How Can I Get Microsoft Office On My Mac
Yes, you can get Microsoft Office for Mac, so you can create Word and Excel files. BUT you can also get OpenOffice on your Mac, which is a totally free, and slightly less visually attractive office application, that lets you do all the same things as MS Office. Prices of Microsoft Office range from $149 to $399. Open a blank Microsoft Word document on your Mac. Open the Insert menu and click Get Add-ins or Store. Type Grammarly for Microsoft Word in the search field and press Enter. Next to the listing for Grammarly for Microsoft Word, click Add. In your Word document, look for the Grammarly tab on your toolbar and click Open Grammarly. You can review.
-->Note
Office 365 ProPlus is being renamed to Microsoft 365 Apps for enterprise. For more information about this change, read this blog post.
Summary
Existing Office 2016 for Mac customers will be seamlessly upgraded to 64-bit versions of Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, and OneNote as part of the August product release (version 15.25). This affects customers of all license types: Retail, Office 365 Consumer, Office 365 Commercial, and Volume License installations.
Deployment options for the 64-bit update
AutoUpdate (MAU)
Customers who use Microsoft AutoUpdate (MAU) to keep their Office applications up-to-date will see a 'regular' monthly update notification when their selected channel is upgraded to 64-bit builds. Depending on which version is installed on the local computer, MAU will offer either a delta or full update. The update package size does not change between 32-bit and 64-bit versions. Also, MAU can deliver a delta update when applicable to update a user from 32-bit to 64-bit applications. Therefore, customers won't experience a sharp increase in download activity. For the release to the Production channel, customers will see '(64-bit)' in the update title to make them aware that this is a 64-bit update.
For information about how to use the MAU, see Check for Office for Mac updates automatically.
Manual updates
The August release of Office for Mac is available for manual download. The following file provides a 64-bit package to replace existing 32-bit applications with 64-bit variants during installation:
Download the Microsoft Office 2016 for Mac August update package now.
Virus-scan claim
Microsoft scanned this file for viruses, using the most current virus-detection software that was available on the date that the file was posted. The file is stored on security-enhanced servers that help prevent any unauthorized changes to it.
Volume License Service Center
Volume License customers typically get their Office 2016 software from the Volume License Service Center (VLSC). These builds are refreshed infrequently and are typically aligned with new language editions. The VLSC will continue to offer 32-bit installers (15.23) until November 2016. However, all updater packages that are released after August will be based on 64-bit builds. Therefore, a VLSC customer who updates either manually or through AutoUpdate will be transitioned to 64-bit builds.
More Information
64-bit only
The Mac operating system has been 64-bit for several years. Unlike for Windows, there's no choice between running a 32-bit or 64-bit version of the Mac operating system. Similarly, we won't offer a choice between 32-bit and 64-bit versions of Office 2016 for Mac. After each 'channel' is transitioned per the rollout schedule, only 64-bit builds will be available.
Effect on third-party applications and add-ins
The transition to 64-bit Office for Mac was announced on the Office developer blog in April 2016. This website is the primary reference for third-party vendors to understand the change and the effect on their products. IT Pros will want to understand which compiled add-ins are deployed to the users whom they manage so that they can assess the effect of the upgrade. The following Microsoft Office website summarizes the issues that affect the more common add-ins that are used together with Office 2016 for Mac:
Tools for inspecting product architecture
To verify the architecture of an Office application (that is, to understand whether you have a 32-bit or 64-bit build), start the application, open the Activity Monitor, and then enable the Kind column.
You can also use the file command in a terminal session to inspect the binary. For this use, type file -N <path of binary>.This method can be used with for any binary file, including third-party add-ins.
The file command returns one of three values.
| Return value | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Mach-O 64-bit executable x86_64 | 64-bit binary |
| Mach-O executable i386 | 32-bit binary |
| Mach-O 64-bit executable x86_64 | FAT binary (compatible with both 32-bit and 64-bit processes) |
| Mach-O executable i386 | FAT binary (compatible with both 32-bit and 64-bit processes) |
Options for reverting to 32-bit installations
There may be situations in which the customer has to change code that's not 64-bit ready. If customers can't immediately move forward to 64-bit builds, we will make available a one-time 32-bit update for the 15.25 release in addition to the default 64-bit updates. The 32-bit updates will be available only for manual download from the Office CDN.
