Microsoft Office on Linux

Question

When is Microsoft planning on realeasing a native Microsoft 365 for Linux?

Answer 1

Dear @Kevin Martinez Aguilar,

I hope you’re having a good day and thank you for raising this question, it’s a very common and understandable request, especially from users working in Linux environments.

Based on what is publicly available today, there is currently no official announcement from Microsoft regarding a plan or timeline to release a native Microsoft 365 (Office) desktop client for Linux. In other words, Microsoft has not confirmed that such a version is in development or when it might become available.

At the present time, Microsoft 365 desktop applications such as Word, Excel, and PowerPoint are officially supported on Windows and macOS only. There is no native Linux client that can be installed directly on Linux distributions, and this is by design rather than a temporary limitation.

The most reliable and officially supported approach is to use Microsoft 365 on the web through a browser like Edge, Chrome, or Firefox. With this option, you can access Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and other apps directly from https://www.office.com, and this works well for most day-to-day scenarios.

For more advanced use cases, some users also rely on workarounds such as running Office inside a Windows virtual machine or using compatibility layers, though these approaches are not officially supported and may have limitations.

If having a native Linux version is important to you, I would strongly recommend submitting your feedback directly to Microsoft through the Feedback Portal. This helps ensure your scenario is visible to the product team and can influence future priorities:

Many improvements in Microsoft 365 are driven by user demand, so sharing your specific use case there can make a real impact.

Once you've submitted your feedback, feel free to share the link here in the comments. I would be more than happy to vote for it to increase visibility.

As community moderators, we kindly ask that you understand that our access to internal development information is limited. Our primary role is to direct users to the appropriate resources and support channels. Even though we have no influence over product design decisions and have limited access to internal development details, we will continue to do our best to support you in our responsibilities.

Since other users have expressed similar concerns, I hope that this explanation will not only clarify the current behavior, but also shed light on a constructive path forward. Sharing this feedback publicly can help others make their voices heard as well.

Thank you again for taking the time to share your experience. I really appreciate your patience, and don't hesitate to contact me if I can help you with anything else.

Warm regards, 

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Answer 2

There is no information in the provided material about any plan or timeline for a native Microsoft 365 (Office) client for Linux. The available guidance only covers installing Microsoft software on Linux via the Linux Software Repository (for products such as .NET, PowerShell, SQL Server, Microsoft Defender for Endpoint, and Intune) and using Microsoft 365 apps on supported platforms (Windows, macOS, iOS, Android, and the web).

For Linux, the supported option in this context is to use Microsoft 365 for the web in a browser, which is a free version of the Microsoft 365 apps when signed in with a Microsoft account.

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References:

• Linux Software Repository for Microsoft Products
• What's the difference between Microsoft 365 and Office 2024?
• Office applications service description
• Microsoft 365 and Office resources