How to Share Your Microsoft 365 Subscription (and Why You Should Do It)
There are ways to get Microsoft Office for free , but if you use it regularly, you might want to take advantage of the software’s various productivity features. A Microsoft 365 subscription unlocks benefits beyond occasional use of Word, Excel, and PowerPoint.
When you’re ready to make a decision, you can choose from two available subscription plans offered by Microsoft 365: Personal and Family. A family covers up to six people in total, so if you have someone in your circle (they don’t have to be family!) who wants to use Microsoft Office, then it’s worth purchasing a family subscription and sharing it.
How to start sharing your Microsoft 365 subscription
Sharing a Microsoft 365 Family subscription is a simple exchange of information between you as the family organizer and up to five other people. There are two ways: an invitation email or a shared link. You can go with any of them.
Sign in to the Microsoft Account page using the same Microsoft account you used to purchase your subscription; Select “Manage Sharing” in the top right corner. This will open the Services and Subscriptions page in your account.
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Click the Share button.
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On the pop-up screen, select Copy Link or Invite by Email .
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If you selected Copy Link , send the link to your subscribers.
Once everyone in the family group accepts the invitation, they can install all Microsoft Office apps on their devices and access their personal 1TB OneDrive storage by signing in to Microsoft with their personal Microsoft account.
How to stop sharing a subscription
To remove someone from a group, go to the Services and Subscriptions page and then to the Share Subscription section. Select the person you want to remove from the “You’re sharing Microsoft 365 benefits” section and select the “Stop sharing” option next to their name. The group member will be notified of the change.
Anyone using a shared subscription can also leave the group themselves by signing in to their Microsoft account. Go to the Sharing page and under Subscription Sharing, select Stop using this shared subscription . Click “Leave” in the confirmation field.
Get the benefits of a shared Microsoft 365 subscription
There are some obvious (and some not so obvious) benefits to using a Microsoft 365 Family subscription for collaboration.
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Each family group member uses each Microsoft Office application independently using their own Microsoft accounts. Everything, such as others’ email, calendar, cloud storage, or OneNote notebooks, remains private.
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As with any Microsoft 365 subscription, all members automatically receive the latest versions of Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and OneNote with updated features.
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Each member gets 50GB of Outlook mailbox and no ads. That’s significantly more than the 15GB of space that Gmail shares with Google Drive and Google Photos. Microsoft Outlook also features Microsoft’s advanced real-time protection against phishing and malicious attachments.
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1TB OneDrive storage provides encrypted personal storage and seamless integration with Windows and Microsoft Office. This can be one of the best cloud storage solutions for storing sensitive files in the cloud .
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You can use Outlook to send email to your family group and share news, photos or files. Add events to your family calendar or create more detailed plans in your OneNote Family Notebook .
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Each group member can also enjoy 60 minutes of free Skype calls each month to mobile and landline phones in over 60 countries. You can also host virtual meetings in the Microsoft Teams app from anywhere in the world.
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You can share Family Plan with your kids and use various features like content filters , screen time, and Family Safety activity reports to help keep them safe. The Family Safety app is a helpful setup for your peace of mind.