The latest 32-bit release of Office 2016 for Mac (15.25.160818) can be downloaded from https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=823192.
Customers who manually install the 32-bit release won't be offered the 64-bit version of 15.25 through MAU. However, MAU will offer the 64-bit version of 15.26 in September 2016. Therefore, customers have a limited time to remain on 32-bit builds.
If a customer has already upgraded to the 64-bit update of Office for Mac 15.25 and wants to revert to the 32-bit version, follow these steps:
- Exit all open Office 2016 applications.
- Start Safari, and then browse to https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=823192 to start the download of the 32-bit installer.
- Double-click the downloaded package, and then follow the instructions.
The 64-bit installation has a build date of 160817. The 32-bit version has a build date of 160818.
-->Starting with Version 16.28 of Office for Mac, there are new preference settings that allow you to control settings related to the following:
Diagnostic data that is collected and sent to Microsoft about Office client software being used.
Connected experiences that use cloud-based functionality to provide enhanced Office features to you and your users.
In addition, there is a new preference setting related to a Required Data Notice dialog for Microsoft AutoUpdate (MAU).
For more information about diagnostic data and connected experiences, see Overview of privacy controls.
Note
- For information about similar settings for Office on computers running Windows, see Use policy settings to manage privacy controls for Office 365 ProPlus.
- For information about similar settings for Office on iOS devices, see Use preferences to manage privacy controls for Office on iOS devices.
Setting preferences
These new preference settings are CFPreferences API compatible and can be set using the defaults command in Terminal, or enforced through a Configuration Profile or Mobile Device Management (MDM) server. When the preferences are enforced, the user cannot change the values, and any in-app controls will appear disabled.
Preference setting for diagnostic data
Diagnostic data is used to keep Office secure and up-to-date, detect, diagnose and remediate problems, and also make product improvements. For more information, see Diagnostic data sent from Office 365 ProPlus to Microsoft.
| Preference Domain | com.microsoft.office |
| Key | DiagnosticDataTypePreference |
| Data Type | String |
| Possible values | BasicDiagnosticData(this sets the level to Required)FullDiagnosticData(this sets the level to Optional)ZeroDiagnosticData(this sets the level to Neither) |
| Availability | 16.28 and later |
Starting with new installations of Version 16.30, if you don't set this preference, only required diagnostic data is sent to Microsoft if users with an Office 365 subscription are signed in with a work or school account or if users have a volume licensed version of Office 2019 for Mac. Also, these users can't change the level of diagnostic data regardless of how you set this preference.
Note
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- If you install Version 16.28 or 16.29 and you don't set this preference, both optional and required diagnostic data is sent to Microsoft. If you then upgrade to Version 16.30 or later, both optional and required diagnostic data is still sent to Microsoft, unless you use this preference to set a different value.
- If you set this preference, it also will apply to Version 1.00.217856 and later of Teams for Mac and to Version 16.28 and later of Skype for Business for Mac.
For other users, such as home users with an Office 365 subscription, only required diagnostic data is sent, unless the user chooses to also send optional diagnostic data by going to Preferences > Privacy.
Preference setting for connected experiences that analyze your content
Connected experiences that analyze your content are experiences that use your Office content to provide you with design recommendations, editing suggestions, data insights, and similar features. For example, PowerPoint Designer or Researcher in Word. For a list of these connected experiences, see Connected experiences in Office.
| Preference Domain | com.microsoft.office |
| Key | OfficeExperiencesAnalyzingContentPreference |
| Data Type | Boolean |
| Possible values | TRUE(enabled)FALSE(disabled) |
| Availability | 16.28 and later |
If you don't set this preference, connected experiences that analyze content are available to users.
If the user has an Office 365 subscription and is signed in with a work or school account or if the user has a volume licensed version of Office 2019 for Mac, then the user can't turn off connected experiences that analyze content.
For other users, such as home users with an Office 365 subscription, the user can choose to turn off connected experiences that analyze content by going to Preferences > Privacy.
