Download Microsoft Word for PC, Windows 11/10 & Mac

You can get Microsoft Word on Windows 11, Windows 10 and Mac, and there is a free way to use it. This guide covers the installer, the free web and mobile versions, and what each one includes.

What is free is Word in a browser. Word for the web edits .docx files at no cost with a Microsoft account, and the iPhone and Android apps are free downloads.

This guide covers which file your device needs, the official Microsoft links, installing on Windows and Mac, installing Word without the rest of Office, the offline installer, and fixes when setup stalls.

Which Microsoft Word download do you need?

Word is not one file. What you download depends on the device and on the licence attached to your account.

Every route above ends on a Microsoft domain. No page on microsoft.com hands out a Word setup file that installs without a licence behind it.

Download Microsoft Word from the official Microsoft sources

Microsoft distributes Word from four places: the account portal, the product pages, the Office content delivery network, and the mobile app stores.

1. Microsoft 365 install instructions — sign in at m365.cloud.microsoft/apps, then select Install apps
2. Word product page — one-time purchase $179.99 for 1 PC or Mac
3. Word for the web — free with a Microsoft account, plus 5 GB of OneDrive storage
4. Word for Mac installer package — 1.31 GB · Microsoft_Word_16.112.26090911_Installer.pkg from the Office CDN
5. Mac suite package without Teams — 2.79 GB · Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook and OneNote in one .pkg
6. Office Deployment Tool — 3.4 MB · version 16.0.20326.20112, for installing Word on its own
7. Word for iPhone and iPad — free, requires iOS 18.0 or later
8. Word for Android — free, published by Microsoft Corporation

Windows has no standalone Word .exe on microsoft.com. The setup file is generated for your account after sign-in, or assembled locally by the Office Deployment Tool.

Is Microsoft Word free?

Word for the web is free. The Word desktop app is not. A Microsoft account gets Word, Excel and PowerPoint in a browser at no cost, with 5 GB of OneDrive storage. The desktop app needs Microsoft 365 Personal at $99.99 a year, Family at $129.99 a year, Premium at $199.99 a year, or a one-time Word licence at $179.99 for one PC or Mac. Office Home 2024 costs the same $179.99 and adds Excel, PowerPoint and OneNote, which makes buying Word alone at that price the weaker deal. Every subscription carries a one-month free trial. Any site selling a discounted Word product key is not selling a licence Microsoft recognises.

Check the Microsoft Word system requirements before you buy

Microsoft publishes one requirements list for Word on the product page. These are the figures the installer enforces.

Windows 10 support ended on 14 October 2025. Microsoft 365 Apps keeps delivering security updates on Windows 10 until 10 October 2028, and stops adding features after Version 2608.

How to install Microsoft Word on Windows 11 and 10

The download starts from your account, not from a product page. Sign in with the account that holds the Microsoft 365 or Office licence.

1. Go to m365.cloud.microsoft/apps and select Sign in.
2. Sign in with the Microsoft account or work account that owns the licence.
3. Select Install apps, then Install.
4. Select Run in Edge, Setup in Chrome, or Save File in Firefox.
5. Select Yes at the Do you want to allow this app to make changes to your device? prompt.
6. Leave the installer running until it reports You’re all set! Office is installed now, then select Close.
7. Open the Start menu, search for Word, and open it.
8. Accept the licence agreement the first time Word opens.

Setup installs the whole suite, so Excel, PowerPoint, OneNote and OneDrive land alongside Word. Keep 4 GB of disk space free for it.

Install Microsoft Word with winget or from the Microsoft Store

Neither route supplies a licence. Both fetch the same Click-to-Run package Microsoft serves from its own network.

1. Open Terminal as an administrator on Windows 11.
2. Run winget install –id Microsoft.Office –source winget to pull Microsoft’s setup from officecdn.microsoft.com.
3. Read the package name before accepting it: winget installs Microsoft 365 Apps for enterprise, which activates only against a business licence, so a home subscriber should use the account route instead.
4. For the free companion app, open Microsoft Store and search for Microsoft 365 Copilot, product 9WZDNCRD29V9.
5. Select Get. The app opens Word for the web, and switches to the desktop app once one is installed.

The Microsoft Store carries no Word desktop listing. It does list Word Mobile, product 9WZDNCRFJB9S, whose newest package is Microsoft.Office.Word 16003.14326.22658.0, and that is the old touch app rather than Word for the desktop.

Install Word without the rest of Office using the Office Deployment Tool

The consumer installer has no app picker, so it always writes the full suite. The Office Deployment Tool does have one, and Microsoft gives it away.

Exclusion is subtractive. Name the product your licence covers, then exclude every app you do not want.

