How to download excel for free

Do you want to use Microsoft Excel for free? Of course you do!

This post is going to show you all the ways you can use Microsoft Excel for free in a totally legitimate and legal way from Microsoft.

Microsoft Excel is a spreadsheet program that is part of the Microsoft Office suite of productivity software.

Excel allows users to import, manipulate and visualize data. It’s a powerful tool for data analysis and can be used to create charts, graphs, and pivot tables. Many businesses worldwide use Excel for these purposes.

Excel is also a powerful tool for personal productivity and can help you to stay organized and on track with personal budget templates, track bills and payments, manage expenses, and more.

Excel is available for purchase as part of the Microsoft Office suite, but it can be used totally for free if you know how.

Follow this post to find out how you can start using Excel for free today!

Get Excel for Free Online

Most people don’t know this, but you can use the online version of Excel for free.

Microsoft offers a free online version that can be accessed by anyone with a Microsoft account. The online version of Excel includes a lot of the most frequently used features as the desktop version so depending on your use case the free online version might be all you need.

Excel Online vs Excel Desktop: What’s the Difference?

Here is a comparison of the availability of some of the main features between the online and desktop versions of Excel.

Feature	Desktop Excel App	Online Excel App
Functions	✔️ Included	✔️ Included
Pivot Tables	✔️ Included	✔️ Not all pivot table functionality is available
Tables	✔️ Included	✔️ Included
Conditional Format	✔️ Included	✔️ Included
Charts	✔️ Included	✔️ Included
Power Pivot	✔️ Included	❌ Not included
Power Query	✔️ Included	⚠️ Limited refresh capability
VBA	✔️ Included	❌ Will never be available on the web or mobile app
Office Scripts	❌ Not available yet	✔️ Only available with an M365 business plan
Add-Ins	✔️ Included	⚠️ Only Office add-ins, no Excel or COM add-ins.
Data Types	✔️ Included	✔️ Included

This is not an exhaustive list and even within these feature categories, there will be differences in the implementation between the desktop and web. But it should help you decide if the online version is good enough for your Excel uses.

How to Get Excel Online for Free

Microsoft Excel online is free and can be accessed by anyone through a free Microsoft account.

In fact, you might already have access to Excel online through a free Microsoft email service such as Outlook, Hotmail, or Live. You can use those credentials to sign into office.com.

You will be prompted for your email and password and once entered you will be taken to the main Office hub page.

You have access to some of the most popular Microsoft apps including Excel from within the Office hub. All for FREE!

• Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and OneNote.
• Outlook, Skype, and Teams.
• Calendar and To-Do

These are all included with your free account.

💡 Tip: Click on the Waffle icon in the upper left then click on All apps to see all the apps to which you now have free access! There are many more great apps included such as Power Automate for task automation.

If you don’t already have one of these Microsoft accounts, then you can sign up and get one for free!

Go to outlook.live.com and click on the Create free account button. After you provide the usual details and confirm your account, you will be taken to the Outlook email app.

You should see the Excel app icon on the left pane, but if not you can access it from either the Waffle icon at the top, or the App icon at the bottom.

Click on the Excel icon and this will launch the Excel online app. You’ll then be able to create a New blank workbook or open any Excel files you’ve previously saved in OneDrive.

💡 Tip: You can open a new workbook by going to https://excel.new. Save this URL in your browser’s bookmark bar and you can create a new blank Excel workbook with one click!

This will open a new workbook that automatically gets saved to your OneDrive account. It should look very familiar if you use the Excel desktop app as they are becoming harder and harder to tell the difference between them.

📝 Note: You might see a more compact version of the Excel ribbon commands the first time you use Excel online.

💡 Tip: This Single Line Ribbon can easily be switched back to the more familiar Classic Ribbon. Click on the Chevron icon to the right of the ribbon then choose the Classic Ribbon option.

Congratulations! You now have access to the free online version of Microsoft Excel 🥳

Get Excel for Free with a Microsoft 365 Trial Account

What if you want to use the desktop Excel app?

If you only need to use the desktop version of Excel for a couple of days, then this method will be perfect for you.

You can get access to the desktop version of Excel with a free 1-month Microsoft 365 trial account.

These are the available Microsoft 365 plans which have a free 1-month trial and include the Excel desktop app.

• Microsoft 365 Family
• Microsoft 365 Apps for business
• Microsoft 365 Business Standard
• Microsoft 365 Business Premium

⚠️ Warning: You will need to add a payment method to your account to sign up. But you can cancel your plan before the end of the trial period to avoid any charges.

Get Excel for Free on Android or iOS

Excel is also available for free as a mobile and tablet app for Android and iOS.

You can find the Excel Android app on the Google Play store while the Excel iOS app is on the Apple App Store.

• Excel for Android
• Excel for iOS

The Excel app for mobile devices has limited functionality but it can be a great option for quickly viewing an Excel file when you’re not at your desktop computer. But don’t expect to be using it for anything other than viewing files and basic data entry.

