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You should be able to regularly open and use Office 2013/2016 applications like Word, PowerPoint, and Excel without internet connection. Office 2013/2016 Actions that Do Not Require Online Access Syncing files to OneDrive requires internet access, as well.Ĭlip art and some templates are not installed locally, like they used to be. This verification requires an internet connection but no action from you, since it is automatic.Īlso, if you are storing files on OneDrive and not syncing those OneDrive files locally, you’ll need to be connected to the internet to open your files.
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So if your Office 2013/2016 applications are part of your Office 365 plan, Microsoft simply needs to verify that you have an active subscription, on a monthly basis. Office 365 is a subscription-based service. When Office 2013/2016 is installed, you will be able to use the applications on a day-to-day basis without an internet connection–the “old fashioned way.” Periodically, you will need to connect to the internet to validate your Office 365 subscription.
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This is because installing Office 2013/2016 as a part of Office 365 uses click-to-run technology, which you can learn more about here on TechNet. Once you have an Office 365 plan that includes Office 2013/2016 applications, you’ll need to internet access to install those Office 2013/2016 applications. You do need internet access to install, activate, and manage your Office 2013 programs that are part of an Office 365 plan. But what about simply creating a Word document or an Excel spreadsheet? Can you fire up your application and work, with or without being online, like you could in prior versions of Office? Office 2013/2016 Actions that Require Online Access Using Office Online (Web Apps), IT monitoring and maintenance activities, and so on–those tasks clearly require internet access. Many Office 365 plans contain Office 2013/2016 applications that users can install on their own computers or devices, but there’s some confusion over the use of Office 2013/2016 without an internet connection.
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