Preference setting for connected experiences that download online content
Connected experiences that download online content are experiences that allow you to search and download online content including templates, images, 3D models, videos, and reference materials to enhance your documents. For example, Office templates or PowerPoint QuickStarter. For a list of these connected experiences, see Connected experiences in Office.
| Preference Domain | com.microsoft.office |
| Key | OfficeExperiencesDownloadingContentPreference |
| Data Type | Boolean |
| Possible values | TRUE(enabled)FALSE(disabled) |
| Availability | 16.28 and later |
If you don't set this preference, connected experiences that download online content are available to users.
If the user has an Office 365 subscription and is signed in with a work or school account or if the user has a volume licensed version of Office 2019 for Mac, then the user can't turn off connected experiences that download online content.
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For other users, such as home users with an Office 365 subscription, a user can choose to turn off connected experiences that download online content by going to Preferences > Privacy.
Preference setting for optional connected experiences
In addition to the connected experiences mentioned above, there are some optional connected experiences that you may choose to allow your users to access with their organization account, which is sometimes referred to as a work or school account. For example, the LinkedIn features of the Resume Assistant in Word or the Weather Bar in Outlook, which uses MSN Weather. For more examples, see Overview of optional connected experiences in Office.
| Preference Domain | com.microsoft.office |
| Key | OptionalConnectedExperiencesPreference |
| Data Type | Boolean |
| Possible values | TRUE(enabled)FALSE(disabled) |
| Availability | 16.28 and later |
If you don't set this preference, optional connected experiences are available to users with an Office 365 subscription that are signed in with a work or school account or users who have a volume licensed version of Office 2019 for Mac. Unless you have set this preference to FALSE, these users can choose to turn off optional connected experiences by going to Preferences > Privacy.
For other users, such as home users with an Office 365 subscription, there isn't an option to turn off optional connected experiences.
Preference setting for most connected experiences
You can use this preference to control whether most connected experiences are available to your users.
| Preference Domain | com.microsoft.office |
| Key | ConnectedOfficeExperiencesPreference |
| Data Type | Boolean |
| Possible values | TRUE(enabled)FALSE(disabled) |
| Availability | 16.28 and later |
If you don't set this preference, all connected experiences are available to your users, unless you have set one of the other preferences for connected experiences previously mentioned, such as OfficeExperiencesAnalyzingContentPreference.
For example, if you set this preference to FALSE, the following types of connected experiences won't be available to your users:
How Do I Get Microsoft Office On My Mac For Free
- Experiences that analyze your content
- Experiences that download online content
- Optional connected experiences
In addition, if you set this preference to FALSE, most other connected experiences are also turned off, such as co-authoring and online file storage. For a list of these other connected experiences, see Connected experiences in Office.
How Can I Get Microsoft Office On My Mac Download
But even if you set this preference to FALSE, limited Office functionality will remain available, such as synching a mailbox in Outlook, and Teams and Skype for Business will continue to work. Essential services, such as the licensing service that confirms that you’re properly licensed to use Office, will also remain available.
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If the user has an Office 365 subscription and is signed in with a work or school account or if the user has a volume licensed version of Office 2019 for Mac, then the user can't turn off most connected experiences.
For other users, such as home users with an Office 365 subscription, a user can choose to turn off most connected experiences by going to Preferences > Privacy.
Preference setting for the Required Data Notice dialog for Microsoft AutoUpdate
The first time Version 4.12 or later of Microsoft AutoUpdate (MAU) is launched, users will see a Required Data Notice dialog which provides them with information about what data from MAU is sent to Microsoft.
How Do I Get Microsoft Office On My Mac
If you don't want your users to see this Required Data Notice dialog for Microsoft AutoUpdate, you can set the following preference. Regardless of which value you set, the dialog won't be shown to your users.
| Preference Domain | com.microsoft.autoupdate2 |
| Key | AcknowledgedDataCollectionPolicy |
| Data Type | String |
| Possible values | RequiredDataOnlyRequiredAndOptionalData |
| Availability | 4.12 and later |
How Can I Get Microsoft Office On My Mac For Free
If you let your users see this dialog, then when the user chooses OK, the value RequiredDataOnly is written to AcknowledgedDataCollectionPolicy and the dialog is not shown to the user again.