Microsoft Office 365 ProPlus is now free for all active GCU students! This copy of Office includes products like Microsoft Word, PowerPoint, and Excel; essential programs for succeeding in your educational goals. Below is a video and a step-by-step walkthrough to help you locate and install the software.

Pre-Install Checklist

Check for previous versions of Office installed on your device. Here is our article to help with Locating Programs and Application.

 Determine the Operating System you will be installing Office on. See below for Office 365 Compatibility.

 Be sure to have 15-30 minutes to complete the installation process.

Downloading Microsoft Office 2016 for Mac

To begin, log into your Office 365 Portal. You can log in at portal.office.com with your MyGCU student email account; the password is the same one used for your Student Portal.

When signing in, make sure to add @my.gcu.edu to the username you use to access your Student Portal.

Once logged in, click Install Office in the upper right-hand corner, and then select Office 365 apps form the drop-down menu.

Installing Office 2016 for Mac

Once you have downloaded the file, you will need to locate the install file in your Downloads folder and open it.

There are a few steps before the installation begins; select Continue.

On the Licensing dialog-box, you will see a notification asking you to agree to the conditions presented. Select Agree to continue.

After you agree, you will confirm the location for the software before installing. Select Install to begin installing.

Please note: you will need administrator privileges on your computer in order to install Office 2016. Your administrator information is the username and password you use to unlock your computer. 

After entering your administrator username and password, the installation will begin writing the files.

When the installation is complete, you will receive a message stating that "You're almost done!". Select Close to complete the process.

Upon accessing Office 2016 for the first time, you will receive a message about what's new. Click Get Started.

Before you begin, you will need to click Sign In to activate Office.

Here, you will enter your student email address, which is your username followed by@my.gcu.edu. Click Next.

Select the option to sign in with the account provided by your work, school, or university to continue.

Sign in again with your username followed by @my.gcu.edu and enter your GCU password to complete your sign in.

Upon successful login, you can choose a theme to customize how you want your Office 2016 to look. Select Continue to begin working in Office 2016!

NOTE You may be asked to turn on the Intelligent Services feature when installing Office. Intelligent Services are features help you improve your writing in Word and Outlook, analyze your data in Excel, and deliver dynamic presentations in PowerPoint. If you would like to allow this feature, select Turn On.

Desktop Setup

If you already have Office 2016 for Mac installed and select desktop setup, you will be directed to the following page:

This section does not upgrade your office but installs an Office 365 portal to your computer for easier access to your GCU student email. Select Set up Office for Mac Home and Business 2016 to work with Office 365 for more information and directions.

Office 2016 Compatibility 

System requirements for Office 2016 for Mac can be found here. Office for Mac is only supported on the three most recent versions of macOS. If you do not have OS X 10.12 or later, you will not be able to install Office 2016. Fortunately, most Macs can be upgraded to OS X 10.12 or later for free; for more information, refer to Apple’s support article to update the software on your Mac. If you are unable to install the Office programs due to compatibility or other issues, you can still use Microsoft Office in your web browser using OneDrive. For more information about accessing OneDrive, see Accessing OneDrive with your MyGCU Email Account.