Office 365 for Students

Durham Tech provides Office 365 to students free-of-charge. This offer applies to students who are currently taking curriculum (credit) classes.

Eligible students can download and install the latest version of the full Microsoft Office suite — free-of-charge — on up to five computers (PCs or Macs). As long as you’re a current student at Durham Tech and the Office 365 offer continues, you’ll be able to use this software for free.

What’s included?

  • Microsoft Office 2019 for Windows
    • Includes Word, Excel, PowerPoint, OneNote, Outlook, Publisher, and Access
    • Windows 10 or later is required
  • Microsoft Office 2019 for Macs
    • Includes Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and OneNote
    • Mac OS 10.13 or higher is required

Additional benefits:

  • Students receive 1 terabyte of file storage space on OneDrive.
  • Students may access online versions of Office products and use them via a web browser. The online versions are similar to the Windows/Mac versions, but with some limitations.
  • Students can download free Office mobile apps to smartphones or tablets from their device’s app store — and then sign in to the apps with their ConnectMail accounts to get full editing capabilities.

How to install:

For Chromebook users - How to install and run Microsoft Office on a Chromebook.

All other users, follow these instructions:

  1. Visit https://portal.office.com
  2. Sign in with your full ConnectMail address and password (same way you log in to ConnectMail)

    Office 365 sign in screen with username and password fields
     
  3. An alert box will pop up in the upper right corner. Click the Install now link to continue.

    Microsoft Office for free. Good news. As a student at connect.durhamtech.edu, you get Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and OneNote for free. Install Now
     
  4. A screen appears that says “Almost there.” Click START to continue.
  5. You’re now on the “Install Office” screen. Follow the on-screen instructions to download and install Office 2019. (If the alert box pops up in the upper right again, you can simply close it.)

    Windows users: If you need Microsoft Access (required for CIS-110, CIS-113, and DBA-110), do NOT click the red “Install now” button! Instead, click Other installs (just below it) to install Office 365 ProPlus, which includes Access, Publisher, and more.

    If you need only Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and OneNote, you can click Install now and follow the prompts to download and install those applications. (But first, you may want to un-check the boxes about making Bing your search engine and MSN your homepage.)

    installation screen shot with checkboxes for making Bing your search engine and MSN your browser home. The "Install Now" button and the "Other Installs" link is right below it.

    If you have trouble installing Office, Microsoft’s installation guide may resolve your issue.

    NOTE: On the above screen, the square icons under “Collaborate with Office Online” provide access to online versions of Office products. You can use these through your web browser without installing anything. These online versions are fairly full-featured, but lack the complete functionality of Office 2019 products that you download and install on a computer. The online versions may not have all the features you need, especially for computer classes that teach Office applications.

How long does it last?

You can download and use this software as long as you are enrolled as a student at Durham Tech. If you don’t enroll for a semester, your free Office 365 subscription will end after 100 days and you will no longer be able to use the software or access any files you saved to OneDrive through this account.

Upgrades

Upgrades are handled automatically by Microsoft. Users will receive a notification within the Office applications when an upgrade is available to install.

Help information

If you have problems signing in to the Office 365 portal site, reset your Durham Tech password.

  • IMPORTANT: After resetting your Durham Tech password, it may take up to 30 minutes before you will be able to sign in to the Office 365 portal with your new Durham Tech password.

If you’ve reset your password, waited 30 minutes, and still can’t sign in, contact Durham Tech’s ITS Help Desk at 919-536-7200, ext. 6111 or helpdesk@durhamtech.edu.

Because the software is offered through Microsoft, Durham Tech cannot provide installation assistance or software support. If you have trouble installing Office, Microsoft’s installation guide may resolve your issue.