- Free Apps Like Microsoft Word For Mac
- Microsoft Word Alternatives For Free
- Can I Get Word For Mac Free
- Free Older Version Of Word
However, the one catch is that you must have a free Microsoft account to use this feature. Visit Dropbox Paper. Calligra Office Suite for Mac OS. Calligra Office is a free and open source app that’s based on the Qt Cross-platform software development. It comes with more apps than LibreOffice app, but it has limited features available. It has a free version and a subscription version (£49.90 a year), but you can buy the full SoftMaker Office Professional 2018 for Mac, Windows or Linux for £89.99, after a 30-day free trial.
Get the best writing tool
Since the 1980s, Microsoft Word has been dominating all the writing software worldwide. If you get a résumé, document, report, or memo today, chances are it would be in either .doc or .docx format. It’s the de facto internationally accepted way of corporate communication.
Not surprisingly, Microsoft Word is not free. As part of the Office 365 suite, Microsoft Word would cost households $6.99 a month ($9.99 for a whole family) or $12.50 a month per business user. You can also just buy a standalone version of Microsoft Word outright for $139.99. But if you just need to edit an occasional document or use the basic formatting features, you’d rather not spend anything.
Is there a free version of Microsoft Word for Mac? Is there a free version of Office for Mac? Let’s answer these and more questions relating to how you can get Microsoft Word for Mac free and also suggest some better alternatives altogether.
Alternative to MS Word on Mac
Collabio Spaces is the best app to replace Microsoft Word with. Write and co-edit your documents offline.
Can I Download Microsoft Word For Free On Mac?
When someone sends you a .docx file and you don’t have Microsoft Word for Mac installed, what do you do? You can, of course, open the file with Quick Look or Preview, but the styling might be off and you wouldn’t be able to edit it.
If you decide to look up something like “Microsoft Word free download” online, you’ll stumble upon dozens of YouTube tutorials and written guides on how you can get free Microsoft Word by downloading a trial version and using a code-cracking app on it to get the license key for it. Not only this is illegal, you also risk downloading all kinds of malware to your Mac.
Luckily, there are a few other ways you can get Microsoft Word free.
Use MS Word online
Is Microsoft Word for Mac free? No. Is Microsoft Word online, free? Yes! It’s not well-known, but you can use Word on the web at no cost. All you need is a free Microsoft account. The catch is that the MS Word online version is not as advanced as its desktop counterpart, but it’s still good enough for all the basic work with documents and for writing something on your own.
Here’s how to get Microsoft Word online for free:
Visit the MS Word online page
Click “Sign up for free”
Create your account
Choose to start a new document or drag and drop an existing one right onto the web app
Get a free Microsoft Office 365 trial
In case you have a complex project coming up that requires more of the features not available in MS Word online, you can access everything that the regular Microsoft Word has to offer by subscribing for a free Microsoft Word trial via Microsoft Office 365. You get one month to finish your project and you can use all the apps in MS Office 365, including Word, Excel, PowerPoint, OneNote, Outlook, etc.
Here’s how to sign up for the Microsoft Word free trial:
Visit the Microsoft 365 page
Click “Try 1 month free”
Sign in with your free Microsoft account or register a new one
Get your Microsoft Word free download
Try free alternatives to Microsoft Word
If you need to use Microsoft Word for an extended period of time, and a one-month trial won’t cut it, you can try to actually substitute for another similar free app that’s fully compatible with Microsoft Word.
10+ writing tools in one app
Enhance your writing skills with Setapp, a productivity service that gives you access to many writing and editing apps.
Google Docs, as part of G Suite, has improved greatly over the years and now supports custom styles, tables, in-line images, and more. Although it’s an online app, it feels native and can both edit and export .docx while keeping all the formatting intact.
LibreOffice (also known as OpenOffice) is another suite of text-editing apps available for free to anyone. Its Microsoft Word alternative is called LibreOffice Writer, which has many desktop publishing compatibilities of its paid competitor and is also completely compatible with it.
Use Microsoft Word with iPad
A surprisingly lesser known trick to get a full working version of Microsoft Word free is to load it on your iPad. Yes, the iPad version of Microsoft Word doesn’t cost anything and, with the release of iPads that feature Bluetooth keyboard support, it’s just as capable as its macOS counterpart.
Embrace third-party Mac apps
While Microsoft Word dominance is still apparent, it’s hardly the best app for all the word-processing jobs we need to do today. With the release of Mac App Store, we’ve seen a great proliferation of niche text editors, journals, desktop publishers, and more — every one of which is best at solving a specific problem.
Let’s look at a few of the best apps for working with words out there today.
Collabio Spaces is a text editor with unique ad-hoc collaboration features. This app goes beyond creating and formatting text (although you can do it too, obviously). Collabio turns your device into a server and transmits your document to other people. All you have to do is share a password with them and start co-editing in real time, without uploading your document to a cloud.
Ulysses is one of the most popular writing apps of recent years. From small notes to manuscripts, its distraction-free environment just lets you get things done. The app has a built-in support for Markdown as well as grammar and style checkers. When you’re done, simply export your results as a PDF or publish to WordPress or Medium directly.
Focused is another app for writing purists that does everything to get you concentrated on the words that flow from your keyboard. The app supports beautiful typography, various themes suitable for different times of day as well as ambient soundtracks to make it so you fully immerse in your environment.
MarsEdit allows you to transport your complete blogging setup offline. You can edit HTML, rich text, or plain text to write and design blog posts with images, infographics, and videos with zero internet connection. Then upload your new blog post on schedule to the blog when you’re back online. As MarsEdit saves everything as you go on your Mac, you’ll never lose any data because of WiFi troubles.
