Get Word, Excel, and PowerPoint for free with this secret (and legal) trick!

There's no need to look for dubious methods to get the famous Microsoft Office applications for free. There's a totally legal way to use Word, Excel, and PowerPoint without spending a cent. Here's how!

 Microsoft Office applications, including the essential trio of Word, Excel, and PowerPoint, continue to be widely used globally. However, their price can be a deterrent for occasional users. A single license can cost around $150, and subscribing to Microsoft 365 can set you back around ten dollars per month. Fortunately, there's a legal and surprisingly little-known alternative to access these applications for free.

In response to evolving user habits and the emergence of competing office applications (such as Google Docs and Sheets), Microsoft has made online versions of some Office Suite software available without charge. You can now use Word, Excel, and PowerPoint directly in your favorite web browser without spending a penny. All you need is a free Microsoft account, easily created on the dedicated Microsoft site, something many Windows users likely already have.

To access the applications, simply go to the Office web page and log in using your Microsoft credentials. Once you've logged in, you're taken to a dashboard where you can launch and use Word, Excel, and PowerPoint inside your web browser.

The online versions of these programs are very similar to their desktop equivalents. You'll find the familiar Office suite interface, with the ribbon bringing together the various tools available in tabbed form, so you won't be lost and will quickly find your feet if you're used to working on the desktop versions of Word, Excel, and PowerPoint.

Note, however, that some functions are not available in the online version of these applications: in Word, you can't create a mailing or add a document to a spreadsheet. However, these restrictions only apply to some of the most complex functions, and the range of tools available is more than adequate to meet the vast bulk of your office automation needs, whether you're writing elaborately formatted documents, analyzing large datasets or creating sophisticated presentations.

In addition, two lesser-known applications from the Office suite are also available free of charge: Forms and Lists, which, as their names suggest, can be used to create forms and interactive lists. Finally, note that to use these applications in your browser, your documents must be stored online on Microsoft's OneDrive service, for which you get 5 GB of space in the free package, which is more than enough to store a large number of office files.