Install Microsoft 365: Setup Guide for Windows, Mac, Mobile and Teams

A five-person business, a home office and a shared desk, all set to install Microsoft 365 apps. Laptops, Macs and phones all need the same apps. To install Microsoft 365, you sign in with the account that holds the subscription and run the installer from there.

• Sign in at m365.cloud.microsoft/apps with the subscription account.
• Open Install apps and run the downloaded file.
• Open Word and sign in with that same account.
• Phones and tablets: the App Store or Google Play.

The address is m365.cloud.microsoft/apps, and microsoft365.com takes you to the same place. Open Install apps and run the downloaded file. On a Mac you open the .pkg file from Downloads.

Activation happens when you open Word or Excel and sign in with that same account. On phones and tablets, we use the App Store or Google Play.

The install of the Microsoft Office apps is typically quick. The parts that trip people up come before and after it.

• The wrong account.
• An old Office copy in the way.
• OneDrive syncing the wrong folders.
• A team member who never got a license assigned.

What you need first

• An active subscription, linked to a Microsoft account for personal or family plans.
• Or a work or school account with an assigned license.
• Administrator rights on the computer.
• A current system: Windows 11, Windows 10, or a recent macOS version.
• A stable internet connection for the download.

Spend five minutes on this checklist. In most cases it’s all the preparation you need, and it saves an hour of head-scratching later.

An older Office, or a Microsoft Office trial, still on the PC? Remove it first. Our guide to the Microsoft Office uninstall tool covers the clean way, for when the normal uninstall fails.

How to install Microsoft 365 on a Windows PC

1. Open m365.cloud.microsoft/apps in your browser. Select Sign in if you aren’t signed in yet.
2. Sign in with the account linked to your subscription.
3. Open the Install apps drop-down.
4. Need a different language or the 32-bit version? Pick them in the Install apps window before you click Install.
5. Depending on the browser, choose Run, Setup or Save File. Then open the downloaded file.
6. Select Yes at the User Account Control prompt.
7. Keep the PC online until you see “You’re all set! Office is installed now”. Then select Close.
8. Open Word from the Start menu and accept the license agreement. That activates the apps.

The apps install through Click-to-Run and update themselves in the background.

Curious what that background service does? See our explainer on the Office Click-to-Run service.

Use the same account everywhere. If Word says “Unlicensed Product” right after installing, the app is almost always signed in with a different account. Our page on the Office Unlicensed Product error has more fixes. Sign out under File, Account. Sign in again with the subscription account.

After the install: quick checks

• File, Account shows the product as activated, under the right account.
• Update Options has run once, and nothing is pending.
• Older Office entries are gone from Installed apps.
• A test document opens, saves and closes with no prompt.
• The other apps in the suite start too.

How to install Microsoft 365 on a Mac

1. Sign in at m365.cloud.microsoft/apps and choose Install apps, exactly as on Windows.
2. When the download finishes, open Finder, Downloads and double-click the Microsoft Office installer .pkg file. The name can vary slightly.
3. Select Continue and review the license. Select Continue again, then Agree.
4. Choose Install. Or choose Customize to untick apps you don’t need, such as OneNote.
5. Enter your Mac login password and select Install Software. Then select Close.
6. Open Word from Launchpad, select Get Started in the What’s New window and sign in.

If macOS warns about an unidentified developer, wait about ten seconds. Move the installer to the desktop and Control-click it to open.

Microsoft also lists the apps in the Mac App Store. That’s handy for managed Macs.

Microsoft supports Microsoft 365 for Mac on the three most recent macOS versions. We’d keep the apps current through Microsoft AutoUpdate, as the Microsoft update guide describes. An old Mac that can’t take current apps? Microsoft suggests the web version in a browser.

On an iPhone, iPad or Android device

There are two ways. The combined Microsoft 365 Copilot app, or the separate apps. Both come from the App Store or Google Play.

Sign in with the same account as on your computer. Your subscription brings the premium features, and files sync through OneDrive.

The sign-in matters most on tablets. On larger screens, editing needs a qualifying subscription. Smaller devices get basic editing free.

Mobile devices count toward the five that can be signed in at once. When you hit the limit, Microsoft asks you to sign out somewhere. You can also do it from the Subscriptions page of your account.

OneDrive and Outlook afterwards

This is where Microsoft 365 earns its keep, compared with a plain install. The usual order of steps on a new laptop:

1. Open OneDrive from the system tray, or from Applications on a Mac. Sign in with the subscription account.
2. Accept the default OneDrive folder location. On a small disk, a second drive may suit better.
3. When asked, back up Desktop, Documents and Pictures. Existing files start uploading in the background.
4. Right-click large folders you rarely open and choose Free up space.
5. Open Outlook and add your account, with the same address.
6. In Word, check File, Options, Save. Set AutoSave to on for OneDrive files, so changes save as you type.

