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0.3 Getting access without paying for it

Checked against Microsoft's Office for Windows keyboard references, August 2026

తెలుగులో చదవండి

What you'll be able to do

Do nearly all of this subject without paying anything. You will know the five topics that genuinely need a paid plan, and why practising in a lookalike app can cost you marks.

Before you start

A browser and an email address are enough.

The work

  1. Same either way: go to office.com in a browser and sign in with a free Microsoft account. Make one if you do not have it. Word, Excel, PowerPoint and OneNote open right there, free, and your files are kept in OneDrive. This is the baseline everyone in this subject has.
  2. Same either way: learn where the free web versions stop. They handle everyday writing, spreadsheets and slides well. They do not run Power Query on your computer, macros and VBA, Office Scripts on some plans, or some advanced formatting. Power Query is Excel's tool for importing and cleaning data, and Office Scripts records a task so it can run again. Every topic here says so when it needs the apps installed on a computer.
  3. Same either way: check what you already have before paying for anything. Many colleges and workplaces include a Microsoft 365 licence. Sign in at office.com with your college or work email and look. If the apps offer to install on your computer, you are already covered.
  4. Same either way: be honest about the free lookalike apps. LibreOffice installs on any machine, and Google's Docs and Sheets run in any browser. Both are close enough to practise the ideas in. Both differ from Microsoft Office in their menus, in how some functions behave, and in how files look when opened elsewhere. If an exam or a job names Microsoft Office, practise in Microsoft Office, even the free web version.
  5. Same either way: remember the short paid list. Five topics need a paid Microsoft 365 plan with the installed apps. They are Power Query on your computer, Office Scripts, Python in Excel, the Excel data model, and Copilot. That is five topics out of sixty-six. Everything else in this subject is free.

Try it

Sign in at office.com. Make one document in web Word and one workbook in web Excel. Check that both appear in OneDrive. If you have a college email, sign in with that too and note what extra you get.

Check yourself

Real Word, Excel, PowerPoint and OneNote in a browser, with files kept in OneDrive. Missing: the parts that need an installed app, such as Power Query, VBA and macros, and the paid features.

Because exams and workplaces use the real one. The differences in menus, in some functions and in how files look show up under exam pressure. Similar is not the same.

Five: Power Query on your computer, Office Scripts, Python in Excel, the data model, and Copilot. The other sixty-one topics need nothing paid.

Whether their college or workplace account already includes one. Sign in at office.com with that email and see whether the apps offer to install.

Go deeper

We haven't checked most of these for screen reader use yet.

Back to Getting access without paying for it: work through the checklist