Manuscripts empowers you to take on even the most complex writing projects possible: research papers, textbooks, novels, screenplays, etc. The app supports a variety of formats, multi-level outlines, templates, tables, graphs, LaTex, document versioning, and citation editing. Instead of trying to adjust Microsoft Word to your needs, let Manuscripts adjust to you.
Free Apps Like Microsoft Word For Mac
Diarly enables you to think freely. The app encourages your daily journaling practice and makes the writing habit easy and beautiful. You can organize your notes, add lists, calendar events, sync across devices, and more. Diarly also takes your security seriously, encrypting all the entries on the fly.
Microsoft Word Alternatives For Free
So is Microsoft Word for Mac free? Not exactly. But you can get a lot of the same features from MS Word online, sign up for the Microsoft Word free trial, take a look at Google Docs or LibreOffice Writer, and use Microsoft Word free on iPad. Even better, give a wealth of more specialized apps a try. Sketch notes in Ulysses, concentrate on your writing in Focused, finish your blog post in MarsEdit, create your life’s work in Manuscripts, and keep a journal with Diarly.
Best of all, Collabio Spaces, Ulysses, Focused, MarsEdit, Manuscripts, and Diarly are available to you absolutely free with a seven-day trial of Setapp, a platform with 200+ outstanding apps for your Mac. Try every single one today and discover the latest and greatest feats of Mac engineering at no cost.
I use a lot of software, and as a programmer myself, I totally understand the need for programmers to make a living from their work. But, I don't like the new trend toward subscription-based software. I prefer to purchase software and use it until it no longer works (due to operating system upgrades usually) or there is some new feature that I need or want. At that time, I will willingly pay for an upgrade. Some people obviously disagree with me. I like it when software companies offer both options - outright purchase and subscriptions.
When my copy of Microsoft Word 2007 continually crashed in Windows 10, I began looking for alternatives. I've listed eight programs below that I looked at, in my order of preference. LibreOffice Writer and SmartEdit Writer are programs I personally use on nearly a daily basis.
LibreOffice Writer
- Totally Free
- Full-featured word processor
- Fully compatible with Word formats - can read and write both .doc and .docx files
- Provides for collaboration using the Track Changes and Comments features
- You must download the entire suite of products, Writer is not available separately
- Works on: Windows, Mac, Linux
SmartEdit Writer
This isn't your typical word processing software. It's kind of a cross between a word processor and notes application. Aimed primarily at authors and creative writers, I use it for a variety of purposes myself and believe it has a wider range of users, including: bloggers, students taking class notes or researching and writing reports or other written assignments, teachers organizing material for courses, etc.
SoftMaker FreeOffice/TextMaker
- I had to register on their website in order to download the program. A software key was sent to the registration email address. An internet connection was required to unlock the software using that key.
- TextMaker is the word processing component of this suite. There are limitations on the free version as listed on their website, but it's suitable for basic needs. And the purchased version makes a nice replacement for Word.
- Has subscription-based or outright purchase options.
- Free version can open and save .docx files, but can only open .doc files
- TextMaker does not use document tabs in the free version, the documents open in separate windows. A tabbed interface is available in the paid versions - a handy feature if you work with multiple documents..
- Developed in Germany
- Works on: Windows, Linux, Mac (however no free version for the Mac)
Zoho Docs
- Zoho offers many applications, including Zoho Docs, an online word processor similar to Google Docs.
- The free version is very generous with its features.
- Some free features: up to 25 invited collaborators, desktop synchronization, 5GB storage space with 1GB file upload limit, and more...
- Zoho Docs is primarily an online service, however it is possible to work offline as well. Changes made while offline, sync automatically the next time you connect to the internet
- Works on: All OS - through web interface
Can I Get Word For Mac Free
OpenOffice
- Another free, open source application suite
- LibreOffice branched off from OpenOffice
- The interface of LO and OO are so similar, that if you know one, you shouldn't have any trouble using the other
- Currently, LibreOffice is more actively developed. As of this writing, the last OpenOffice update was 8 months ago, while LibreOffice had an update 2 weeks ago.
- Works on: Windows, Mac, Linux
OnlyOffice
Free Older Version Of Word
- OnlyOffice primarily offers online software, however they do have a free desktop version. It has a nice, modern interface. I tried using it for a while. Once, for no apparent reason, the entire white editing window turned black, and the program froze on me. The file I was editing wasn't damaged, although unsaved changes were lost. I don't know if that was just a fluke or what.
- OnlyOffice also includes spreadsheet and presentations
- U.S. and Latvia offices
- Works on: Windows, Linux, Mac
WPS Office 2016 Free
- Like LibreOffice, this is also a suite. The Word Processor, also called Writer, is one component. Others include Presentations and Spreadsheet.
- The free version displays small ads
- Two additional levels (which remove the ads and offer more features) are paid upgrades
- WPS has a nice, sleek interface and allows multiple documents to be opened in tabs rather than separate windows
- * WPS Office Software is based in California, however the product was initially developed in China. WPS is still a subsidiary of Kingsoft Corp with headquarters in China. In an age of concern about internet privacy, spying, etc. I wanted to include that info. Some users have complained of suspicious activity after installing the software. It's enough to make me not want to use it. It's a shame, because it does appear to be nice software.
- Works on: Windows, Linux, IOS, Android
Google Docs
- Google Docs is certainly a capable, widely-used option. I'm just not personally a Google fan, so I prefer to use the similar product, Zoho Docs.
- You must be online and have a Google account to use
- It works with Google Drive cloud storage
- You may invite others to view, comment, or collaborate on a document
- Integrates with Google Slides and Sheets
- Full integration with other Google products is only available through G Suite, a monthly subscription
- Works on: All OS - through web interface