Office 365 comes with a subscription license for Microsoft Office Desktop Software

Users are able to download and install the latest version of Microsoft Office through the Office 365 portal on their personal and home computers or mobile devices such as tablets or smartphones. This desktop version of Microsoft Office is activated using a subscription license that is tied to your University of Guelph Office 365 account. This subscription license is provided to all users for no charge as long as they are affiliated with the university. Unfortunately, when you leave university and your account is locked or deleted, you will no longer be able to continue using this version of Microsoft Office and your ability to use the desktop software will be reduced. In order to continue using the desktop Microsoft Office software after you no longer have a valid subscription through the University, you will need to purchase a personal Office 365 subscription from Microsoft with a separate Microsoft account - not your U of G Gryphmail account. There are five downloads allowed per laptop, tablet and mobile phone. That's right! 15 downloads!

Before downloading O365, please check the following to avoid common installation issues. 

1. Please make sure your device's Operating System is up-to-date to ensure better program compatibility. Office365 is supported on Windows 11. For Mac machines, the 3 most recent versions of Mac operating system is supported. When a new Mac version is released, then the older Mac OS will be unsupported.   
   For Windows devices, please use this guide to check for Windows updates: Get the latest Windows update
   For Mac devices, please use this guide to check for macOS updates: Update macOS on Mac
2. Please uninstall any existing versions of the Microsoft Office Suite or standalone Microsoft Office programs (i.e. individual copies of Word, Excel, PowerPoint etc.). New Windows computers often come with a trial version of Office and this needs to be uninstalled to avoid a conflict with the university-provided Office Suite installation. Make sure to restart your machine after uninstalling any software. 
3. For Windows devices, please use this guide to uninstall any copies of the Office Suite: Uninstall Office from a PC  . For Windows devices, please use this guide to uninstall any standalone copies of Microsoft Office apps included in the Office Suite: Uninstall or remove apps and programs
4. For Mac devices, please use this guide to uninstall any copies of the Office Suite and standalone copies of Microsoft Office apps: Uninstall Office for Mac

How to Install Microsoft Office Desktop Applications

For instructions on how to install Office, follow the step-by-step guide below. Separate Windows and Mac installation steps are at the bottom of the page.

1. If you're not already there, open up the Outlook Web App in your web browser by going to https://mail.uoguelph.ca. Login with your email address and password and confirm the login with your MFA (multi-factor authentication) method. 
2. In the Outlook Web app, click on the waffle/apps menu icon in the top left corner of your browser. Click on the "More apps" icon.

3.  At the far right side of the browser, there is a drop down menu - click on Install Apps and then select Microsoft 365 apps

4. Choose Install Office to download the installation file

For Windows Machines - follow these steps

 The office installation file will download - if you do not see a pop-up select "Downloads" from your browser menu.

If asked to allow the app to make changes, choose "Yes" or you may need to sign in with your computer account and password. Let Office setup begin.

You can find the "OfficeSetup.exe" installer file in your browser's default download folder (i.e. in Downloads).
 Alternatively, if a window pops up, please follow the directions on it.

For Mac Machines - follow these steps

On a Mac, open Microsoft_365_and_Office_16.100.25081015_BusinessPro_Installer.pkg.

We recommend keeping the default location for the installation.

It is recommended to move the installer to the Trash

Open one of the office products (word, excel etc) and login with your email address and password to licence the software.