Question Office 365 installing on multiple computers

[strep3241]

I am looking to buy office 365 and would install it on a total of 4 devices. When installing it on multiple devices, do I use the same account as the first one or does each device need it's own microsoft account?

Doing a little research on this and found something a little confusing to me. "Office 365 Home can be shared with as many as six people; Office 365 Personal is limited to just one user. Either version can be installed on multiple computers and mobile devices " How many devices can office 365 personal be installed on?

 

[UsandThem]

How many devices can office 365 personal be installed on?

https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/p/office-365-personal/cfq7ttc0k5bf?activetab=pivotverviewtab

It can be installed on 5 devices at one time. If you need to have separate users each with 1TB of personal cloud storage, then go with with the Home version.

I am looking to buy office 365 and would install it on a total of 4 devices. When installing it on multiple devices, do I use the same account as the first one or does each device need it's own microsoft account?

You would use the same account.

 

[strep3241]

https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/p/office-365-personal/cfq7ttc0k5bf?activetab=pivotverviewtab

It can be installed on 5 devices at one time. If you need to have separate users each with 1TB of personal cloud storage, then go with with the Home version.

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You would use the same account.

I do not need more than one to have cloud storage so I think I would be fine with 365 personal. At the moment, the most I have would be 4 devices. Ty

Office 365 personal can be installed on more than one device at the same time as long as it is under the same microsoft account, right?

 

[strep3241]

Does it matter where I buy office 365? Amazon and ebay have it for the same price as buying directly through microsoft. Would I be better off buying directly through microsoft? And I was looking at office 2019 version and ebay has many listings that sell it for $5 to $10, I am guessing those are not legit. Besides the good possibility of those being fake and it doesn't work at all or does work but not for long, is there a possibility of getting viruses from something like this?

 

[UsandThem]

And I was looking at office 2019 version and ebay has many listings that sell it for $5 to $10, I am guessing those are not legit. Besides the good possibility of those being fake and it doesn't work at all or does work but not for long, is there a possibility of getting viruses from something like this?

Possibly. You just never know what they will ship to you. If you don't want to spend that much for Microsoft Office, have you tried a free program LibreOffice? I've used them know for about 4 years or so, and I've been very satisfied with their office suite.
https://www.libreoffice.org/

Then there's the "grey market" route to buy an Microsoft License. You can read about my experience buying Windows 10 PRO through Kinguin (who also sells Office licenses): https://forums.anandtech.com/threads/my-experience-on-buying-grey-market-software.2568689/

Does it matter where I buy office 365? Amazon and ebay have it for the same price as buying directly through microsoft. Would I be better off buying directly through microsoft?

Any legit retailer would be basically be the same.

 

[UsandThem]

Also, another thing I just thought about.

Office 365 is a subscription service where you either pay monthly or per year.

If you want to actually own Office, you have to buy Microsoft Office 2019.

https://products.office.com/en-us/compare-all-microsoft-office-products?&activetab=tab:primaryr1

 

[strep3241]

Possibly. You just never know what they will ship to you. If you don't want to spend that much for Microsoft Office, have you tried a free program LibreOffice? I've used them know for about 4 years or so, and I've been very satisfied with their office suite.
https://www.libreoffice.org/

Then there's the "grey market" route to buy an Microsoft License. You can read about my experience buying Windows 10 PRO through Kinguin (who also sells Office licenses): https://forums.anandtech.com/threads/my-experience-on-buying-grey-market-software.2568689/

Any legit retailer would be basically be the same.

I have not really thought about any free programs, not going to say price isn't an issue but not too much of a problem either, if I can get it for cheaper and still legit, yeah I will. It is tempting to try one of those cheap ebay listings but I would be worried about it being a virus more than anything so not going that route. Been using office for a long time. would files created using office be an issue for programs like libreoffice to open them? One device is still using office 2000.

Also, another thing I just thought about.

Office 365 is a subscription service where you either pay monthly or per year.

If you want to actually own Office, you have to buy Microsoft Office 2019.

https://products.office.com/en-us/compare-all-microsoft-office-products?&activetab=tab:primaryr1

I realize office 365 is a subscription based service and don't really have a problem with that. The one thing I like about office 365 is being able to install it on multiple devices, where as you can't with 2019. Since one don't own office 365, what does that mean for the files created using office 365? If you ever stop paying for it and let's say go back to the 2019 version, do you keep all the files that was created and can they be opened in 2019?

 

[UsandThem]

Been using office for a long time. would files created using office be an issue for programs like libreoffice to open them? One device is still using office 2000.

I haven't had any incompatibility issues with opening Microsoft Office files, but since LibreOffice is free to use, you can try it yourself and see how it works for your needs.

Since one don't own office 365, what does that mean for the files created using office 365? If you ever stop paying for it and let's say go back to the 2019 version, do you keep all the files that was created and can they be opened in 2019?

I'm pretty sure the files you already created will be fine. However to open or edit them, you'd need buy a Microsoft Office license. I believe this biggest thing would be losing the 1TB of online storage space you get with Office 365. I'd imagine they would eventually delete the files after a certain period of not having an Office 365 license.

 

[strep3241]

I haven't had any incompatibility issues with opening Microsoft Office files, but since LibreOffice is free to use, you can try it yourself and see how it works for your needs.

I'm pretty sure the files you already created will be fine. However to open or edit them, you'd need buy a Microsoft Office license. I believe this biggest thing would be losing the 1TB of online storage space you get with Office 365. I'd imagine they would eventually delete the files after a certain period of not having an Office 365 license.

I realize I would need a license to be able to open them. So the files created with office 365 are not stored on my device? Do I not get an option to store them on the cloud or my device? If I can store them on my device, I probably would not use the cloud storage.

 

[UsandThem]

I realize I would need a license to be able to open them. So the files created with office 365 are not stored on my device? Do I not get an option to store them on the cloud or my device? If I can store them on my device, I probably would not use the cloud storage.

Yes, you have the option to save them to the computer, to the cloud, or both.

 

[strep3241]

Yes, you have the option to save them to the computer, to the cloud, or both.

So if I save them to device, I should have them forever even if I don't have a license, right?