Office for the web service description
Office for the web (formerly Office Web Apps) opens Word, Excel, OneNote, and PowerPoint documents in your web browser. Office for the web makes it easier to work and share Office files from devices with a supported browser and an internet connection. Microsoft 365 customers with Word, Excel, OneNote, or PowerPoint can view, create, and edit files on the go.
Available plans
For detailed plan information on subscriptions that enable users for Office for the Web, see the Microsoft 365 business plan comparison and Microsoft 365 Enterprise plan comparison.
For detailed plan information on subscriptions that enable users for Office for the web and are currently available in European Economic Area (EEA) countries and Switzerland see the Microsoft 365 business plan comparison for EEA and Microsoft 365 Enterprise plan comparison for EEA.
Feature availability
Need help with figuring out which Office solution best fits your organization? The following sections list the features that are available within Office for the web and the Microsoft Office desktop apps. For features that are only available within one of the solutions, use the table below each section. You might discover that some people in your organization need the advanced charting capability of the Excel desktop app while others only need to view and lightly edit Word documents and PowerPoint presentations with Office for the web.
Features available for Office for the web and Office desktop app
A limited selection of Office features has been chosen to represent the capabilities of Office for the web and Office desktop suite. This is not a comprehensive list of Microsoft Office features (this list may change without notice).
Word
To see more details about features for Word for the web and Word desktop app, click here.
The following table lists the features available only for Word for the web or Word desktop app (certain caveats apply, see the footnotes for further information).
| Application features | Word for the web | Word desktop app |
|---|---|---|
| Captions |
No1 |
Yes |
| Citations and bibliography |
No1 |
Yes |
| Collaboration, advanced |
No |
Yes |
| Document parts and themes |
No |
Yes |
| Equations |
Yes |
Yes |
| Gridlines |
No |
Yes |
| Index |
No1 |
Yes |
| Ink/Draw |
Yes |
Yes |
| IRM and password-protection |
No1 |
Yes |
| Immersive Reader |
Yes |
Yes |
| Mail merge |
No |
Yes |
| Offline viewing and authoring |
No |
Yes |
| Page layout tools, advanced |
No |
Yes |
| Printing, advanced |
No |
Yes |
| Proofing tools, advanced |
Yes |
Yes |
| Reference tools |
No1 |
Yes |
| Researcher |
No |
Yes |
| Rich media |
Yes |
Yes |
| Ruler |
Yes |
Yes |
| SmartArt |
No1 |
Yes |
| Table of Authority |
No1 |
Yes |
| Table of Contents |
Yes |
Yes |
| Reuse Files |
Yes |
Yes |
| VBA and Forms scripts |
No |
Yes |
| Watermarks |
No1 |
Yes |
| Transcribe |
Yes |
No |
| Export to PPT |
Yes |
No |
| Catchup |
Yes |
No |
| Designer |
Yes |
No |
| Emoji |
Yes |
No |
| Copy Link to Heading |
Yes |
No |
Note
1 These render in the viewer, but you cannot create or edit them in Office for the web.
Excel
These are the features available for Excel for the web and Excel desktop app:
Accessibility Checker, Add background color to sheet tabs, Add hyperlinks, Alignment, Apply conditional formatting, Autocomplete, AutoSum, Calculations, Cell references in formulas, Comment creation, Copy and paste, Create tables, Data validation, Drag and drop cells, Dropbox, Duplicate (copy) worksheets, Find, Font and cell formatting, Formula bar, Fill handle, Freeze panes, Full fidelity reading view, Functions , GoTo, Group data, Hide/unhide rows, columns, and sheets, Insert charts, Insert/delete rows and columns, Insert pictures, Insert shapes, Merge cells, Named ranges, Number formatting, Office Add-ins (only some are available for Word for the web), PivotCharts (view only option for Excel for the web), PivotTables, Power Pivot viewing, Power View viewing, Print, Real-time co-authoring, Remove duplicate values, Rename and add sheets, Replace, Share, Save or download a copy, Save or download a copy, Sheet protection, Slicers, Sort and filter data, Status bar aggregates, Text formatting, Tell Me, Total data, Undo and redo, VBA and macro scripting (in Excel for the web you can open and edit VBA-enabled spreadsheets - no creating or running macros due to corruption or removal of the VBA contained in the file), View 3D charts.
