Microsoft 365 includes downloadable apps for Windows and Mac computers, as well as cloud-based versions of many apps, all of which can be accessed through the web. In all, there are about 20 apps available, aimed at helping productivity and increasing success.
- Available to: Faculty, Staff, Students
- Where to use: Most devices
- Cost: Free
Upgrade to Microsoft 365 to use the latest apps and services on multiple PCs, Macs, and devices. Your subscription also includes 1 TB OneDrive cloud storage per user, tech support, and other services. Microsoft's continued investments in its global cloud network, global cloud infrastructure, and the Microsoft 365 services architecture help provide users with a singular, consistent experience independent of where customer data is stored at rest. If your users are experiencing performance issues, you should troubleshoot those in depth.
Outlook is the most common app used at Texas State. Known at the university as BobcatMail, it integrates with other Microsoft 365 apps and is available on most mobile devices.
Teams is a modern, easy-to-use communication tool that features chat, phone, and video. Use Teams to connect, share, and increase collaboration and productivity. Learn more about Teams.
OneDrive lets you do more wherever you go. Get to and share your documents, photos, and other files from any mobile device, computer (PC or Mac), and any other devices you use.
Word lets you create, edit, view, and share your files quickly and easily. With Word, your Office moves with you. Whether you are faculty, staff, or a student, it's as handy as you want it to be.
Excel is a powerful spreadsheet app that lets you create, view, edit, and share your files. Great for accounting, auditing, finance or any other field.
PowerPoint lets you make a lasting impression with powerful presentations. Create and present with confidence, from anywhere. Making an impactful presentation has never been easier.
Power BI lets you create actionable, dynamic, and engaging data dashboards you can share with others. Bring your data to life for your project, research, presentation, or work.
All these apps, plus many more, are available in the Microsoft 365 Suite of apps.
Helpful Links
-->As of October 13, 2020, only these versions of Office are supported for connecting to Office 365 (and Microsoft 365) services:
- Microsoft 365 Apps for enterprise (previously named Office 365 ProPlus)
- Microsoft 365 Apps for business (previously named Office 365 Business)
- Office 2019, such as Office Professional Plus 2019
- Office 2016, such as Office Standard 2016
Examples of Office 365 services include Exchange Online, SharePoint Online, and OneDrive for Business.
For Microsoft 365 Apps, you must be using a supported version. For a list of which versions are currently supported, see Update history for Microsoft 365 Apps.
Important
We won’t take any active measures to block other versions of the Office client, such as Office 2013, from connecting to Office 365 services, but these older clients may encounter performance or reliability issues over time.
Impact of using older Office clients to connect to Office 365 services
Microsoft 365 Service Health
After October 13, 2020, ongoing investments to our cloud services will not take into account older Office clients. Over time, these Office clients may encounter performance or reliability issues. Organizations that use these older clients will almost certainly face an increased security risk and may find themselves out of compliance depending upon specific regional or industry requirements.
Therefore, administrators should update older Office clients to versions of Office supported for connecting to Office 365 services.
Upgrade resources available to administrators
We recommend that you upgrade older Office clients to a subscription version of the Office client, such as Microsoft 365 Apps for enterprise. The most up-to-date subscription versions of the Office client are always supported connecting to Office 365 services.
We provide various services to help you upgrade to subscription versions of the Office client. The following list provides some examples of resources that are available:
- Microsoft FastTrack, for migration and deployment assistance from Microsoft experts.
- App Assure, for assistance from Microsoft with application compatibility issues.
- Deployment guide for Microsoft 365 Apps, for technical documentation.
- Product lifecycle dashboard and upgrade readiness dashboard, for users of Microsoft Endpoint Configuration Manager (current branch).
- Readiness Toolkit for Office add-ins and VBA, to help identify potential issues with add-ins and VBA macros used in your organization.
Upcoming changes related to connectivity to Office 365 services
Retirement of TLS 1.0 and 1.1
After October 15, 2020, you must be using at least TLS 1.2 to connect to Office 365 services. For more information, see TLS 1.0 and 1.1 deprecation for Office 365 and Preparing for TLS 1.2 in Office 365 and Office 365 GCC.
Basic authentication with Exchange Online
There are some changes planned related to the use of Basic Authentication with Exchange Online. For more information, see Basic Authentication and Exchange Online – February 2021 Update.
Retirement of Skype for Business Online
Skype for Business Online will be retired on July 31, 2021. For more information, see Skype for Business Online retirement.
Minimum version requirements for Outlook for Windows
Microsoft 365 Services Location
Note
The information in this section was communicated in the following Message center post in the Microsoft 365 admin center.
- Message ID: MC229143
- Message title: Update to Microsoft 365 and Outlook for Windows connectivity
- Publish date: December 9, 2020.
Starting on November 1, 2021, the following versions are the minimum versions of Outlook for Windows you need to be using to be able to connect to Microsoft 365 services, such as Exchange Online.
- Version 1706 of Microsoft 365 Apps
- Version 16.0.4600.1000 of Office 2016 (with the November 2017 Update, KB 4051890)
- Version 15.0.4971.1000 of Office 2013 (Service Pack 1 with the October 2017 Update, KB 4043461)
All versions of Outlook 2019 should be able to connect to Microsoft 365 services, but only the most current version is supported.
Even though newer versions of Outlook 2013 might be able to connect to Microsoft 365 services, it's not supported and you may encounter performance or reliability issues.
Versions of Outlook that are newer than those listed, but aren't the most current (supported) versions, may experience connectivity issues. To find what is the most current (supported) version, see the following articles:
Additional information about connectivity to Office 365 services
- Versions of Office 2019 and Office 2016 will be supported for connecting to Office 365 (and Microsoft 365) services until October 2023.
- Connecting to Office 365 services using Office 2016 for Mac isn’t supported. That’s because Office 2016 for Mac reached its end of support on October 13, 2020.
- This information about connecting to Office 365 services also applies to Project and Visio.
- This information about connecting to Office 365 services does not apply to InfoPath 2013 or SharePoint Designer 2013.
- For end of support dates for different versions of Office on various versions of Windows, see the Office configuration support matrix.
- To discuss or learn more about end of support for Office versions, visit Microsoft Office End of Support on the Microsoft Tech Community.