How to Activate/Install Microsoft Office:

First, check if you have Microsoft Office on your computer

Some computers will come with Microsoft Office already installed, including MHCC loaner laptops from the college, but you’ll still need to activate a student (or staff) license to continue using MS Word/Office for free. If you know Office is installed, skip down to Yes, I Have MS Word/Office on My Computer section. If you need to check on this, just continue with step 1.

1. On a Windows computer click the Search Box (magnifying glass icon)  on the lower bottom left of your computer (you can also press the Windows logo key + S on your keyboard to open Search).
   On a Mac computer click the Spotlight icon (if shown) in the menu bar in the upper right, or press Command + Space bar.
2. Type “Word” for Microsoft Word.
   1. If Word does appear, continue onto Yes, I Have MS Word/Office on My Computer.
   2. If Word doesn’t appear, or the result shows only WordPad or Pages, proceed to No, I Don’t Have MS Word/Office on My Computer.

Yes, I Have MS Word/Office on my Computer

If Word appears, that means you already have Microsoft Office installed on your computer. But you will need to log in with your college email (Saints Email for MHCC or staff email) if you want to continue to use this for free (otherwise, Microsoft will start disabling access to Office and request payment after a trial period of, typically, a month).

3. Open Word by typing this in the Search Box (or Spotlight on the Mac), and then selecting to open it.
4. Look in the upper right hand corner for your name or email. Click to find further information.
   1. If you’re already signed in with your MHCC email all is good; you’re done.
   2. But if you see either no name or a personal email here, you need to change this by signing out and signing in with your college email. The only exception to this is if you’ve already paid for a personal license for Microsoft Office and want to continue using this.
5. Keep in mind even once you sign in with your college email (Saints email or staff email), there is still a slight delay in the license being recognized by Microsoft and activated. It’s likely you’ll still see a license/activation error, which should soon go away.
6. You’ll want to accept the conditions of the license and have this apply to all programs/applications, so all Microsoft apps allow free use through your college email.

No, I Don’t Have MS Word/Office on my Computer

7. Open a web browser such as Chrome, Firefox or Safari.
8. Log on to your Saints email account (students) or your Office 365 account (staff).

If you are a Student

9. Go to the mhcc.edu website, Current Students, and Saints Email (Log in with your username and password (first initial, dot, last name, no. @saints.mhcc.edu). You should see the Mt. Hood logo.
   1. If you are new to MHCC and don’t know your Saints Email, log in to MyMHCC, click Student Services tab at top and then Message Center on left.
      Note: For new students a Saints Email will only be created 48 hours after you register for classes.
   2. If you are a Student, please contact Computer.Tutor@mhcc.edu or call (503) 491-7208 for help with Saints Email (you won’t be able to install and activate MS Office without this).

If you are a Staff member

10. Go to mhcc.edu website, Intranet (near the bottom of the screen) and Office 365 Email. Log in with shortened (last name and first initial) username@mhcc.edu and password. You will be redirected to another site or pop up screen, and may have to do this multiple times. You should see the Mt. Hood logo.
1. Please call (503) 491-7448 or contact Service.Desk@mhcc.edu if you are a staff member and need help with your college email and installing Office.
   
11. Click the tiles icon in your email (upper left of the screen).   
    In the tiles area you can access online “lite” versions of Microsoft apps, but here (just to the right of the tiles icon) you can also find a link to Office. Choose this to take you to another screen.
12. Now, look to the upper right of the screen for Install Office, and choose Office 365 apps to begin the office installation on your computer. You’ll need to open and run the Setup file which is sent to your Downloads folder on your computer (you may see this on the bottom left). This will install the full MS Office 365 onto a PC or Mac computer (speeds for the install will vary, based on your connection). If you want to see other install options, choose the 2nd option. Here, you can see how many of your 5 device installs you’ve used, information about your Office subscription, options for other languages, etc.

*Mac or **Chromebook users can skip down to the Notes for these devices.

If prompted to enter an email or upon opening an Office app for the first time, a student should type Saints email and password for (free) access to Microsoft Office. Staff would enter Outlook username and password. Go back up to Yes, I Have MS Word/Office on my Computer if needed for more information about logging in and activating the Office license.

*Notes for Mac Users

The Office Mac version only includes Word, Excel, PowerPoint, OneNote, and Outlook (most notable is the absence of Access and Publisher).

For Mac users, as with Windows PC users, you will log into your Saints Email (or staff email) and follow the No, I Don’t Have MS Word/Office on my Computer to log into your school account and find the install Office link.

Once you click install, the large Office suite may take a while to download, ending up in the Downloads folder. From the Finder you can press COMMAND + OPTION + L to open this folder. Then, double-click the most recent file in the Downloads folder, and begin the installation process. You’ll step through a number of screens to accept Microsoft’s license agreement. Mac seems better than Windows at grabbing your correct school account and activating your license.

SIMnet users: SIMnet is an online Microsoft Office simulation used in Business, Business Technology, and CIS classes. SIMnet supports both Mac and Windows users for Word, Excel, and PowerPoint courses (e.g. BA131, CIS120L, BT125). For Access courses (CIS125DB, BT210ZAA, or BT210ZAB) Mac users will need to use a Windows computer because Microsoft Access is a database program not made for Macs. Mac users taking an Access course could purchase Parallels and Windows software to emulate a PC, but this option can be costly.

**Trying to install on a Chromebook?

Sorry--you’re out of luck to install the full version of Microsoft Office since this is a suite of programs created for Windows and Mac operating systems, and it requires a hard drive for installation. Chrome iOS is online and built around Google apps, such as Google Drive, Docs, Sheets, Gmail, etc. But you can still feel free to log into the Chrome Store and install more basic versions of the Microsoft Office apps, or just log into your Saints Email, click on tiles in the upper left, and access the “lite” versions of Online Word, Excel, PowerPoint, etc.

Troubleshooting

Tip: If you see the following screen when signing in, be sure to select “Work or school account”.

License Activation Problems?
If you know you are connected to the internet, you already had Office on your computer, and you still can’t get the license to activate on a Windows computer you may need to remove this version and reinstall.

1. In the Search Box type “Uninstall” and choose Add or Remove Programs.
2. click the program and an “Uninstall” button will appear.
3. Once, you’ve uninstalled, restart your computer and go to the No, I Don’t Have MS Word/Office on my Computer (further up the page) to run the install process and log in with your MHCC credentials.
4. If this still doesn’t work, possibly wait, as there is normally a delay on the license to register remotely on the Microsoft server (of course make sure you are connected to the Internet). If this still doesn’t work, students should contact Computer.Tutor@mhcc.edu; staff can contact Service.Desk@mhcc.edu.