Office 365 is a great way to access Microsoft’s suite of office tools on a subscription basis. It ensures you won’t be left in the dust when a new version of the product comes out, because your Office is going to be kept up to date as long as you’re a subscriber.
Did you start with Office 365 Personal but now need Office on multiple computers, tablets, and phones? No problem. Upgrading from Personal to Home edition won’t take long.
Office 365 subscriptions
There are several options to choose from when purchasing a subscription. Each one gets you access to classic Office tools like Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Outlook. Where the subscriptions really differ, however, is in how many individual devices can use Office 365.
| Edition | PCs | Tablets | Phones |
|---|---|---|---|
| Personal | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Home | 5 | 5 | 5 |
| Business | 5 | 5 | 5 |
| University | 2* | 2* | 2 |
* Office 365 University allows installation on a combined two PCs or tablets.
If you initially purchased Office 365 Personal but now need Office on multiple devices, fret not. Upgrading to Office 365 Home from Personal is a snap. Subscriptions are available starting at about $10 per month if you opt in one month at a time, and about $100 if you opt in for a full year.
How to upgrade to Office 365 Home using a product key
If you bought a physical copy of Office 365 Home from a brick and mortar store — usually either a box, a card, or a receipt — the product key will be located on that packaging. Follow these steps to upgrade from Office 365 Personal.
Remember that only one subscription can be linked per account, so your Personal subscription will be gone following your upgrade to Home. Any time remaining in your existing Personal subscription will be added to your new Home subscription.
- Navigate to www.office.com/setup using your favorite web browser.
- Click Sign in.
- Type your Microsoft account name or number and hit Tab on your keyboard.
- Type your Microsoft account password.
- Click Sign in.
- Type in the product key found on the physical copy of Office 365 Home.
- Click the dropdown arrow beneath Country or region and click your country of residence.
- Click the dropdown arrow beneath Your language and click your language.
- Click Next.
Microsoft will verify your information and your subscription will change to Office 365 Home. Your subscription time will be extended one year past however much time you had remaining on your Personal subscription.
How to upgrade to Office 365 Home without a product key
If you want to upgrade to Office 365 Home straight from your computer, follow these steps.
Remember that only one subscription can be linked per account, so your Personal subscription will be gone following your upgrade to Home. The time remaining in your existing subscription will be added to your new subscription.
- Navigate to the Office 365 product page at the Microsoft Store.
- Click Sign in. If the account name associated with your Office 365 Personal account is displayed here, skip ahead to step 5.
- Type your username and hit Enter on your keyboard.
- Type your password and hit Enter on your keyboard..
- Click a renewal option. Here you can choose from monthly or yearly.
- Click Buy and download now.
- Click Checkout.
Your new one-year subscription to Office 365 Home will be added to however much time is remaining on your current Personal subscription.
