Man using excel on laptop

Is Excel Online Free? How to get it with Ease

Would you like to utilize Excel for free online? You do, of course! This article will outline all the completely genuine and authorized ways you can use Microsoft Excel for free.

If I may ask, what do you know about Microsoft Excel? It is, after all, a spreadsheet program from the Microsoft Office family of productivity tools.

What does it do? Users may import, edit, and view data using Excel. Additionally, it is an effective tool for data analysis and can be used to make pivot tables, charts, and graphs. Excel is widely used in business across the globe.

Additionally, Excel is a strong personal productivity tool that may help you stay organized and on track by managing expenses, tracking bills and payments, and more.

The question of “is Excel online free?” is the main concern. Please keep reading to learn how you can start using Excel online for free right away.

Microsoft Excel Online: What is it?

The rest of the Microsoft Office Online apps, including Microsoft Excel Online, are an updated version of the classic Office suite you’ve used for years.

Typically, you would pay a certain sum to purchase a copy of Office and install it on your computer. Since 1986, when Excel for the Macintosh was released in its initial version, Office has been offered in this manner.

The free version of Excel that runs in your browser is called Microsoft Excel Online. It’s an Excel add-on tool that enables online viewing and editing of your Excel files. 

Even yet, it’s still a complete spreadsheet app that works with almost all Excel features and has tools for surveys and charting data collection.

When working with pre-existing Excel files or sharing spreadsheets with other Excel users, it performs better than Google Sheets, and using it for free makes it the most affordable method to use Excel.

Woman using Spread Sheet on Laptop

What is Microsoft Excel Online Capable of?

As long as you don’t have more than 5GB of files in OneDrive, Microsoft’s online storage service, you can utilize all of Excel Online’s capabilities without paying a cent.

The best choice today is to subscribe to Office 365, which gives you the most recent versions of Office for your PC as well as file sharing on OneDrive if you still want a copy of Office installed on your computer.

You can keep all of your files in OneDrive and use Office Online to edit any Office file online. Additionally, you can use Microsoft Excel Online integrations to link your spreadsheets to your preferred apps—currently only available with the Business versions of Office 365.

How to Obtain the Free Microsoft Office Suite

Anyone can try Microsoft 365 for free for one month. However, you must provide your credit card information, and if you don’t cancel Microsoft 365 Family before the month is over, you’ll be charged $100 (formerly called Office 365 Home).

The good news is that you can use several of Microsoft 365’s products online for free if you don’t need the entire toolkit, including Word, Excel, PowerPoint, OneDrive, Outlook, Calendar, and Skype. This is how you obtain them:

1. Visit Office.com first.

2. Under “Sign in,” click Sign up for the free version of Office.

3. Open a Microsoft account or register for a free one. You already have an active Microsoft account if you already have a Windows, Skype, or Xbox Live login.

4. After choosing the software you wish to use, use OneDrive to save your work on the cloud.

What then is the Drawback of the Free Version?

Why pay for Microsoft 365 in the first place if you can access all of those apps for free, you might be asking.

The usefulness of the free apps is, however, constrained. You can only use them while you are actively connected to the internet and they only run in your web browser. They are deficient in features compared to the whole Microsoft 365 edition.

However, there are still a lot of advantages, like being able to interact in real-time and share links to your work, much like G Suite products do. The free versions of each of these apps should work for you if you’re seeking the most basic versions.

Check out the top resume-building apps and all of Windows 11’s best features for additional information on productivity. You can also learn how to snap screenshots in Windows 10 or 11. Additionally, you can look at CNET’s ranking of the top Windows laptops.

Online Excel is Free to Use

Most people are unaware that Excel is available online for free to use.

Anyone with a Microsoft account can use the free online version that Microsoft offers. Depending on your use case, the free online edition of Excel can be all you need since it has many of the most often used functions as the desktop version.

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How to Download Excel for Free Online

Man sorting data using excel

Anyone with a free Microsoft account can access Microsoft Excel online for nothing.

In reality, a free Microsoft email service like Outlook, Hotmail, or Live may already give you access to Excel online. You can log into office.com using those credentials.

After entering your email address and password, you will be directed to the main Office hub page.

From the Office hub, you may access some of the most widely used Microsoft applications, including Excel. Free of charge!

  • OneNote, Word, Excel, and PowerPoint.
  • Teams, Skype, and Outlook.
  • Calendar and task list

Your free account comes with all of these. You can sign up and receive a free Microsoft account if you don’t already have one.

How to Register and Download Excel for Free Online

Click the Create free account option on outlook.live.com. You will be directed to the Outlook email app once you have entered the required information and verified your account.

If not, you can open Excel from the Waffle icon at the top of the App symbol at the bottom. You should see the Excel app icon in the left pane.

The Excel online program will open when you click the Excel icon. After that, you can open any Excel files you’ve previously saved in OneDrive or create a brand-new blank workbook.

By doing this, a new worksheet will be opened and saved instantly to your OneDrive account. If you use the Excel desktop app, it should look extremely familiar because it is getting more and more difficult to distinguish between them.

Congratulations! You can now access the Microsoft Excel free online version. Comparison of Excel Online Vs. Desktop

Here is a comparison of some of the key features that are available in Excel’s desktop and online editions.

FeatureDesktop Excel AppOnline 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

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