I have had the stand alone Office 2013 for over 8 years, Would it benefit me to upgrade to 2021 stand alone?

Hi Jerri, Just to add to Karl's post. For every day tasks there is not much difference between Office 2013. If you have Office Home and Business 2013, with Outlook. Outlook is much improved with Office 2021. Microsoft has withdrawn support for Office 2013. I would suggest that you leave Office 2013 on the old computer to use as a backup and purchase Office Home and Student/Business 2021.

Most of Office Professional 2021s on this forum are Pro Plus versions purchased on the internet at knockdown prices in contravention of the Microsoft licence. Nobody seems to care, not even Microsoft Agents, who assist users. Some have Office Accounts, some work for a long time, some for a short time and some don't work at all. They cost in the region of $30/40 or £30/40. Anything less will almost certainly be a bad deal.

Hi Jerri, First of all there is no upgrade for any version of Office (although Microsoft 365 Personal can be changed to the Family version). I would leave your Office 2013 alone, as you no longer work for the employer you are no longer entitled to use it. See the Q&As here: Microsoft Home Use Program: Your Order History - Microsoft Store Home Use Program (HUP). That is what your 2013 is.

As I said above, I can see you have purchase Pro Plus 2021 which does not have a legitimate Microsoft licence. However, at $70 it should work, and nobody seems to care. Pro Plus versions of Office are in fact volume based and were sold to companies and schools, universities, etc to be used by their employees and students. The big test to see if you have one of the better Pro Plus Offices is, after you install it, to check to see if you have a 'reinstall' link.

You can install it from here:  http://www.office.com/setup  Note: you need to use a Personal Microsoft Account. Your Office will be tied to this account forever, so make a considered choice. You can create a new one if you like..

After your Office is installed you should be able to reinstall it should the occasion arise (or move to another computer). Sign in with the same Microsoft Account that you used to setup/install your Office here: https://account.microsoft.com/services  You should see an install link.

PS: Best to use just one Microsoft Account for all thing Microsoft

Thank you Karl and Ron both for your replies. The reason for my question was this: I bought a new computer and I pick it up next week. It has Windows 11 on it. My 2013 version was purchased when I worked at Bank of America almost 10 years ago. They offered it to all employees for $5. I am not sure which version it is. It has worked fine ever since. We got a product code..no box, no cd. I has been great but Outlook has issues now I was able to buy this in the retail box for $70, so I thought it would be work it to upgrade. It is the 2021 stand alone version . I hope I didnt make a mistake. Once I take 2013 off of my computer, there is no getting it back. I dont think I even have the product kep for it anymore. I do have the option to return this if I choose to.

Buy Office Home & Student 2021 (PC or Mac) – Download & Pricing (microsoft.com)

Buy Office Home & Business 2021 (PC or Mac) – Download & Pricing (microsoft.com)

Buy Microsoft Office Professional 2021 – Download Key & Pricing This is what I purchased (not the knockdown Pro Plus versions)

Hello JerriRiffel_962

Hi, I'm Karl and will be happy to help you today.

You are asking a very subjective question. The first important question is "Does '2913 still do everything you need?"

On a general level, '2013 is an old suite so just from a security perspective, everyone will tell you it's best to upgrade to a more current version.

The above aside, my answer to your question would be: "Upgrade when you find that you need to" but upgrading to the most recent perpetual (one-time purchase) license of Office, especially on a Win 11 system certainly has long term benefits.

If you have any questions, don't hesitate to ask, we're here to help you further if needed.