Pupils and students: Have you checked if Office is already available to you for free?

As the school year begins, many parents, students, and faculty are preparing to purchase computers, educational equipment, and software. What not everyone knows is that hundreds of thousands of students in Israel are eligible to receive the Microsoft 365 package free of charge as part of the Ministry of Education's agreement with Microsoft.
Eligibility includes familiar Office programs as well as advanced cloud services and artificial intelligence tools available in the education system. This is a significant savings for families, as instead of purchasing a private subscription to Microsoft 365, the free license can be used as long as the student is eligible within the educational institution.

What do you get for free?

The Microsoft 365 Education package provides access to a variety of key tools for learning and work:

• Microsoft Word for writing papers, documents, and summaries.
• Microsoft Excel for data analysis, calculations, and charts.
• Microsoft PowerPoint for making professional presentations.
• OneNote for digital notebooks and learning materials management.
• Microsoft Teams for remote learning, meetings, and collaboration.
• OneDrive cloud storage.
• Access to AI and Copilot services available in the education environment according to the institution's settings.

Using these tools, students can prepare assignments, collaborate with classmates, save files in the cloud, and continue working from any computer, tablet, or phone.

Who is eligible to receive free Office?

In Israel, the Ministry of Education operates the "Office for Every Student" project, under which students in the education system are entitled to download and install the Office suite free of charge. Teaching staff and teachers are also entitled to a license under the agreement. For students, eligibility depends on the educational institution. Many universities and colleges participate in Microsoft Education programs and provide students with an institutional Microsoft 365 account. Therefore, it is recommended to check with the IT department or the institution's website to see if there is eligibility for a free license.

How do you download Office for free?

The installation process is relatively simple:

1. Enter the Ministry of Education's "Office for Every Student" portal.
2. Identify yourself using the Ministry of Education's uniform identification details.
3. You get a personal Microsoft Education account.
4. Download and install the Microsoft 365 package.
5. Log in using the account you received to complete license activation.

The Ministry of Education recommends performing the first installation using a computer and not a mobile phone.

How many devices can it be installed on?

One of the most notable advantages of t