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Free Upgrade to Office 2016 or Office 2019

Anonymous
2019-12-29T21:17:18+00:00

I have seen various internet articles talking about free upgrades to Office 2016(Office 2019?) if you have an Office 365 subscription.    To quote one reputable site, "if you have a Microsoft Office 365 subscription, you can upgrade to Office 2016 for free either from within your Office program or through Microsoft's website."  I am assisting  local non profit organization which is currently using Office 2010.  I recently found notes saying that the organization was accepted as non-profit in Dec 2015 and that 50 licenses of Office 365 were purchased or acquired. I recently saw an invoice sent out and paid regarding an "annual Office 365 support" charge. 

I would appreciate if someone could clarify how and where free upgrades to Office 2016 or 2019 are allowed.  Specifically I am interested in know whether or not this non-profit organization can upgrade to Office 2016 or even Office 2019 at no charge.

If there is a Microsoft department that should be contacted, please provide details on how to go about contacting it.

Thank you.

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  1. Anonymous
    2019-12-30T09:20:36+00:00

    Originally you could have a version of 365 based on 2013. It was possible to later upgrade to a 2016 version for free. This is NOT the same as a standalone 2016 ( and definitely not 2019) version though which would allow you to not pay a subscription.

    365 will always have more features than 2016 / 2019 .

    MSFT do have plans for Non Profit but you have to be a registered Charity.

    https://www.microsoft.com/en-gb/microsoft-365/nonprofit/office-365-nonprofit-plans-and-pricing?activetab=tab%3aprimaryr1

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  1. Anonymous
    2019-12-30T08:12:48+00:00

    I have seen various internet articles talking about free upgrades to Office 2016(Office 2019?) if you have an Office 365 subscription.    To quote one reputable site, "if you have a Microsoft Office 365 subscription, you can upgrade to Office 2016 for free either from within your Office program or through Microsoft's website."  I am assisting  local non profit organization which is currently using Office 2010.  I recently found notes saying that the organization was accepted as non-profit in Dec 2015 and that 50 licenses of Office 365 were purchased or acquired. I recently saw an invoice sent out and paid regarding an "annual Office 365 support" charge. 

    I would appreciate if someone could clarify how and where free upgrades to Office 2016 or 2019 are allowed.  Specifically I am interested in know whether or not this non-profit organization can upgrade to Office 2016 or even Office 2019 at no charge.

    If there is a Microsoft department that should be contacted, please provide details on how to go about contacting it.

    Thank you.

    10+ people found this answer helpful.
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  1. DaveM121 870.6K Reputation points Independent Advisor
    2019-12-29T21:35:51+00:00

    Hi Ian

    I am sorry, there is no free upgrade from Office 365 to Office 2016 or 2019

    Office 365 is a separate subscription product and not associated with the full licence of Office 2016 or 2019 . . .

    Can you please provide a link or links to where you read that there was a free upgrade offer . . .

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  2. Anonymous
    2019-12-31T15:39:01+00:00

    Thank you to everyone who replied to my question.   I saw articles about free upgrade on various websites, all of which posted pictures of Office 365 screens showing the various steps.  Regardless, I did not really expect to find a free upgrade and will be pursuing the non-profit route with Microsoft.  I have documentation showing that the organization has been approved and registered and will be contacting Microsoft directly. 

    Thanks again!

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  3. Anonymous
    2019-12-29T23:12:13+00:00

    Your "reputable" sites are either less reputable than you think, or you are misunderstanding what they are saying.

    .

    There definitely no "upgrade" from 365 to 2019 (MS no longer provides 2016, but that could be simply that the page hasn't been updated recently).

    .

    Now, you mention non-profit organization. That is a different kettle of fish. MS will provide free or discounted copies of Office to "accredited" non-profits. You have to apply to them for recognition and a supply of licenses.

    .

    Here is some general information from MS about getting non-profit licenses.

    Non Profits

    You can try to get free Non-Profit licenses:

    **http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/business/microsoft-office-365-for-business-faq-FX103030232.aspx**

    **http://www.microsoft.com/about/corporatecitizenship/en-us/nonprofits/whats-available/available-software/#freeSoft** – free software available to them

    There is much more info on the above link page (scroll down to the bottom of the page), here is a sample.

    <snip>

    **Where is Office 365 for Nonprofits available?**

    Office 365 for Nonprofits will be available in up to 90 countries by July 2014. To see the full list of countries launched to date, please visit **www.microsoft.com/office365nonprofits**. Scroll down the page and click the Office 365 Availability by Country link.

    Or you can use one of the many free or low price "Office Alternatives".  They have applications that are equivalent to what you see in MS Office, but they are independently developed "copies". The names and commands may be slightly different, but they cover most of the functionality of MS Office. Most of them can, for the most part, handle MS Office format files.

    </snip>

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