Microsoft launches a free version of Office apps with a big catch

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Microsoft has subtly launched a new version of Microsoft Office for Windows users, but it has arrived in an intentionally gimped state.

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The new version of Microsoft Office has been unsurprisingly paywalled by the Redmond-based company, with the suite of apps being based on their full counterparts, but access to the entirety of each app's features is locked behind a Microsoft 365 subscription. Additionally, advertisements are present on-screen at all times when a user is within each of the free apps, and this new free version of Office only allows files to be saved to Microsoft's OneDrive, which means users are unable to edit files locally stored on a device.

The list of limitations don't stop there, as the free Office apps don't come with support for add-ins, dictation, advanced formatting, designer, smartart, and many other features. Judging by what is available, Microsoft solely intends these free versions of the Office apps to be used in their most barebones state, with the lack of features being the enticing aspect of getting users to sign up for Microsoft 365.

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If you are interested in accessing the free version of Microsoft Office, simply navigate to an Office application, open it, and skip the Microsoft account sign-in prompt. Users will then be given the choice to run the free version of the Office app but with ads and limited features. Reports indicate that this free version of Office apps isn't available for everyone, as Microsoft appears to still be rolling it out to users or is granting users access in unknown groups over time.

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