Files On-Demand keeps the freed folders in the cloud until you need them.

Microsoft 365 business mailboxes and Outlook.com accounts set themselves up automatically after sign-in.

Windows has the new Outlook alongside classic Outlook. Business users who rely on COM add-ins often stay on classic for now.

Personal plans include 1 TB of OneDrive storage per person. We’d check the plan before moving years of photos over a slow connection. The first sync often takes a while.

For a small business team

Not sure what each plan holds? See what Microsoft 365 is and how its plans differ. An admin buys a business plan that includes desktop apps. Then the admin adds users and assigns licenses in the Microsoft 365 admin center, at admin.microsoft.com. After that, each user installs the apps with their work account.

The order matters more than any setting.

1. Verify your domain in the admin center, so addresses look like name@yourcompany.com.
2. Add users and assign each a license under Users, Active users. No license, no install button.
3. Turn on multi-factor authentication for everyone, admins first.
4. Send each person the install steps above, with the work account sign-in.
5. Move email and files last, once everyone can sign in.

Microsoft’s business plans are designed for up to 300 users. Bigger organizations move to Enterprise plans.

For more than a handful of PCs, IT teams usually deploy the apps centrally. No visit to each desk.

The tools are the Office Deployment Tool and Microsoft Intune. We show the configuration file and the commands in our guide to the Office Deployment Tool.

Not every team needs a subscription, though. Say you only need the Office apps on a few PCs, with no Teams and no business email. Then a one-time Office license is the economical choice over several years. One example: Office Home and Business 2024 for PC or Mac.

Our Microsoft 365 vs Office 2024 comparison lays out the differences.

Prefer to pay once? Our Office 2024 keys are genuine perpetual licenses. Delivery is instant to email.

Updates and security once you install Microsoft 365

The apps update themselves in the background, through Click-to-Run. On Windows you can trigger an update by hand: File, Account, Update Options, Update Now.

That’s the part people appreciate most, because nobody has to think about it.

Business admins can choose an update channel, to balance new features against stability. Current Channel and Monthly Enterprise Channel are the common ones.

Security comes from your account. Keep Windows and macOS patched, and let OneDrive version history protect files against accidental deletion and ransomware.

The security basics, worth ten minutes:

• Multi-factor authentication on every account, especially the one that holds billing.
• Sensitive files in OneDrive or SharePoint, not in email attachments.
• Sharing links that expire, or that work only for people in your organization.
• Personal Vault in OneDrive for scans of IDs and contracts.

When it won’t install or activate

1. Restart the PC.
2. Remove older Office versions.
3. Check that you’re signed in with the account that owns the license.
4. Run the installer again.

The apps are already installed and misbehave? Open Settings, Apps, Installed apps. Choose Microsoft 365 and select Modify. We’d try Quick Repair first, then Online Repair.

Microsoft’s old Support and Recovery Assistant command-line tool was removed in March 2026. The Get Help app runs those troubleshooters now.

If none of that helps, the troubleshooter usually points to the exact error code to search for.

Common mistakes when you install Microsoft 365

• Signing in with the wrong account. The apps install and stay unlicensed.
• Leaving an old Office in place. The two versions clash.
• Buying a plan with no desktop apps. Business Basic is web and mobile only.
• Assigning licenses after sending the instructions. People find no install button.
• Backing up nothing to OneDrive. The subscription’s storage sits unused.
• Skipping multi-factor authentication. The account is the security boundary.

Typical Microsoft 365 install problems

Two accounts, one laptop

The subscription sits on a personal Microsoft account, and Word is signed in with the work address. The title bar says “Unlicensed Product”. Signed in with the right account, the banner goes.

The missing Install button

A new colleague opens the portal and finds only web apps. No license had been assigned yet. One click in the admin center, and the button appears.

The 32-bit leftover

Setup stops with a bitness conflict on a PC that looks clean. An old 32-bit Visio is still installed. With it removed, the 64-bit apps go in.

The Basic plan surprise

A small office buys Business Basic for everyone and looks for the desktop download. That plan has none. The seats that need desktop Word and Excel move to Business Standard.

The sixth device

A new tablet asks someone to sign out elsewhere. Five devices are already active, two of them long retired. Signed out from the Subscriptions page, they free the slots.

Install Microsoft 365: versions this guide covers

These steps apply to Microsoft 365 Apps on Current Channel, from the Personal, Family and Business Standard plans.

Once the apps are in and OneDrive is syncing, the “installation” is really just the first day. The rest happens in the background: shared documents, automatic backups. That’s the whole point.

Related guides

• Can You Buy a Microsoft Office Lifetime License
• Microsoft 365 vs Office 2019
• OneDrive error 0x8007016A
• Office 32-bit vs 64-bit
• Office language accessory pack
• Outlook keeps asking for a password: fixes
• Office 365 install limit reached