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- Nov 25, 2017 When you begin the installation, there are two large boxes: Install and Customize. Customize allows you to expand the selected programs for installation and also to remove programs from the installation routine.
- Download Microsoft Word for macOS 10.13 or later and enjoy it on your Mac. This application requires a qualifying Microsoft 365 subscription. Microsoft 365 includes premium Word, Excel, and PowerPoint apps, 1 TB cloud storage in OneDrive, advanced security, and more, all in one convenient subscription.
- Note: In order to activate Office for Mac, you will need a valid and licensed Microsoft 365 account or a Microsoft Account that is associated with a one-time purchase. If you don't, you won't be able to create or edit files, only read them.
Sep 05, 2020 This wikiHow teaches you how to download Microsoft Word on a computer, phone, or tablet. If you're using a computer, Microsoft Word is available as part of the Microsoft Office suite. Though Office is not free, you can try a full version of the software for 30 days at no cost.
Since the 1980s, Microsoft Word has been dominating all the writing software worldwide. If you get a résumé, document, report, or memo today, chances are it would be in either .doc or .docx format. It’s the de facto internationally accepted way of corporate communication.
Not surprisingly, Microsoft Word is not free. As part of the Office 365 suite, Microsoft Word would cost households $6.99 a month ($9.99 for a whole family) or $12.50 a month per business user. You can also just buy a standalone version of Microsoft Word outright for $139.99. But if you just need to edit an occasional document or use the basic formatting features, you’d rather not spend anything.
Is there a free version of Microsoft Word for Mac? Is there a free version of Office for Mac? Let’s answer these and more questions relating to how you can get Microsoft Word for Mac free and also suggest some better alternatives altogether.
Can I Download Microsoft Word For Free On Mac?
When someone sends you a .docx file and you don’t have Microsoft Word for Mac installed, what do you do? You can, of course, open the file with Quick Look or Preview, but the styling might be off and you wouldn’t be able to edit it.
If you decide to look up something like “Microsoft Word free download” online, you’ll stumble upon dozens of YouTube tutorials and written guides on how you can get free Microsoft Word by downloading a trial version and using a code-cracking app on it to get the license key for it. Not only this is illegal, you also risk downloading all kinds of malware to your Mac.
Luckily, there are a few other ways you can get Microsoft Word free.
Use MS Word online
Is Microsoft Word for Mac free? No. Is Microsoft Word online, free? Yes! It’s not well-known, but you can use Word on the web at no cost. All you need is a free Microsoft account. The catch is that the MS Word online version is not as advanced as its desktop counterpart, but it’s still good enough for all the basic work with documents and for writing something on your own.
Here’s how to get Microsoft Word online for free:
- Visit the MS Word online page
- Click “Sign up for free”
- Create your account
- Choose to start a new document or drag and drop an existing one right onto the web app
Get a free Microsoft Office 365 trial
In case you have a complex project coming up that requires more of the features not available in MS Word online, you can access everything that the regular Microsoft Word has to offer by subscribing for a free Microsoft Word trial via Microsoft Office 365. You get one month to finish your project and you can use all the apps in MS Office 365, including Word, Excel, PowerPoint, OneNote, Outlook, etc.
Here’s how to sign up for the Microsoft Word free trial:
- Visit the Microsoft 365 page
- Click “Try 1 month free”
- Sign in with your free Microsoft account or register a new one
- Get your Microsoft Word free download
Try free alternatives to Microsoft Word
If you need to use Microsoft Word for an extended period of time, and a one-month trial won’t cut it, you can try to actually substitute for another similar free app that’s fully compatible with Microsoft Word.
Google Docs, as part of G Suite, has improved greatly over the years and now supports custom styles, tables, in-line images, and more. Although it’s an online app, it feels native and can both edit and export .docx while keeping all the formatting intact.
LibreOffice (also known as OpenOffice) is another suite of text-editing apps available for free to anyone. Its Microsoft Word alternative is called LibreOffice Writer, which has many desktop publishing compatibilities of its paid competitor and is also completely compatible with it.
Use Microsoft Word with iPad
A surprisingly lesser known trick to get a full working version of Microsoft Word free is to load it on your iPad. Yes, the iPad version of Microsoft Word doesn’t cost anything and, with the release of iPads that feature Bluetooth keyboard support, it’s just as capable as its macOS counterpart.