The extra real estate on a tablet device does add to the usability of these apps and helps to make the experience less frustrating.

Get Excel for Free with a Microsoft 365 Education Plan

If you are a student or staff at an eligible education institution, then you already have access to Microsoft Excel for free.

Some educational institutions will partner with Microsoft to buy bulk licenses that allow all their students, staff, and faculty to use the full Microsoft Office suite for free.

This isn’t really free since the school is paying for the license and you are paying for the school. But it’s already included in your tuition fees so you might as well use it!

Go to the Microsoft 365 Eduction site and enter your .edu email address and click the Get Started button to sign up.

You will need access to your .edu email address as you will be required to verify it with a code sent to your email.

💡 Tip: Some universities and colleges offer their alumni lifetime email accounts with their .edu domain. So you might still be able to use this Microsoft 365 Education plan even if you’re currently not a student.

This will get you the full desktop version of Excel plus all the other Office apps for free!

Get Excel for Free with the Microsoft Developer Program

The Microsoft 365 Developer Program gives you access to an instant sandbox preconfigured Microsoft 365 tenant which will allow you to build solutions using sample data.

You’ll be able to join the program with an existing free Microsoft account or you can create a free account for the sole purpose of joining the developer program.

This program is totally free and it gives you full access to all the Microsoft Office desktop apps including the desktop version of Excel. You only need a phone number to verify your account.

Click on the Join now button to sign up and you will be prompted to sign in with a Microsoft account.

You will need to provide a few details and verify your account via a phone number. But once you’re done, you will have access to a full Microsoft 365 E5 environment. The E5 subscription will last for 90 days, but you can renew it for free on expiry.

Click on the Go to subscription link or go to office.com and sign in with the admin credentials you set up during the Developer Program account creation.

This will take you to the Office Hub page of your new Microsoft 365 E5 environment and you should see an Install Office button on the top right.

Click on the Install Office button and choose the Office 365 apps options to install the Excel desktop app.

Conclusions

Excel is used by close to 1 Billion people for work and personal productivity, but most users don’t know they can access Excel online with a free Microsoft account.

There are fewer features available in Excel online compared to the Excel desktop app, but most users won’t even notice the difference. Microsoft has been working hard to close the feature gap between Excel online and the desktop.

Excel power users will be missing some of their favorite features in Excel online such as VBA, Power Query, and Power Pivot. But there are still options for getting the desktop version of Excel for free if you require these tools.

You may have access to an M365 subscription already through your educational institution or you can sign up for a free 90-day renewable developer license for the M365 E5 plan.

Do you know about these ways to get Microsoft Excel for free? Have you used any of them? Let me know in the comments below!

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• How to Free Download MS Excel 2021 for Win 10 32/64 Bit & Win 11?

By Stella | Follow |
Last Updated January 13, 2023

Want to free download Microsoft Excel 2021 on your device? It is not difficult to do this. In this post, MiniTool Software will different ways to download and install Microsoft Excel 2021 on Windows 10 32-bit/64-bit and Windows 11.

Microsoft Excel 2021 System Requirements

News features in Microsoft Excel 2021

Currently, Microsoft Excel 2021 is the latest version of this worksheet. There are some new features in it:

• Co-authoring
• Better collaboration with modern comments
• Know who’s in your workbook
• Visual refresh
• XLOOKUP
• LET function
• Dynamic arrays
• XMATCH function
• Sheet views
• Performance improvements
• Updated Draw tab
• And more…

System Requirements:

If you want to install Microsoft Excel 2021 on your Windows computer, your device should meet the following basic requirements:

• Operating system: Windows 10 or 11, Windows Server 2019 or 2022
• Processor:1 GHz or dual-core processor or faster
• RAM: 4GB
• Disk space: 4GB of free drive space
• Resolution: 1280 x 768 screen resolution (4K resolution requires 64-bit)
• Graphics card: DirectX 9 or later
• WDDM: WDDM 2.0 or higher for Windows 10 (WDDM 1.3 or higher for Windows 10 Fall Creators Update)
• NET features: .NET 3.5, 4.6 or higher

Microsoft Excel 2021 Free Download for Windows 10 32/64 bit and Windows 11

Microsoft Excel 2021 is one application in Microsoft Office 2021. If you have installed Office 2021 on your Windows computer, Microsoft Excel 2021 will be available. If you accidentally uninstall Office 2021, you can download and reinstall it to bring back Excel 2021.

You can go to the Microsoft Account site > sign in with your Microsoft account > Services & subscriptions, find Office 2021, and click Install to install it on your device.

However, if you haven’t purchased Office 2021, how to free download Excel 2021 for Windows 10 and Windows 11?

