As a current USC student, you may download up to five copies of the latest version of Microsoft Office for use on your personal computing equipment, including desktop or laptop computers, and up to five copies on your iPhone, iPad, and Android and Windows mobile devices.
Getting Started
Students and educators at eligible institutions can sign up for Office 365 Education for free, including Word, Excel, PowerPoint, OneNote, and now Microsoft Teams, plus additional classroom tools. All you need is a valid school email address. It’s not a trial – so get started today.
Microsoft Office downloads are available to current USC students via the Microsoft Office portal.
Downloading Software to Your PC or Mac
To download Office software for your PC or Mac:
- Go to the Microsoft Office portal at portal.office.com/OLS/MySoftware.aspx.
- On the Office 365 screen, enter your USC email address in the first blank field. Leave the password field on this page blank. Press ENTER.
- A pop up box will appear. In the Name: field, enter your full USC email address. In the Password: field, enter your USC NetID password.
- Click Log In.
- From the Software page that appears, you will be able to download any desktop software available through this program.
Downloading Software to Your Mobile Device
From your desktop or laptop computer, follow the above instructions to get to the Software page and click Phone & Tablet in the left-hand menu. Follow the instructions that appear on the screen to complete the download process for your device. You will be redirected to a Microsoft website page where you will have the option of receiving the download link on your mobile device via email or text. Choose one of these options and complete the download process on your mobile device.
NOTE: You may be directed to your device’s app store to complete the Office software download process; however, you will not be charged a fee for the download.
Authenticating Office Software on Your Computer or Mobile Device
The first time you open the software after installation, you will need to authenticate your subscription. Choose the option to Sign in to an existing Office 365 subscription (this wording may vary based on the software version you are installing). Use your USC NetID email address and password to sign in and activate your software. You may periodically be asked to enter your USC NetID email address and password to re-authenticate your desktop copy of Office.
For mobile versions of Office, you will need to download and authenticate each program (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, etc.) separately using your USC email address and password.
Support
If you experience difficulties logging into the Microsoft Office portal, please verify that you are using a supported browser. For a list of supported browsers, see Microsoft’s Office 365 System Requirements page. If you encounter issues installing Office through the Microsoft Office portal, see Microsoft’s Troubleshoot Office Installation with Office 365 website.
For additional assistance with this service, contact the ITS Customer Support Center.
Learn More
Microsoft has produced quick start guides for the software included in the newest version of Office, Office 2016. These tutorials are available at the following links:
For video tutorials on using the Microsoft Office 2016 and Office Mobile applications, log into Lynda.com at itservices.usc.edu/lynda and view the videos in the following playlists:
NOTE: USC’s licensing agreement provides this software only to current students. Once you are no longer a current USC student, you will lose access to any software that you have downloaded. Available software currently includes Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, and OneNote. Microsoft determines which versions of the software are available for download; available software may vary based on your operating system.