Here’s how to get Microsoft Office on iPad. Once you’ve done that, you can create documents, manage spreadsheets, and prepare presentations the way you’re used to on your Windows PC or Mac.
People already use Apple’s iPads to watch videos, surf the web, and listen to music. The same users can replace their Windows laptops or desktops for work only if they have Microsoft Office installed on their device.
It’s all about compatibility and familiarity. Apple includes free access to the iWork suite of apps with every iPad purchase. These apps work well, but many users already interact with Microsoft Office in some way. Schools and large businesses rely on Outlook, PowerPoint, Word and Excel. For people learning and working in places that already use Office, it’s easier to apply what they know than to try something new, even if it’s free. You are probably one of them.
Use Office Online on iPad
Cheapest way to get Office on iPad Office Online. Access is free and you don’t need to install any apps from the iTunes Store to use it.
This is because Office Online is a collection of web apps. There is Word Online for creating documents, and Excel Online lets you edit and view spreadsheets. PowerPoint Online manages presentations. Office Online stores documents you create on OneDrive by default, but you can download your files for offline editing when you come to a PC with Office installed.
The mobile apps and Office Online have fewer features than the desktop apps that users get with an Office 365 Subscription.
Some limitations prevent Office Online from being the perfect solution for everyone. First, because it consists of web applications, you cannot work on any of your files without an internet connection. This is fine in most situations, but not great for planes and trains where the internet connection is spotty.
Second, Office Online is not as powerful as other versions of Microsoft Office. It has basic formatting tools, but lacks Office Add-ins and power user features in each web app.
Finally, Office Online is missing some apps that some businesses use every day. Office Online does not have a traditional Outlook Online web app. Instead, Microsoft recommends that users set up Outlook.com with a custom domain or purchase an Exchange Online subscription. Access, Microsoft’s database tool, also does not have an online version.
Office Mobile Apps Use Office 365
While not the cheapest way to get Microsoft Office on iPad, Office Mobile apps It’s the best way to stay productive on your Apple-made tablet.
The Office Mobile suite consists of: Word Mobile, PowerPoint Mobile, Excel Mobile and OneNote Mobile. Each of these apps can now be downloaded for free from the iTunes Store.
These apps are better than Office Online as they have more features. You don’t need an internet connection to use them and they support iPad native features and controls. For example, you can use text-to-speech to dictate documents in Word. Also, these apps support the side-by-side multitasking features of the iPad.
While Office Online does not offer a traditional Outlook experience, Outlook Mobile Application that connects to Outlook.com, Gmail, Yahoo and any other email accounts you have.
Office Mobile apps and Office Online share one limitation. They have more features than their online counterparts, but not every option available in the Mac and PC versions of Office is available in these versions.
Their biggest limitation is their price. Unlike Office Online, these apps only let you view the documents you create for free. What’s more, you can’t directly purchase apps like other iPad apps.
Instead, you need a business or personal subscription to Microsoft’s Office 365 service. Office 365 Personal costs $6.99 per month for one PC or Mac, one tablet, and one smartphone. An Office 365 Home subscription costs $9.99 for a family of five, and each user gets one download per device.
Additionally, subscribers who unlock the Office Mobile apps get one terabyte of OneDrive storage for their Windows PC or Mac, sixty Skype minutes, and Office 2016 downloads.
Office 365 Review: Is It Worth The Money?
Use Microsoft Office Alternatives Instead
If none of these solutions work for you, do not discard Microsoft Office alternatives. Many can handle the same file types as Office Online and Office Mobile. What’s more, some have coverage fees instead of a monthly or annual subscription. Others are free to use.
Get started by trying Apple I am working suite. Pages is Apple’s replacement for Microsoft Word, and Numbers is the company’s answer to Microsoft Excel. You can create presentations in Keynote. These apps are free on your iPad and iPhone, and web versions of these apps are available at Apple at: iCloud.com.
Google Docs It is another solid Microsoft Office alternative on iPad. Docs, Sheets, Slides and Forms are available as free apps on iPad and online through your web browser. Add-ins allow you to add new features to them, just like some versions of Microsoft Office support.