You can download Microsoft Excel 2021 for free from a third-party site. Microsoft Excel 2021 free download for Windows 10 32 bit, Microsoft Excel 2021 free download for Windows 10 64 bit, and Microsoft Excel 2021 free download for Windows 11 are all available.

You can also directly Microsoft Office 2021.

After downloading the file, you can just open and run the file, and follow the on-screen guide to install Excel 2021 on your PC.

Microsoft Excel 2021 Free Download for Mac

Microsoft also releases Microsoft Office 2021 for Mac computers. Likewise, if you have purchased Office 2021, you can also go to the Microsoft Account site to download it on your machine.

If you want to free download Microsoft Excel 2021 for Mac, you can download Mac Office 2021.

Download Microsoft Excel on Android

If you are using an Android Phone or tablet, you can go to the Google Play Store to search for Microsoft Excel and download it on your device.

Download Microsoft Excel on iPhone/iPad

If you are using an iPhone or iPad, you can go to the App Store to find Microsoft Excel, then download and install it.

Recover Delete Excel Files on Windows 10/11

To recover deleted or lost Excel files, you can try MiniTool Power Data Recovery.

With this data recovery software, you can recover almost all kinds of files including Excel files from your data storage devices. This software can work on all versions of Windows.

Free Download

Bottom Line

If you want to use Microsoft Excel 2021 on your device, you can use the methods listed in this post to free download and install it on your device. There should be one suitable method for you.

About The Author

Position: Columnist

Stella has been working in MiniTool Software as an English Editor for more than 7 years. Her articles mainly cover the fields of data recovery including storage media data recovery and phone data recovery, YouTube videos download, partition management, and video conversions.

If you want to create and manage spreadsheets, one app probably comes to mind straight away: Excel.

Microsoft first released it all the way back in 1985, a couple of years after Word but shortly before PowerPoint. All three have gone on to revolutionise the way we produce digital content.

But in the almost four decades since, a lot has changed. The most obvious way to start using Excel nowadays is via a Microsoft 365 subscription, although standalone versions of all these apps are released every few years.

However, it’s still possible to access Excel completely free of charge, and all three methods in this article are officially approved by Microsoft. Here’s everything you need to know.

Use the web version

Using Microsoft Excel and other core Office programs is free via the web, and all you’ll need is a Microsoft account.

Head over to Office.com and click ‘Sign in’ to enter your details. If you don’t yet have an account, choose ‘Sign up for the free version of Office’ and follow the instructions.

Once that’s complete, you’ll be taken to your main office homepage. From the left pane, choose ‘Create’ then ‘Workbook’ to open a new spreadsheet.

As you can see, there’s also the option to create documents in Word and PowerPoint here, alongside Outlook and a free version of Microsoft Teams. These are all ‘Web Apps’, meaning you can only use them via your browser and not a desktop app. When you work on a file here, it will be saved to OneDrive, Microsoft’s cloud storage service – everyone gets 5GB for free.

In fact, you probably have Google to thank for this software being available in web app form, as its free Docs and Sheets software and their integration with Google Drive made it difficult for Microsoft to keep asking users to pay. 

Check out our guide to the
best cloud storage services to see how both compare to the rest of the competition.

The web version of Excel is a more stripped-back version of the software, so the comparison to Google Sheets is fairly like for like. Nonetheless, both services should provide everything a casual user is looking for. 

Use on mobile

Perhaps again in response to Google, Microsoft’s Office mobile applications are completely free and available across most modern smartphones, tablets and even foldables.

You can download the Microsoft Excel app for Android and iOS. Microsoft understandably reserves some premium features for its Microsoft 365 subscription, but the mobile apps are still very capable and offer integration with OneDrive.

Check if your school or workplace gets it free

Many employers offer Microsoft 365 apps to their employees free of charge. Even if your work email address ends with the name of the company, it could still be used to sign into a Microsoft account. Head to office.com, click sign in and see if there’s an account linked to your email address.

If your school has signed up to Microsoft 365 Education, all staff and students should be able access Office apps for free. To check, enter your education email address on the Microsoft website.

But if your school isn’t yet signed up and you’re in a position to change that, you can begin the sign-up process.

Pay full price

However, these free options aren’t suitable for everyone. If you need more than just basic Excel functions and the app isn’t available to you via school or work, the only alternative is to pay full price. 

At the time of writing, the cheapest Microsoft 365 subscription is Personal, which $6.99/£5.99 per month or $69.99/£59.99 per year. Stepping up to the Family plan gets 2-6 people access for $9.99/£7.99 per month or $99.99/£79.99 per year. Both offer a one-month free trial. 

• Compare Microsoft 365 plans in the US
• Compare Microsoft 365 plans in the UK

Your other option is to pay for Office 2021, the latest standalone release. This is a one-off payment of $149.99 in the US or £119.99 in the UK. Unfortunately, there’s no way to pay for Excel on its own – it’s bundled with Word and PowerPoint here.

Learn more in our full Microsoft 365 buying guide.