For the best experience with Office 365, customers should connect to the service with the latest apps, browsers, clients, and mobile devices, and install all new versions and updates of that software within twelve months of release. This best experience includes using Office 365 ProPlus, an Office client where updates are streamed automatically to users.

Office 365 requires the following software:

  • The current or immediately prior version of Internet Explorer, or the latest release of Chrome, Firefox, or Safari.

Any Microsoft Office client in mainstream support can connect to the Office 365 service. Connecting with Office clients in extended support is not recommended, but Microsoft Customer Support and Service will provide commercially reasonable assistance.

Office 365 is updated frequently to provide the most up-to-date experience. New Office 365 features and functionality may not operate, or may operate differently, when used with older versions of the Office client or with older Web browsers.

Immediate client support changes

  • Office 365 support for Internet Explorer 8 will end on April 8, 2014.

Frequently asked questions

What is Microsoft's Support Lifecycle Policy?
You can learn more about the Office support lifecycle at the Microsoft Support Lifecycle Web site, and read about specific Office versions in the Support Lifecycle Product Database.

Questions about Office client software you can use with the Office 365 service

I'm using an older version of the Office client that is in mainstream support, yet that version does not allow me to use a new feature that you just added to the Office 365 service. Is that expected?
Yes, there will be occasions when a new Office 365 feature cannot be used with an older version of Office, even when that Office client is still in mainstream support. You may need to upgrade to the current version of the Office client in order to use the new feature.

What will the user experience be like when connecting to Office 365 with Office clients that are in extended support?
Microsoft recommends connecting to Office 365 with Office clients that are in mainstream support.

Some customers may need to connect to Office 365 with a version of Office in extended support. These older Office clients will connect to Office 365 when commercially feasible, but you can expect a better experience when using Office clients that are in mainstream support.

What service pack should I use?
Microsoft's Service Pack Support Lifecycle policy requires that you deploy Office Service Packs within twelve months of release, and Office 365 requires that you be in compliance with this policy.

Do I need to accept automatic public updates from Microsoft?
Automatic public updates contain critical security fixes for Microsoft products. Office 365 strongly recommends customers accept automatic updates from Microsoft both to secure their environments and to have the best experience with Office 365.

Will an Office client connect to the service for the full extended support period?
Office clients in extended support will continue to connect to the Office 365 service when commercially feasible. We will provide notice consistent with our Online Services Support Lifecycle Policy if there is a substantial degradation of the user experience with an Office client in extended support or if an Office client will no longer connect to the Office 365 service.

Is the lifecycle policy for Office ProPlus 2010, Office 365 ProPlus, and/or the Lync client provided with the Office 365 subscription different from the policy for Office and Lync client software licensed separately?
Yes. Office 365 ProPlus, Office ProPlus 2010, and the Lync client provided with your Office 365 service are licensed as a subscription that entitles you to use only the current version of the software. The subscription license does not include downgrade rights to older versions of the software, but Microsoft may provide an upgrade period during which your subscription entitles you to use both a current and previous version of the software.

Questions about Browser software you can use with the Office 365 service

Where can I learn more about Office 365 and Internet Explorer 8?
To learn more about Office 365's end of support for Internet Explorer 8, please see the Internet Explorer 8 and Office 365 FAQ on the Office 365 Community Forums.

Why doesn't Microsoft allow more than one version of Chrome or Firefox?
Google and Mozilla do not maintain older versions of Chrome and Firefox, respectively. Also, Google Chrome and Mozilla Firefox are designed to stream updates your computers, and are updated every six weeks. Many common problems with these browsers are resolved in the next update.

Questions about Operating Systems

Does Microsoft have an operating system requirement?
Office 365 does not have an operating system requirement, except that the Windows or Macintosh OS software you use must be supported by Microsoft or Apple. There may, however, be advanced Office 365 configuration options, features, scenarios, and/or tools that have explicit dependencies on an operating system, or behave differently on different operating systems.

Why doesn't Microsoft list specific operating systems for Office 365?
Connections to Office 365 are from a Web browser, the Office client, a mobile device, etc. The operating system may be a requirement for the browser or Office client, but Office 365 doesn't connect to the operating system directly. Consequently, operating system is not a specific requirement for the Office 365 service.

How can I tell which operating systems are supported?
For information about Windows operating system support, see the Support Lifecycle Product Database.

For information about Mac OS support, see the Apple support web site