Thank Goodness, That Free Ad-Supported Version of Microsoft Office Was Just a Test

If you have been looking for a free alternative to Google Docs, Microsoft might have answered your prayers—or so we thought—until you see what it won’t let you do.

Beebom first reported that Microsoft had stealthily launched a free, ad-supported version of the Office app earlier this week, offering limited versions of Word, Excel, and PowerPoint. However, as it turns out, Microsoft was conducting “some limited testing” and will not launch a free version of Office after all.

Microsoft told PCWorld that it was “conducting some limited testing” and that the company has “no plans to launch a free, ad-supported version of Microsoft Office desktop apps.” Knowing it was a test is a relief since it seems like Microsoft put most of Office’s useful features behind a paywall. This also explains why there was no fanfare around its release.

The free ad-supported Office app, available only on Windows PCs, gives you access to the most basic features of Word, Excel, and PowerPoint. If you want to do more than the bare minimum, like add images, change fonts, or even adjust line spacing, you’ll need to upgrade to a premium version of Office for $100 a year for a single user.

That’s not the only caveat; according to Beebom, you’ll have to deal with a persistent banner ad at the top right of your document and a 15-second video ad that will play every few hours. On top of that, the original file has to be saved to your OneDrive account before it can be downloaded anywhere else.

I tried to download the free version of Office on a Windows desktop at home, but it seems it’s unavailable. Even so, considering the limitations of the free Office app and the persistent ads, it might be easier to stick with Google Workspace since chances are you already have a Google account. I’m not the biggest OneDrive fan, so the idea of using it to save my files would have made the free Office a complete non-starter for me.

Microsoft wasn’t the only one attempting to loosen Google’s tight grip on free work tools. Last year, Zoom launched Zoom Docs, which we were actually pretty positive about, assuming you’re already fully vested in the Zoom ecosystem.