Internet access is also required to access documents stored on OneDrive, unless you install the OneDrive desktop app. For Microsoft 365 plans, internet access is also needed to manage your subscription account, for example to install Office on other PCs or to change billing options.

However, Internet access is required to install and activate all the latest releases of Office suites and all Microsoft 365 subscription plans. There are many other alternatives, but these are some of the best.You don’t need to be connected to the Internet to use Office applications, such as Word, Excel, and PowerPoint, because the applications are fully installed on your computer. Unlike Microsoft’s Office web apps, you can even access Google Docs, Sheets, and Slides offline in Google Chrome. It stores your files in Google Drive, Google’s online file storage service.

Google Docs is a capable collection of web-based office software.

Windows PC users can access a web-based version of iWork through the iCloud website, too. This is Apple’s competitor to Microsoft Office, and it used to be paid software before Apple made it free.

Apple iWork is a free collection of office applications for Mac, iPhone, and iPad users.

You can even make LibreOffice look like Microsoft Office. While OpenOffice is still around, LibreOffice has more developers and is now the more popular project.

It’s similar to the desktop versions of Microsoft Office, and it can even work with and create Office documents in common file types like DOCX documents, XLSX spreadsheets, and PPTX presentations.

LibreOffice is a free and open-source office application for Windows, Mac, Linux, and other operating systems.

There are completely free office suites that sport good compatibility with Microsoft Office documents, spreadsheets, and presentation files. If you’re looking for something else, consider choosing a different office application.

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