Embrace third-party Mac apps
While Microsoft Word dominance is still apparent, it’s hard to argue that it’s the best app for all the word-processing jobs we need to do today. With the release of Mac App Store, we’ve seen a great proliferation of niche text editors, journals, desktop publishers, and more — every one of which is best at solving a specific problem.
Let’s look at a few of the best apps for working with words out there today.
Ulysses is one of the most popular writing apps of recent years. From small notes to manuscripts, its distraction-free environment just lets you get things done. The app has a built-in support for Markdown as well as grammar and style checkers. When you’re done, simply export your results as a PDF or publish to WordPress or Medium directly.
Focused is another app for writing purists that does everything to get you concentrated on the words that flow from your keyboard. The app supports beautiful typography, various themes suitable for different times of day as well as ambient soundtracks to make it so you fully immerse in your environment.
MarsEdit allows you to transport your complete blogging setup offline. You can edit HTML, rich text, or plain text to write and design blog posts with images, infographics, and videos with zero internet connection. Then upload your new blog post on schedule to the blog when you’re back online. As MarsEdit saves everything as you go on your Mac, you’ll never lose any data because of WiFi troubles.
Manuscripts empowers you to take on even the most complex writing projects possible: research papers, textbooks, novels, screenplays, etc. The app supports a variety of formats, multi-level outlines, templates, tables, graphs, LaTex, document versioning, and citation editing. Instead of trying to adjust Microsoft Word to your needs, let Manuscripts adjust to you.
Diarly enables you to think freely. The app encourages your daily journaling practice and makes the writing habit easy and beautiful. You can organize your notes, add lists, calendar events, sync across devices, and more. Diarly also takes your security seriously, encrypting all the entries on the fly.
So is Microsoft Word for Mac free? Not exactly. But you can get a lot of the same features from MS Word online, sign up for the Microsoft Word free trial, take a look at Google Docs or LibreOffice Writer, and use Microsoft Word free on iPad. Even better, give a wealth of more specialized apps a try. Sketch notes in Ulysses, concentrate on your writing in Focused, finish your blog post in MarsEdit, create your life’s work in Manuscripts, and keep a journal with Diarly.
Best of all, Ulysses, Focused, MarsEdit, Manuscripts, and Diarly are available to you absolutely free with a seven-day trial of Setapp, a platform with 200+ outstanding apps for your Mac. Try every single one today and discover the latest and greatest feats of Mac engineering at no cost.
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Oct 26, 2020 • Filed to: Solve Mac Problems • Proven solutions
'I was trying to use MS Word, but it crashed unexpectedly. Now my Microsoft Word will not open on my Mac, and I don't know what to do. I keep trying to open different files, but every time, it crashes after a few seconds. How can I fix it?'
Just like any other software program, MS Word is also susceptible to issues. You will find unlimited queries on forum sites asking, 'why won't my Word document open on my Mac.' Most of the people have no idea why their Microsoft Word stopped working randomly. If you are also facing a similar situation, you will have to look for an appropriate solution to fix this issue.
In this article, we will discuss the potential fixes that can resolve the Microsoft Word, not working issue.
Part 1. Why Won't Microsoft Word Open on Mac Computer?
As MS Word is a widely used program, a malfunction could get tragic real soon. Before you get to solutions, you must go through the reasons for this problem first. The common causes of these issues are.
- Inappropriate shutdown or system crash
- Shift + Delete, and the file is deleted permanently from the device.
- Formatted drives
- Damaged and corrupted files
- Virus or malware attack
Unless you have a brief idea about what caused the problem, you won't be able to steer away from the common errors. The user's listed common symptoms that lead to the 'word won't open on my Mac' issue are given below:
- The application keeps closing without any warning.
- MS Word encounters an unknown issue and needs to close.
- Erase, Install, or re-install factory version of OS X
- MS Word file can't open due to an error.
Related: Further, read and get 8 specific solutions to 'Word Keeps Crashing Mac.'
When you face a situation like this, don't pain and look for solutions on the internet. If you are lucky, then you'll come across real fixes soon. Otherwise, you might have to struggle to find an ideal fix.
Part 2. How to Fix 'Microsoft Word Not Opening Mac'?
With so many versions and updates on MS Word, it can get hard to simplify the solutions for all versions. Here is a summarized list of solutions that can work when Microsoft Word is not opening on Mac. All these methods are useful and easy to carry out. So, give them a try one by one.
