If you’re looking to work on Word, Excel, and PowerPoint documents on your iPad or iPhone without signing up for a full Microsoft 365 subscription, we’re here to help. In this article, we will discuss how to install the Microsoft Office apps on an iPad, including how you can get them for free, whether you should, as well as some alternatives.
When Microsoft first unveiled its Office apps for Mac and iOS devices, the apps were quite limited. The iPad version offered some basic editing features (but only to Office 365 subscribers), while the iPhone equivalent was read-only. But these days most iPad and iPhone users can access and edit Word, Excel, and PowerPoint documents on their phones and tablets.
Read on for more information about how to get Office apps on your iPhone and iPad, and how to make the most of their features. For related advice, see our Office for Mac buying guide.
How to get Microsoft Office for free on your iPad and iPhone
The iOS and iPadOS Microsoft Office apps are each free to download from the App Store (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Outlook) as well as the full Office Suite. (They require a device running iOS 16 or later.) If you run a search in the App Store rather than using the links above, make sure you get versions with Microsoft Corporation listed as the developer so you don’t accidentally download an Office clone or related app.
To do anything with the apps, you will need to have a Microsoft account. You don’t need to have a paid Office 365 subscription to log in, but Microsoft requires you to register for an account to use the app. After logging in, you can create, edit, view, and print documents, presentations, and spreadsheets in the Office apps for free, but without a full subscription, features are very limited.
DO you need to buy a subscription to Office 365?
With Office 365 you get premium versions of Office applications: Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Outlook—including advanced change tracking, the removal of limits on the ways you can use paragraph styles, and advanced chart, table, and picture formatting tools. Plus you get 1TB of online storage per person with OneDrive (without a subscription to Office 365 you only get 5GB). Users can also open existing documents stored on their OneDrive or any other SharePoint location.
A yearly Office 365 subscription starts at £59.99 in the U.K. or £5.99 per month for Personal, and at $69.99 in the U.S. or $6.99 per month. Depending on the subscription you could get the Office apps for your Mac too. This is for a single license and is good across all platofrms: PC, Mac, iPhone, iPad, and Android phones and tablets.
You’ll find full details of the extra features unlocked with a 365 subscription, plus the various tiers on offer, at the Microsoft Office website. The apps are app regularly updated, but Microsoft has confirmed that a new version of Office is coming later in 2024, the first since 2021.
The Microsoft Office suite is available for free on iPhone and iPad if you want to do basic editing.
The Microsoft Office suite is available for free on iPhone and iPad if you want to do basic editing.
Thaspol Sangsee/Shutterstock.com
The Microsoft Office suite is available for free on iPhone and iPad if you want to do basic editing.
Thaspol Sangsee/Shutterstock.com
Thaspol Sangsee/Shutterstock.com
Do you need Microsoft Office?
Microsoft’s Office apps are synonymous with document editing, but there are alternatives. Most notably, Apple’s own office suite includes Pages (Word), Numbers (Excel), and Keynote (PowerPoint). The apps are all availble for free with the purchase of any Apple device iPad or iPhone. You can download the latest versions here: Pages, Keynote, Numbers. There are also other text and spreadsheet editors in the App Store that can handle Office docs, but you’ll want to be careful of formatting.
Syncing options for Microsoft Office
Office for iOS integrates with OneDrive, Microsoft’s cloud storage service. So, users can create a document in the relevant Office app, and then revise it on their iPad while commuting. The document will maintain its formatting even if the mobile version doesn’t support that particular feature. Microsoft provides 5GB of space on OneDrive with free accounts and 1TB with paid Office 365 subscriptions.
You can also save documents to Apple’s Files app if you don’t want to use OneDrive as well as export and share files with the free version. However, if you want to collaborate on editing, which is available with a free account, you’ll need to use OneDrive.
Word for iPad and iPhone: Free features
Even with a free account, you’ll still get decent document creation and editing tools, though features are limited compared to the full account. You can create new documents with standard document layout, with access to some font and formatting options.
On the iPhone, Microsoft has simplified the interface to maximize screen space while writing or editing text. There’s also a Mobile View button that takes it even further, resizing the text to fit your screen and clearing out unnecessary document elements to allow you to focus on the text you’re editing.
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These are the features Microsoft offers for free accounts:
- One license
- Sharing and real-time collaboration
- Word for the web
- Basic spelling and grammar
- Basic templates, fonts, icons, and stickers
- Dictation and voice commands
- 5 GB of cloud storage
You can learn more about the Word features for Office 365 subscribers on Microsoft’s website.
Excel for iPad and iPhone: Free features
Like Word, Excel for iOS can be used to create and modify spreadsheets with a free account. Microsoft offers numerous free templates and a stripped-down interface that makes it easy to edit on the iPhone’s smaller screen. As of version 2.82.205.0, Excel for iPad also supports pivot tables, but only with a paid subscription.
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These are the Excel features Microsoft offers for free accounts:
- One license
- Sharing and real-time collaboration
- Excel for the web
- Basic templates
- Dictation and voice commands
- 5 GB of cloud storage
You can learn more about the Excel features for Office 365 subscribers on Microsoft’s website.
PowerPoint for iPad and iPhone: Free features
With a free Microsoft account and PowerPoint for iOS and iPadOS, you can add and edit animations, crop images, and add videos from your iOS device. Like the Word and Excel versions, it’s not a replacement for the desktop app, but it’s an excellent way to tweak and edit projects while away from your Mac.
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These are the PowerPoint features Microsoft offers for free accounts:
- One license
- Sharing and real-time collaboration
- PowerPoint for the web
- Basic templates, fonts, icons, and stickers
- Dictation and voice commands
- 5 GB of cloud storage
You can learn more about the PowerPoint features for Office 365 subscribers on Microsoft’s website.
Author: Karen Haslam, Managing Editor
Karen has worked on both sides of the Apple divide, clocking up a number of years at Apple's PR agency prior to joining Macworld more than two decades ago. Karen's career highlights include interviewing Apple's Steve Wozniak and discussing Steve Jobs’ legacy on the BBC. Having edited the U.K. print and online editions of Macworld for many years, more recently her focus has been on SEO and evergreen content as well product recommendations and buying advice on Macworld.com.