A configuration file for Word alone sets OfficeClientEdition=”64″ , names your product ID, and adds one line per app in the exclusion row. Groove is the ID for OneDrive, Lync the ID for Skype for Business.

Both commands need local administrator rights. The command prompt prints Products configured successfully when the install finishes.

Run the Microsoft 365 offline installer when the download stalls

A slow line, a proxy or a firewall can stop the normal setup part way. Microsoft publishes an offline installer for that case.

1. Open Microsoft’s offline installer page and select the download button.
2. In the Install window, open Choose a version and select Offline installer.
3. Select your language, then select Install.
4. Save the file and wait for O365HomePremRetail.img to arrive in Downloads.
5. Double-click the .img file to mount it as a virtual drive.
6. Open the drive, open the Office folder, then run Setup64.exe on a 64-bit PC or Setup32.exe on a 32-bit PC.
7. Wait for the You’re all set message.
8. Connect to the internet and open Word once so it can activate.

The .img file carries the installation files, so the install itself runs without a connection. Activation does not.

Which Microsoft Word download do you need for your Mac?

Microsoft ships Word for Mac as an Apple installer package. Every package is Universal 2, so one file covers Apple silicon and Intel.

Installing needs an administrator account on the Mac. Word for Mac is supported on the three most recent major versions of macOS, and macOS Sonoma is the floor for receiving updates.

The suite package is smaller than the individual app packages added together, because the apps share one set of fonts, frameworks and proofing tools.

Should you install 64-bit or 32-bit Word?

Install 64-bit Word. Microsoft 365 installs the 64-bit edition unless you pick 32-bit before setup starts. Choose 32-bit only for a dependency with no 64-bit replacement: a 32-bit COM add-in, a 32-bit ActiveX control, VBA Declare statements that call 32-bit APIs, a 32-bit MAPI application for Outlook, or a legacy Word Equation Editor or WLL file. On an Arm-based PC the choice disappears. Arm devices need Windows 11, the 32-bit build is unsupported on them, and the 64-bit installer carries the Arm-optimised components. Mixed architectures fail, so a 64-bit install cannot sit beside a 32-bit one.

How to check your Word version and update it

Word carries the version of the whole Microsoft 365 installation, not a number of its own.

1. Open Word and select File.
2. Select Account.
3. Read the version and build under Product Information.
4. Select About Word to confirm whether the install is 64-bit or 32-bit.
5. Select Update Options, then Update Now.
6. On a Mac, open the Word menu and select About Word to read the version.
7. On a Mac, open Help, select Check for Updates, then select Update in Microsoft AutoUpdate.

Current Channel on Windows moves roughly weekly. Build 20326.20144 shipped on 8 September 2026, and Word for Mac is on the 16.112 line.

How to check a Microsoft Word installer is genuine

Word is one of the most impersonated downloads on the web. The signature on the file settles the question in about ten seconds.

1. Check the address first. Genuine files come from microsoft.com, go.microsoft.com, officecdn.microsoft.com or download.microsoft.com.
2. On Windows, right-click the downloaded file and select Properties.
3. Open the Digital Signatures tab, select the signature in the list, then select Details.
4. Confirm the signer name reads Microsoft Corporation. No Digital Signatures tab means the file did not come from Microsoft.
5. On a Mac, open Terminal and run pkgutil –check-signature ~/Downloads/Microsoft_Word_Installer.pkg .
6. Confirm the certificate chain in the output names Microsoft Corporation.
7. Close any page offering a Word licence key far below Microsoft’s price, or offering Word as a small .exe.

A full Word installation is measured in gigabytes. A 5 MB Word setup file is a different program wearing the name.

Fix Microsoft Word not installing on Windows 11 or 10

The install fails part way through

A damaged or partial installation from an earlier attempt is blocking the new one.

1. Restart the PC and start the install again.
2. If it fails a second time, run Microsoft’s uninstall troubleshooter to strip the old installation out.
3. Restart again once the troubleshooter finishes.
4. Sign in and install from Install apps again.
5. For Office 2024, skip the troubleshooter and uninstall from Control Panel, because the tool does not handle that release.

Setup runs for hours and never finishes

A slow connection, a proxy or a firewall is throttling the stream from the Office network.

1. Confirm at least 4 GB of free disk space on the system drive.
2. Pause other downloads and streaming on the network.
3. Switch to the offline installer and run Setup64.exe from the mounted .img file.
4. Retry on a network without a corporate proxy if the offline route also stalls.

Windows reports an unsupported operating system

Microsoft 365 and Office 2024 need Windows 11 or Windows 10. Older releases stop with that error or with a KERNEL32.dll error.

1. Press Windows + I and open System > About.
2. Read the Edition and Version lines.
3. Upgrade the PC to a supported Windows version.
4. Use Word for the web in the meantime, which has no Windows requirement.

