How to Set Up a Free Online Microsoft Office Account

In this post we will talk you through setting up a free online Microsoft Office account in 2025. This account will give you access to the MS office applications, without a subscription or fee attached.

How to sign up for a Microsoft Account

Initially, you need to figure out if you already have a Microsoft account.

If your email ends with outlook.com, hotmail.com, msn.com, or live.com then you can probably use that account.

If you have a Windows computer, you likely have a Microsoft account already.

The one condition, when using a pre-existing account that could potentially be problematic, is if your OneDrive storage in that account is near full. Microsoft offers 5 GB of free data, so occasionally people may want to create a new account instead of deleting data saved on their existing account.

If creating a new account, you can do so here on Microsoft’s website.

How to Access the Office Apps

It is important to remember that the free version of Office is Web based only. This means that all work will be done in your browser, or on their mobile app. There is no program to download to your computer.

All files will be stored online and saved in OneDrive. They also offer an option to store a duplicate as a physical downloaded file when necessary.

Once your account is signed into you will click on the profile icon on the top right, and choose the “My Microsoft Account” option.

Once there you will see a waffle icon on the left side of the screen with 9 dots. Click this icon to see all the different apps you now have access to.

You will find the nine dots in the top right corner on most of the Microsoft apps pages, so it is important to keep that in mind when working, if you need to swap to another app.

Important Tips

If you use it frequently, we suggest that you put some of these apps in your bookmarks. For example if you are using Word and Excel often you should bookmark those, as well as the OneDrive page for easy access to your files.

It is also important to remember that these apps DO NOT offer full functionality in regards to features and formatting. They can handle most basic tasks and formats, and also offer a good selection of templates. However, there are some advanced features that you do not get access to without paying for a subscription.

Keep in mind the home pages of the Office apps do not show ALL of the files in your OneDrive. They often display recent or suggested files by default.

You can access all your saved files with the “Show All Saved Files” button at the very bottom of the home page. This option redirects you to the One Drive page. You can also go directly to the OneDrive app.