Reed College
Reed College

Help Desk

Information Technology

Microsoft Office on Personal Computers

With Reed's site-license, current community members can download and use Microsoft Office for free on personal computers while they are enrolled or employed at Reed. For students, this means they can access this version until they graduate. Full and part-time faculty and staff members are eligible as long as they are employed at Reed. Office 365 includes Word, Excel, PowerPoint, OneNote, Outlook, Publisher, Access, OneDrive and access to Office Online. 

This subscription is compatible with both Windows and Mac operating systems. You can use Office 365 on up to 5 devices including laptops, tablets, and mobile devices. You are required to have an internet connection to install and activate its subscription, as well as to keep its applications up to date with the latest version available as long as you're eligible.  If you do not connect to the internet for 39 days, your applications will enter a reduced functionality mode, where you will be able to view documents but not edit or create new ones. In addition, online services associated with your Reed email address and microsoft account, for example Office Online and OneDrive, will no longer work. Once you are no longer eligible, your applications will enter a similar reduced functionality mode until you renew your license or upgrade to a new one.

Follow the instructions below to install Office 365:

  1. Go to https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/education/products/office.
  2. Enter your @reed.edu email address into the box that says "Enter your school email address" and click Get Started.
  3. This will send a link to your e-mail. Follow the instructions to create an account with Microsoft (for increased security, do NOT use the same password that you use with your Kerberos account). 
  4. Go to https://microsoft365.com, click the "Install apps" button, and Office 365 should begin downloading. 
  5. Once completed, double click and open the .pkg file to begin the installer for MS Office. 
  6. Once the installer is completed, Office 365 Applications should be in your applications folder. When you first open an Office 365 app, click on the "activate button" (the bottom left corner). 
  7. Microsoft Word should popup and prompt you to get started and sign in, if this does not happen, open up one of the Office Apps to sign in. 
  8. Enter your Reed e-mail address, and you will be taken to a login screen. 
  9. Enter your e-mail and password that you had used to set up your Microsoft account. 
  10. You are now ready to use Office!