The Install button is greyed out

The subscription on that account has lapsed, or the sign-in used a different account.

1. Sign out and sign back in with the account that bought the licence.
2. Open Services & subscriptions in your Microsoft account.
3. Renew the subscription if it shows as expired.
4. Return to Install apps and try again.

Word installs but will not activate

Activation is a separate step from installation, and it needs an internet connection.

1. Connect the PC to the internet.
2. Open Word and select File > Account.
3. Read Product Information to see which account the copy is tied to.
4. Sign in with the licensed account if a different one is listed.
5. Run Microsoft’s setup troubleshooter if activation still fails.

How to uninstall Microsoft Word

Windows cannot remove Word on its own. Uninstalling takes out the whole Microsoft 365 or Office installation.

1. Press the Windows key and type control panel .
2. Select Control Panel from the results.
3. Select Programs, then Programs and features.
4. Select your Microsoft 365 or Office product, then select Uninstall.
5. If the entry refuses to go, run Microsoft’s uninstall troubleshooter.
6. To drop Word alone and keep the rest, run the Office Deployment Tool again with an line in the configuration file.
7. On a Mac, follow Microsoft’s complete removal steps, which move the apps and their support files to the Bin by hand.

The uninstall troubleshooter does not cover Office 2024, and no automatic uninstaller exists for Office on a Mac.

What you can use instead of Microsoft Word

Check what the device already has before paying for a licence. Several of these cost nothing and open .docx files.

Microsoft removed WordPad from every edition of Windows starting with Windows 11 version 24H2 and Windows Server 2025. Its guidance points .doc and .rtf files at Word, and .txt files at Notepad.

Frequently asked questions

Is Microsoft Word free?

Word for the web is free with a Microsoft account, and so are the iPhone and Android apps. The Windows and Mac desktop app is paid: Microsoft 365 from $99.99 a year, or a one-time Word licence at $179.99.

What is the official Microsoft Word download page?

The Word product page on microsoft.com for buying, and m365.cloud.microsoft/apps for installing after you sign in. Mac installer packages come from Microsoft’s Office content delivery network through go.microsoft.com links.

Does Microsoft Word work on Windows 11?

Yes. Microsoft 365 and Office 2024 both support Windows 11 and Windows 10. Windows 10 machines keep getting security updates for Word until 10 October 2028 but stop gaining features after Version 2608.

How big is the Microsoft Word download?

The Word for Mac installer package is 1.31 GB, and the Mac suite without Teams is 2.79 GB. On Windows the installer streams the suite, and Microsoft requires 4 GB of free disk space.

Is there a Microsoft Word offline installer?

Yes. Microsoft’s offline installer downloads an O365HomePremRetail.img file that you mount as a virtual drive and install from Setup64.exe or Setup32.exe. On a Mac the .pkg is already a full offline installer.

Is there a Microsoft Word download for Mac?

Yes. Microsoft publishes a Word-only installer package of 1.31 GB and a full suite package of 2.79 GB. Both are Universal 2, so one file runs on Apple silicon and Intel Macs.

Is Microsoft Word 64-bit, and does it run on ARM?

Microsoft 365 installs 64-bit Word by default, and a 32-bit build exists for legacy add-ins. Arm-based PCs need Windows 11 and the 64-bit build, which carries the Arm-optimised components.

Is it safe to download Microsoft Word from other sites?

No. A genuine Word file comes from microsoft.com, go.microsoft.com, officecdn.microsoft.com or download.microsoft.com and is signed by Microsoft Corporation. A full Word install is gigabytes, so a small setup .exe is a different program.

Which Microsoft Word version is current?

Current Channel is on Version 2608, build 20326.20144, released on 8 September 2026. Word for Mac is on the 16.112 line. Check yours under File, then Account, then Product Information.

Why will Microsoft Word not install?

The usual causes are a damaged earlier installation, too little disk space, an unsupported Windows version, or a lapsed subscription that greys out the Install button. Microsoft’s uninstall troubleshooter clears the first case.

How do I install Word without the rest of Office?

Use the Office Deployment Tool. Name your product ID in a configuration file, add an ExcludeApp line for each app you do not want, then run setup.exe /configure with that file. Administrator rights are required.

Is Microsoft Word free for students?

Microsoft 365 Education A1 is free for students and teachers with an eligible school email, but it grants the web apps rather than the desktop app. Desktop Word depends on what the school licenses.

Can I download an old version of Word, such as Word 2007 or Word 2016?

No. Microsoft does not distribute retired releases, and Office 2016 left extended support on 14 October 2025. Sites offering those installers are not Microsoft, and the files carry no security updates.