![](data:image/svg+xml, %3Csvg xmlns='http://www.w3.org/2000/svg' height='64' class='font-weight-bold' style='font: 600 30.11764705882353px "SegoeUI", Arial' width='64'%3E%3Ccircle fill='hsl(57.599999999999994, 18%, 15%)' cx='32' cy='32' r='32' /%3E%3Ctext x='50%25' y='55%25' dominant-baseline='middle' text-anchor='middle' fill='%23FFF' %3EDC%3C/text%3E%3C/svg%3E)
Microsoft 365 and Office | Subscription, account, billing | For home | Other
Microsoft 365 features that help users manage their subscriptions, account settings, and billing information.
The message about needing to “upgrade to premium” is coming from Outlook/Outlook.com premium features, not from the core ability to attach a file. Attaching a Word document to an email is a basic feature, but some enhanced Outlook features are only available with certain Microsoft 365 subscriptions.
Key points from the context:
- If “Premium” does not appear next to the email account in Outlook for iOS/Android settings, premium Outlook features are not enabled for that account as part of a paid subscription. In that case, Outlook may show prompts to upgrade when trying to use premium-only capabilities.
- See: “I don’t see ‘Premium’ next to my email account in Settings. How can I upgrade my account to a Microsoft 365 subscription?”
- Only Microsoft 365 Personal or Family subscriptions include the right to install and fully use the desktop Office apps (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook). Microsoft 365 Basic does not include desktop apps; it only provides OneDrive storage and web apps.
- If the subscription is Microsoft 365 Basic, the account will not have a license for the full desktop Outlook/Word integration and may show license/upgrade prompts.
- The Microsoft 365 Basic vs Personal/Family difference is explicitly called out:
- Microsoft 365 Basic: no desktop apps like Word, Excel, PowerPoint.
- Microsoft 365 Personal/Family: includes desktop apps and their full features.
What to check and do:
- Verify which subscription is active
- Sign in to the Microsoft account’s services page and confirm whether the plan is Microsoft 365 Basic, Personal, or Family, and that it is not expired.
- If it is Microsoft 365 Basic, that plan does not license the desktop apps; upgrading to Microsoft 365 Personal or Family is required for full desktop Outlook/Word functionality.
- If already on Microsoft 365 Personal or Family
- Ensure Office is fully updated so that all licensed features are available. If the latest features are not visible, install the latest Office updates for the operating system.
- Confirm that Outlook and Word are signed in with the same Microsoft account that holds the active Personal/Family subscription.
If the subscription is Basic and the requirement is to use full desktop Outlook and Word together without upgrade prompts, switching to Microsoft 365 Personal or Family is necessary.
References: