Master 365: What Do You Get for Free? (Premium)

Office 365 and Microsoft 365 subscribers get plenty of perks. But what if you don’t want to pay? What do you get for free?

That is, anyone with a Microsoft account (MSA)---originally created, perhaps, to utilize Hotmail/Outlook.com, Skype, Xbox, or whatever back in the day---has, in effect, a free Microsoft 365 account. And that free account comes with a surprisingly wide range of functionality and capability. Microsoft’s hope, of course, is that you’ll enjoy the account so much---or will be annoyed by its limitations just enough---that you’ll want to upgrade.

I’ll examine what paying subscribers get soon. But for now, let’s focus on what’s available to those with what I’ll now call a free Microsoft 365 account. You might be surprised by how much is available, especially from a productivity perspective, which is my focus here. Indeed, I’m sure I’ll leave some features out by mistake. (Let me know, and I’ll add anything that’s missing.)

Security and privacy. Your free Microsoft 365 account is managed at the Microsoft account website, where you can manage your security and privacy settings, among other things, and configure such things as two-step authentication to ensure that your account is never compromised. You can even go password-less if you use the Microsoft Authenticator app on mobile for authentication. And if you have children, you can take advantage of Microsoft Family to provide oversight of your kids’ activities online and on Windows 10 PCs and mobile devices.

Windows 10. You can sign-in to Windows 10 with your free Microsoft 365 account, which is more secure because it can (and should be) protected with two-step authentication/password access as noted above. Doing so also lets you sync (some but not all) of your customized settings between your different PCs; this includes your Store apps and games, so that purchased content is always available to you when you sign-in, on any PC. Furthermore, Store apps and games support account sign-in passthrough: If you sign-in to Windows 10, you can sign-in automatically to those apps that support this feature too.

Microsoft Edge. Microsoft’s web browser uses your free Microsoft 365 account to sync its own settings, including favorites (bookmarks), addresses and contact information, passwords, browsing history, and, soon, extensions, open tabs, and collections. This syncing works across Edge on Windows 7, 8, 10, and Mac, and Android and iOS too.

OneDrive. Free Microsoft 365 account holders get 5 GB of OneDrive store, which can be used to store files of any kind, including Office documents and photos. You can use the OneDrive mobile app on your smartphone to automatically backup any photos you take to your OneDrive too. (Not enough storage? Aside from upgrading to Microsoft 365 Personal or Family, which provide 1 TB of additional storage per user, individuals who just need more storage can also get an additional 100 GB for $1.99 p...

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