If you have an account provided by your school, simply use that email to log in to Office 365. If you don't have a student account, you can refer to the article below to create a developer account. This article will guide you through two ways to download the free Office 365 suite.
1. How to download the free Office 365 suite for a developer account
Step 1: Access this link > Join now to participate in Microsoft's Developer Program.
Step 2: Log in with any Microsoft account . If you don't have a Microsoft account yet, please refer to the article: How to register a Microsoft account.
Next, you will be taken to an interface where you can fill in information about Country, Company, etc. You can fill in any information you like, then click "I accept" below to agree. Click "Next " to continue. Then click "Personal project" and then "Next" .
You have now successfully received your Office 365 subscription.
Step 3: When the image shown below appears, click on Set up E5 subscription .
Continue filling in all the information as shown below. For the domain section, enter your name, and it will be checked to see if this name is already in use. If it shows a red warning, you need to change to a different name. The username and domain at this step will form the email address used to activate your licensed Office 365. After filling in the information, click Continue .
Step 4: You will be asked to enter your phone number to receive a verification code. After entering the code, wait for it to be sent, then enter it back into this interface and click " Set up" below.
Note that if you don't receive the code, press Resent to resend it. It's best to use a Viettel SIM card as the probability of successfully receiving the activation code is higher.
Step 5:
Once this interface has finished loading, it means you have successfully created your Office 365 account. You will use the Office 365 activation account with the .onmicrosoft suffix (from step 3). The Microsoft account you entered in step 2 to join the Microsoft Developer program will not be used for activation.
Step 6:
If you already have Office 2019 or 2016 installed on your computer, you need to uninstall it. Then click the "Go to subscription" button .
At this point, we are asked for the password for the onmicrosoft account that we just created above.
Step 7:
After logging in, go to this link .
In this interface, click on View app & devices to select and download the Office 365 apps you want.
Now, select your language and the version of Office you want to use, then click the "Install Office" button next to it to download the new Office suite.
Step 8:
We install the Office suite on the computer as usual. Then open Word and log in with the Office 365 account with the .onmicrosoft suffix that we created, and the account will be successfully activated.
Checking your account will show you which version of Office 365 you are using.
Please note that one Office 365 onMicrosoft account can activate up to 5 machines, but only one onMicrosoft account can be used at a time. The account automatically renews, but you must ensure you log in to your onMicrosoft account to use the office applications. If you create the account but don't use it or don't log in, Microsoft will automatically cancel it.
2. How to download Office 365 for free for students/teachers
Please note that Microsoft will allow you to use the license until you graduate or are no longer enrolled in the program. Therefore, users should be aware that once the license expires, the functionality of Office applications will be reduced; documents will be readable but cannot be edited or created, and related online services such as Office Online and OneDrive will also become unavailable.
Step 1:
First, users access the link below to go to the program registration page.
- www.office.com/getoffice365
Step 2:
On the homepage, enter the email address provided by the school if you are a student or teacher, or use an educational email address from a friend or relative, etc.
Step 3:
We will be asked whether we are students or teachers; for example, select "I am a student" to continue using the service.
Step 4:
Next, on the Create Account interface , we will enter the username and password for the account. Please note that the password for the account must be 8-16 characters long and combine uppercase and lowercase letters, numbers, and any symbols including: ! @ # $ % ^ & * - _ + = [ ] | : ' , . ? / ` ~ '( ) ;.
Pay attention to the Verification Code section . This code will be sent to the email address you entered when registering for Office 365 above.
After entering the verification code sent to your email, click Start to complete the registration. The verification code will be sent immediately after you log in to your account. If you do not receive the code, click Resend registration code.
Step 5:
Next, the program will suggest that users invite other accounts to join the program to receive a free Office 365 suite from Microsoft. If not, you can skip this step and click Send Invitations to proceed to the next interface.
Step 6:
Please wait a few seconds for the program registration process to be confirmed by Microsoft.
Once the verification process is complete, you have finished registering your account to use Office 365. On the next page, click the " Install Office 2016" button to download the installation file to your computer.
Then, the user simply clicks on the downloaded installation file. The Office 365 installation interface will appear on the computer.
Step 7:
The installation and setup process for Office 365 will begin shortly. Please note that Office 365 will be installed online, so users need to ensure a stable internet connection and speed.
Once this process is complete, we can use the Office 365 suite completely free of charge, with all the necessary office tools: Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, OneNote, Access, and Publisher.
After installation, users will enter the university email address used for registration and the password for the account created in the previous step to register and receive various other benefits.
More information about Microsoft Office 365
Microsoft Office 365 is the online, server-hosted version of the traditional installed version of Microsoft Office software. This online service is subscription-based and includes Office, Exchange Online, SharePoint Online, Lync Online, and Microsoft Office Web Apps.
The advantage of the Microsoft Office 365 suite is that it's a cloud service provided by Microsoft, thus eliminating the IT maintenance tasks of the company, such as patching and infrastructure support costs. For end users, the advantage is the ability to access Office 365 services from any device anywhere with an internet connection.
IT administrators access the Microsoft Office 365 suite from a web-based portal to set up new user accounts, control access to features, and view the status of all Office 365 services and tools.
The features of Office 365 vary greatly depending on the subscription plan. Microsoft has designed subscription plans for home users, businesses, and other specific target groups. Here are some of the most common features of Office 365:
- Office Suite (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, OneNote, Publisher, Skype for Business, Access): One of the most frequently used applications in the Microsoft Office 365 suite is Microsoft's email application, Outlook. This powerful application allows you to customize emails, create templates, flag emails for tracking, schedule meetings, and more.
- Exchange Online (email, calendar, tasks)
- SharePoint Online (a web portal for collaboration): SharePoint is a key component of Office 365 that makes collaboration possible. Beyond file sharing and organization, it includes SharePoint Workflows, SharePoint PerformancePoint, and SharePoint project sites. Together, these applications facilitate data sharing and management worldwide. Similar to email, the Microsoft IIS, SharePoint, and Microsoft SQL database servers necessary to provide these collaboration services are all operated by Microsoft. IT organizations can run and manage collaboration services without worrying about maintaining these servers, patching, software upgrades, etc. All of these operations are handled by Microsoft as part of their SaaS service.
- Yammer (business social network): Yammer is a unique social networking service designed for business communication. Yammer helps employees quickly get answers even when they don't know who to ask. Yammer allows organizations—especially those with multiple offices—to collaborate across locations. Instead of sending emails asking someone about a topic, you can now simply post the topic to a Yammer group. Department heads monitor their Yammer groups and answer questions accordingly. Employees get the answers they need, and work gets done faster.
- OneDrive for Business (cloud file storage)
- Planner (project manager)
- Power BI (Business Intelligence)
- Delve (exploring social documents)
- Video (private video library)
- Sway (a tool for creating reports, presentations, and newsletters)
The above is a guide on how to register and download the free Office 365 suite for students and teachers from Microsoft. The registration process is relatively quick and not too complicated. Users only need to prepare a valid email address provided by their school.
Good luck with your project!