is my verion of office a subscription, or one time purchase?

Question

I bought a one time office purchase from Amazon. I want to make sure its not a subscription.

Answer 1

1

It depends on the Office licence you purchased, was that indicated as Office Home 2024, Office Professional Plus 2024, Microsoft 365... etc.

2

Open Word, then go to File - Account, what edition of Office is indicated there as installed on your PC.

Also, if you log into your Microsoft account on this link, you should find the Office licence listed as a digital licence linked to your account, is that correct?

https://account.microsoft.com/services/

Answer 2

To confirm whether the installed Office is a one-time purchase or a subscription, check the product type inside an Office app:

1. Open Word or Excel.
2. Go to File > Account.
3. Look under Product Information:
   • If it shows something like Microsoft 365 (e.g., Microsoft 365 Personal, Microsoft 365 Family), that is a subscription.
   • If it shows a name like Office Home & Student 2021/2024, Office Home & Business 2021/2024, or similar, that is a one-time purchase (non-subscription).

From the context:

• One-time purchase products such as Office Home & Student or Office Home & Business are explicitly non‑subscription. They do not have an upgrade option; upgrading later requires buying a newer version at full price.
• Subscription products are branded Microsoft 365 and stay up to date automatically.

Since the purchase from Amazon was advertised as a one-time Office license, the key check is that the installed product name in File > Account matches a perpetual SKU (for example, Office Home & Student/Business 2021/2024) and does not say Microsoft 365.

If the device is a Mac and Office was installed from the Mac App Store, note that those apps require a Microsoft 365 subscription to activate and are not compatible with Office 2019/2021/2024 one-time purchase licenses. In that case, install Office using the download associated with the one-time purchase in the Microsoft account instead of the Mac App Store build.

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References:

• How do I upgrade Office?
• Office 2021 and Office LTSC for Windows and Mac FAQ
• Microsoft Office and the Mac App Store