home and Business 2021, 2019, 2016 or 2013, in most cases you can't run these versions together on the same computer.

Office 365 E1/E3/E5 and Microsoft 365 E3/E5 suites with Teams will no longer be sold to new subscribers worldwide. Existing subscribers who currently have these suites can continue to use, renew, upgrade, and add seats to their current plans as usual.

Beginning in 2024, new Windows 11 devices will be shipped with the new Outlook for Windows as the default mailbox application free for all to use. The Mail and Calendar applications will continue to be available via download in the Microsoft Store through December 31, 2024.

Summary. Microsoft accounts are for personal use, and for accessing services like Outlook.com, Xbox or Skype. Microsoft work and school accounts are for organizations that use Microsoft 365 for business.

Do I have to use Office 365? ›

With the free Office apps on your mobile device, you can do some core tasks like viewing, creating, and editing files. However, you will need a qualifying Microsoft 365 subscription if: Your mobile device is larger than 10.1”.

Microsoft 365 includes the robust Office desktop apps that you're familiar with, like Word, PowerPoint and Excel. You also get extra online storage and cloud-connected features that let you collaborate on files in real time.

What is the difference between Office 365 and Microsoft 365? Microsoft 365 includes everything you know in Office 365. Microsoft 365 is designed to help people and businesses achieve more with innovative Productivity apps, intelligent cloud services, and world-class security.

Is Office going away entirely? No, as part of Microsoft 365 you will continue to get access to apps like Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Outlook.

Microsoft 365 for the web is a free version of Microsoft 365 that you can use in a web browser. All you need is to sign up for a Microsoft account with a new or existing email address. Use Word, Excel, PowerPoint and more for free on the web.

No, as part of Microsoft 365 you will continue to get access to apps like Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Outlook. We will also continue to offer one-time purchases of those apps to consumers and businesses via Office 2021 and Office LTSC plans.

Microsoft 365 is our cloud-powered productivity platform. With a subscription to Microsoft 365, you can get: The latest productivity apps, such as Microsoft Teams, Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, OneDrive, and so much more. The ability to install on PCs, Macs, tablets, and phones.

With the free Office apps on your mobile device, you can do some core tasks like viewing, creating, and editing files. However, you will need a qualifying Microsoft 365 subscription if: Your mobile device is larger than 10.1”.