Solution 1. Remove Word Preferences to Open Frozen Word
Sometimes, it is the random words combination or special characters that lead to such issues. It can be resolved if you follow the steps below.
- Open library and type Library in the Go to the Folder and hit the Go button.
- Look for a folder that says 'Preferences.' This folder contains the preferences file you set for the MS Word program.
- Open the folder, search for a file named- 'com.microsoft.Word.plist,' and move the file to the desktop. Now, try opening the Word file and see if the problem persists. If it does, then move the file to its original location and move on to the next step.
- Exit every Microsoft program running on your Mac and click on the Word option in the Apple Menu. Tap on the 'Preferences' option from the list.
- Choose the File Locations option and select the 'User templates.'
- Locate the file which saved as Normal and moves it to the desktop.
Solution 2. Open and Repair Microsoft Word
Everyone knows how to open Microsoft Word on Mac, but we do not talk about just opening and closing the files. You can also repair the MS Word files with the following steps.
- Start MS Word and click on the File menu. Choose the Open option, and it will open up a dialog box where you can select the Word file which needs repair.
- While you are selecting the file, at the right bottom side of the window, choose the Repair option and click on the Ok button.
The Mac utility will automatically repair the not opening Word file, and you will be able to use it now.
Solution 3. Run Disk Utility to Repair Word
Besides the above methods fail, you can also run the Disk Utility to repair the Word file if the Microsoft Word is not opening on your Mac computer.
- Inside the Go menu, choose the Utility option and start the Disk Utility program.
- Ensure that you choose the Primary hard disk of your Mac and then click on the 'First Aid' tab.
- You will get a pop-up option that asks you to run First Aid on the drive. Hit the Run option, and the Disk Utility will repair the Disk volume errors and permissions issues.
When the process finishes, click on 'Done' and check whether the problem is fixed or not. There are maximum chances that the problem will be resolved. But if MS Word is still not responding correctly to commands, then there is one 100% guaranteed solution left to recover your Word Documents.
Solution 4. Recover Not Opening Word Files on Mac
While you are trying to repair the drive and Word files, it is common that the solutions don't work as expected, and the files get deleted from Mac. Here is the perfect solution if getting stuck in such circumstances without any recovery option.
The best tool available for Word file recovery on the internet is Recoverit Word Recovery software. This software is capable of recovering various kinds of deleted or lost data. For example, Word documents, PowerPoint, Excel files, PDF, photos, videos, songs, audios, and many more. It is a faster, easier, and 100% secure data recovery tool with the market's highest recovery rate.
How to Fix Microsoft Word Won't Open on Mac
Now, let's have a look at the simple steps on Word document recovery. You only need to launch the Word file recovery software and do a few clicks.
Step 1: Select a location storing the Word file.
To recover the not opening document caused by accidental deletion, you need to select the drive where the data files are lost. Then, click the 'Start' button.
Microsoft Word For Mac Free
Step 2: Scan the Word location for files
Typically, the software will run an all-around scan and search for the lost and deleted files on the entire drive. If you perform an emptied trash recovery or HFS+ data rescue, you can even try the deep scan mode.
Step 3: Preview and recover Word documents.
When the scan completes, the files will be listed on the screen. The software will sort out the files according to format to make the search easier. You can select multiple files at a time and have a preview of them.
Part 3. Tips Against 'Microsoft Word Won't Open on Mac.'
If you don't want to go through this problem, you should have to take care of a few things. This way, you will be successful in avoiding the Microsoft Word won't open on Mac issue in the future. So, here are some tips that you need to follow:
- Avoid relying on automated tools to clean up the cache or redundant files on your Mac. These tools often end up deleting the important files on the device.
- In case you use the Command Line to delete a file, be careful as a single mistake can lead to bigger issues.
- Never format a drive before creating a backup; otherwise, you might end up losing important files.
- Stay focused while partitioning the drives on your Mac. Improper partitioning can lead to corruption of data files stored on the drive.
- Avoid rushing commands on MS Word. If you pass on multiple commands at once, then Word might get confused, and the file might become inaccessible due to some random mistake.
Even a little mishandling can lead to major working issues in MS Word. Instead of worrying about how you can rescue the data, try keeping the data safe on the first hand.
Now you know how to open Word on Mac along with the process of repair. And if you are facing a dilemma and then want to recover Word files, you can always think of using Recoverit Data recovery software.
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