Faculty and staff at Cornell University are eligible for several different options for Microsoft Office. Some of these options are available at no cost, while others require payment of a licensing fee. Some of these programs only cover computers owned by Cornell University, while others apply to computers that are the personal property of employees.

If you are a student, please see our Microsoft Office Licensing for Students article.

Cornell-Provided Services (No Fee)

Microsoft 365 Online Apps

• Applies to: Any computer with a web browser and Internet connection
• License: Active employees and registered students
• Website: About Office Online

All active Cornell employees and Cornell students have access to a suite of web-based Office productivity tools. These include online versions of Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, Visio, and others. You can upload local files to your OneDrive account and work on them in the cloud from any computer using the Online Apps.

Microsoft 365 for Desktop – Named-User Licensing

• Applies to: Personally- and Cornell-owned computers
• License: Available to Microsoft A3 licensees only
• Website: Office 365 ProPlus for Faculty and Staff

Registered students and regular, full-time employees of Cornell University are eligible for a Named-User license for the desktop edition of Microsoft 365. This is a suite of desktop applications including Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, and others. If you are eligible for this software and are using a Cornell-provided computer, your department’s local IT support team will install this software for you. Your license also allows you to install the applications onto a computer that is your personal property. Please note even if you install onto a personally-owned computer, the license is assigned to you as an individual: you may not allow other individuals, including family members, to use Cornell-provided software that’s licensed to you individually.

Microsoft 365 for Desktop – Per-Device Licensing

• Applies to: Cornell-owned computers only
• License: Assigned to the computer itself by local IT support
• Website: Microsoft Office Licensing

There are a small number of use cases that will allow Cornell IT support providers to install and activate Office 365 for Desktop under a license registered to the computer, rather than the user. Microsoft’s rules for using the per-device license are currently in flux. At this time, we do not recommend using this activation method. For more information, please work with your local IT support team and/or with CIT Desktop Support.

Microsoft Office Professional Plus LTSC (Volume-License Edition)

• Applies to: Cornell-owned computers only
• License: Assigned to the computer itself by local IT support
• Website: Microsoft Office Licensing

There are a small number of use-cases that will allow Cornell IT support providers to install the Office Professional Plus Long-Term Service Contract (LTSC) edition onto a Cornell-owned computer through our Volume License agreement. VL licenses are assigned to the computer itself, not the individual users. The LTSC edition is a version designed for stability, without any of the more recent feature enhancements. The LTSC edition also does not update automatically--IT support professionals must run periodic security updates manually. This edition is only available upon request.

Office 365 Productivity Bundle

• Applies to: Cornell- and personally-owned devices (cloud service)
• License: Contingent on employment by Cornell University
• Website: Office 365 Productivity Bundle

Cornell faculty and staff have access to a suite of Office 365 online productivity tools for cloud-based access and collaboration. These services include: SharePoint Online, OneDrive for Business, Office Online, Yammer, and Delve. Access to these services is available for as long as an individual remains a Cornell employee.

Google Workspace for Education

• Applies to: Cornell- and personally-owned devices (cloud service)
• License: Contingent on employment at Cornell University
• Website: Google Workspace

To support collaboration with Cornell students and colleagues at other institutions, Cornell employees may obtain Google Workspace accounts. This service provides access to Google Docs, which can upload, read, and edit files created in Microsoft Word, Excel, and PowerPoint. Files can also be downloaded in Microsoft-compatible formats.

Please note that Microsoft 365 remains the only fully-supported email and calendar client for faculty and staff.

Cornell-Provided Services (Fee-based)

Microsoft 365 Add-On Applications (including Project 365 and Visio 365)

• Applies to: Cornell-owned devices only
• License: Available to Microsoft A3 licensees only
• Website: Microsoft Academic Select Plus

Cornell employees with a Cornell business need to use additional Microsoft 365 applications can purchase individual licensing for several add-on products, including Visio, Project, PowerBI, and others.

Microsoft Academic Select Plus (Including Visio and Project)

• Applies to: Cornell-owned devices only
• License: Perpetual
• Website: Microsoft Academic Select Plus

We are phasing out selling individual desktop volume-licensed products that aren’t part of our Volume License agreement. Customers who require desktop editions of Visio, Project, or other add-on products should obtain software through Microsoft 365 add-on apps (see above).

Microsoft-Provided Services (No Fee)

Microsoft Azure Dev Tools for Teaching

• License: Faculty and staff who have instructional roles
• Website: Azure Dev Tools for Teaching

Instructors at Cornell can access a suite of education-focused Microsoft development tools. Products available through this service include Visual Studio, Project, Visio, and Windows 10 Education Edition. This service is provided by Microsoft. Products acquired through this service may only be used for instructional purposes. (For administrative use, please instead purchase licenses via Academic Select Plus.)

Other No-Fee Options

There are other alternatives to Microsoft Office that allow the ability to read, edit, and create documents in Microsoft Office formats. Please note that the following options are listed as a courtesy to the Cornell community, and that Cornell does not provide support for them.

• Google Drive (external link)
• LibreOffice (external link)