Microsoft quietly released a free offline version of Office, but you’re not going to like it

If you want to use Microsoft’s productivity suite but don’t want to pay for Microsoft 365 or purchase an Office license, your only option is to use the web version. However, Microsoft has quietly released a new Office client that you can download to your PC for free. However, don’t get too excited; you may not want to go through the hassle once you read the limitations.

Microsoft has released a free version of Office, but there are multiple catches

As spotted by Beebom, this new version of Microsoft Office sounds pretty good at first glance. It’s a lightweight version of the productivity suite you can download and run on your PC for free. However, the second you dig a little deeper past this surface impression, things turn pretty sour pretty fast.

Does it have ads, you ask? Oh boy, does it ever:

…in all three apps, Microsoft Word, Excel, and PowerPoint, you will see a persistent ad banner on the right side. You can’t remove it unless you buy the premium subscription. Moreover, a 15-second video ad will play (muted) in the Office app every few hours.

But let’s say you can stomach seeing an ad banner on the side for as long as it takes to write your document. Well, if you go to save your piece, you’ll realize that you can’t save it on your computer. This version of Office will only save it to OneDrive, meaning that if you want a local copy, you need to save it, open OneDrive, and then download it back onto your PC. And that’s not to mention all the missing features, such as text boxes in Word and colors in Excel.

If you want to endure this unique method of cruel and unusual punishment for yourself, head over to the Office website and install the regular version. When Office asks you to sign in, click the “Skip for now” button. Congratulations; you’re now stuck with a pretty rough version of Office until you pay up. But you’re worth better than that, so check out these Office alternatives that let you work across devices instead and treat yourself better.