Install Microsoft Office on your personal device

Current students, faculty, and staff members at the Vermont State Colleges (VSC) are licensed to install Microsoft 365 desktop apps on several personal devices.

Windows and macOS operating systems

Follow the steps below to install Microsoft 365 desktop apps on your Windows or Mac today!

Visit your VSC Microsoft Account page

If you have any trouble making it to your Microsoft Account page that way, see the Login to your VSC Microsoft account using the Outlook app section below.

Download and install

Click on the “Install Office” button to begin downloading the installation file to your computer.

Screenshot of the Microsoft Account page showing the location of the Install Office button.

When prompted, click to save the installer file. The way this appears will depend on the operating system and browser you are using. It may be a pop-up or it may appear as a banner at the bottom of your browser window.

Select Save on Save As pop up [ if you get it ] — If prompted, select “**Save**” at the bottom right

Select the up arrow

Select "Open" or "Open When Done" to open the installation file. — Select “**Open When Done**” or “**Open**“

Click or double-click the file to run it. The file may appear in your “Downloads” folder or at the bottom of your browser.

When the file opens you will be guided through the installation process. Follow the installation instructions on your screen.

Activate Microsoft Office

Once installed, launch one of the Microsoft applications (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, etc). You will be asked to activate Office with an email and password. Use your Vermont State Colleges’ email address in the format:

username@vsc.edu (e.g., abc01010@vsc.edu).

Use your VSC password. The same password you use to login to Canvas and the Portal.

You will only need to activate Microsoft 365 this one time.

Mobile Devices

Most current Apple, Android, and Google mobile devices support most Microsoft Office applications.

Start by opening the App Store [ for iPhone users ] and Google Play store [ for Android users ].

Search for the Microsoft 365 app you would like to install. In this scenario, we are going to be installing Word.

You should start by selecting the “Search” at the bottom right, then type the name of the app you would like at the top in the search field, and then select the download icon.

Picture of app store. Select Search, type in app name, and select Download.

Google Play Store search field — Search the Google play store for “Word”, or “Power Point”, or “OneDrive” or any other Office 365 app.

Once Word [ or whichever O365 app you have chosen ] has downloaded it should ask you to license it. If this is the first O365 App you have installed on your phone you will need to enter your email address in the format of UserID@vsc.edu [ abc05110@vsc.edu ].

If you already have logged into another O365 app on your device then you should be able to select “Use UserID@vsc.edu account” to sign in.

Select Sign in — Select Sign In when the App opens for the first time. If it gives you an option to use your existing Userid@vsc.edu account then you can select that option and skip the next two steps.

Enter UserID@vsc.edu for your email address — If it asks you for your email then you should use UserID@vsc.edu.

Authenticate using your Portal username and password. — It will bring you to the Portal login page where you log in using your username, password, and then authenticate past MFA on the following screen.

Once you are signed in your should be ready to use the app.

Additional Information

To find a full list of programs and services associated with your Microst 365 Education account provided by the VSC visit Microsoft Office 365 for the Classroom | Microsoft Education for a breakdown of your license. All students, staff, and faculty currently have Office 365 A3 licenses. If you would like to know more about a specific product in the suite of programs and services included in the Office 365 A3 license, visit Microsoft’s All Products (microsoft.com) page for more information.

If you are having trouble logging in directly to your Microsoft Account page, try these steps:

Login to your Vermont State College email at www.vsc.edu/mail on the computer on which you would like to install Microsoft Office.

Click on the nine dots at the upper left corner of your page. Then select “Microsoft 365”.

Screenshot showing the location of the nine dots and Microsoft 365 button

On the right-hand side of the page, select “Install Microsoft 365 apps” from the “Install and more” button menu.