How to Upgrade Microsoft Office

Written by Jack Lloyd

Last Updated: December 11, 2024

This wikiHow will teach you how to upgrade Microsoft Office to a new version. If you currently own Office 2013 through an Office 365 subscription purchased prior to Office 2016's release, the good news is you can update to Office 2016 for free! If you don't, you're going to need to purchase an Office 365 subscription or a permanent version of Office 2016. Either way, we'll walk you through exactly what you need to do in the steps below.

Method 1

Method 1 of 3:

Upgrading from 2013 to 2016

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1
Go to the Microsoft Account page. It's at https://login.live.com/. Since Microsoft doesn't typically save your login details, you'll likely need to log into your account.
- If you're already signed into your Microsoft account, skip the next two steps.
You must enter your Microsoft email address (e.g., an Outlook, Live, or Hotmail address).

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As long as your account details are correct, doing this will take you to your Microsoft account page.
It's a tab in the blue bar near the top of the page. Your current version of Office should be listed here.^{[1]
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You should see this below a textbox that says "New: Office 2016 is now available."^{[2]
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This option is on the left side of the page. Doing so will prompt Office 2016 to download to your computer.
It will be in your computer's default downloads folder (e.g., the desktop).
Once your installation is complete, Microsoft Office should be updated to the latest version.

Method 2

Method 2 of 3:

Purchasing an Office 365 Subscription

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1
Go to the Microsoft Store. To do so, visit https://www.microsoftstore.com/store/msusa/en_US/home.
- If you aren't logged into your Microsoft Account, click Sign in in the top-right corner of the page and enter your email address and password.
It's a tab in the grey bar near the top of the page.
This option is near the top of the drop-down menu below the Software & Apps tab.
4
Click an Office option. While all options include Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and OneNote, Office 365 subscriptions also have Outlook, Publisher, Access, a terabyte of cloud storage, and free Skype calls included as well. There are three standard options for purchase:
- Office 365 Home - Supports five computer installs and five mobile installs. You'll pay $99.99/year or $9.99/month for this subscription.
- Office 365 Personal - Supports one computer install and one mobile install. You'll pay $69.99/year or $6.99/month for this subscription.
- Office Home & Student 2016 (PC or Mac) - Supports one computer install. You pay $149 once for this software.
It's a blue button in the bottom-right side of the page.
6
Click Checkout. You'll see this option at the top of the page.
- You should verify that the Office option you've selected is the one you wish to purchase before continuing.
This is to confirm that you're authorized to access the payment information page.
Your Microsoft account will save your payment information if you've previously entered it, but if not, you'll need to add a payment method (e.g., a credit or debit card) and a billing address.
This will purchase your selected package and prompt you to install Office on your computer.

Method 3

Method 3 of 3:

Installing an Existing Subscription

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1
Go to the Microsoft Office website. It's at https://www.office.com/. You'll likely need to log into your Microsoft account before you can download Office to your computer.
- If you have the Student version of Office, you won't be able to download Office to more than one computer.
2
Click Sign in. This link is in the top-right corner of the page.
- If you're already signed in, skip the next two steps.
Your Microsoft email address will typically end in outlook.com or live.com.
Doing so will redirect you to the product page.
You'll see this option in the top-right side of the Office webpage.
This option is on the left side of the page. Doing so will prompt Office 2016 to download to your computer.
7
Double-click the Office install file. It will be in your computer's default downloads folder (e.g., the desktop).
- You may need to confirm that you want to allow the Office software to make changes on your device.
Once it does, you'll be able to use Office like usual.

Community Q&A

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Question

Is this a free upgrade?

Community Answer

No, as Microsoft now has annual/monthly payment programs.

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Question

Will I lose my documents if I upgrade?

Community Answer

No, the files are stored in your Documents folder, and will remain intact during the upgrade.

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Which is better for a laptop with 4 GB RAM and Windows 10, Office 2007 or 2013?

Community Answer

4 GB of RAM is not very much. The expected amount nowadays is easily 8 GB. I would go for 2007.

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Purchasing an Office 365 subscription will allow you to update to the most recent version of Microsoft Office when it becomes available in your area.

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