The following table lists the features available only for Excel for the web or Excel desktop app (certain caveats apply, see the footnotes for further information).
| Application features | Excel for the web | Excel desktop app |
|---|---|---|
| Add a check box or option button |
No |
Yes |
| Advanced time filtering (Timeline slicer) |
No |
Yes |
| Apply smart/recommended formatting |
No |
Yes |
| Audio notes recording |
No |
Yes |
| Create external data connections1 |
No2 |
Yes |
| Creation of advanced analysis views (Power View, Power Pivot, Slicers) |
No |
Yes |
| External references |
No3 |
Yes |
| Formula tools, advanced |
No |
Yes |
| Offline viewing and authoring |
No |
Yes |
| Post to social network and present online |
No |
Yes |
| Recommended chart creation and editing with formatting controls |
No |
Yes |
| Refresh existing data connections |
No |
Yes |
| Rights management: IRM and password security |
No |
Yes |
| Spreadsheet audit and compliance |
No |
Yes |
| What if analysis tools |
No |
Yes |
| Embed workbook on web or blog page (OneDrive) |
Yes |
No |
| Rename file while workbook is open |
Yes |
No |
| Surveys |
Yes |
No |
Note
1 Depending on how your environment is configured, some kinds of data connections are supported for workbooks displayed in Excel for the web. For more information, see Refreshing data in a workbook in a browser window.
2 You cannot create or run macros with VBA in Excel for the web, but you can open and edit VBA-enabled spreadsheets without removing (or corrupting) the VBA contained in the file.
3 In Excel for the web, the last known reference value displays in the browser window; however, it must be updated using the Excel desktop app.
OneNote
These are the features available for OneNote for the web and OneNote desktop app:
Apply tags, Bullets and numbering, Clipboard, Co-authoring, Create and manage pages and sections, Download copy of embedded Office files (only Save As is available for desktop, no "download" option), Drag and drop pages, Drag and drop sections, Dropbox, Equations, Hyperlinks, Ink viewing, Navigation, Notebook management: Cross section/notebook page filing, section reorder, create/delete section groups (you can move sections within a notebook, and copy and paste pages from one section to another in OneNote for the web), Office Add-ins (only some are available for OneNote for the web), Paragraph formatting, Pictures, Print, Proofing tools, Search (on page, within sections), Search by: tag, title, author/date, audio notes (only search on Page or Section is available for OneNote for the web), Share, Show or hide authors, Styles, Tables, Undo and redo, View previous page versions.
The following table lists the major OneNote desktop features available (certain caveats apply, see the footnotes for further information).
| Application features | OneNote for the web | OneNote desktop app |
|---|---|---|
| Advanced collaboration: New content shows as unread, presence |
No |
No |
| Clipping experiences |
No |
No |
| Create Section groups |
No |
Yes |
| Edit embedded files |
No |
Yes |
| Image optical character recognition (OCR) |
No |
Yes |
| Inking: ink-to-text and math, customizable pens, drawing tools |
No |
Yes |
| Outlook integration (tasks) |
No |
Yes |
| Rights Management: IRM and password security |
No |
Yes |
| Template support |
No |
Yes |
| Video playback |
No |
Yes |
PowerPoint
These are the features available for PowerPoint for the web and PowerPoint desktop app:
Alignment, bullets, numbers, Apply basic transitions and animations (PowerPoint for the web only supports a gallery of 8 transitions and 37 animations), Apply themes and theme variants, Arrange objects, Clipboard, Create and manage slides, Font downloading and formatting, Full fidelity reading view, Hyperlinks, Insert online video, Navigation - slide sorter, Office Add-ins (only some are available for PowerPoint for the web), Picture cropping, Pictures, Present online through Skype for Business or the Office Presentation Service, Print to PDF, Proofing tools, Real-time co-authoring (view only for PivotCharts or PivotTables in desktop version), Run slide show, Save as or download a copy, Shapes, Share, Slide show, SmartArt, Table creation, editing, and formatting, Tell Me, Undo and redo, View and add comments, View and edit slide notes, WYSIWYG viewing.
The following table lists the features available only for PowerPoint for the web or PowerPoint desktop app (certain caveats apply, see the footnotes for further information).
| Application features | PowerPoint for the web | PowerPoint desktop app |
|---|---|---|
| Apply rich formatting to text, shapes, and pictures |
No |
Yes |
| Broadcast slide show |
No |
Yes |
| Create custom animation |
No1 |
Yes |
| Design tools, advanced |
No |
Yes |
| Full ink support |
No |
Yes2 |
| Full selection of animations and transitions |
No1 |
Yes |
| Headers and footers |
No |
Yes |
| Integration with Excel for charts |
No |
Yes |
| Offline viewing and authoring |
No |
Yes |
| Presenter view |
No |
Yes |
| Reviewer tools, advanced |
No |
Yes |
| Rights management: IRM and password security |
No |
Yes |
| Embed presentation on web or blog page |
Yes |
No |
Note
1 PowerPoint for the web supports a gallery of eight transitions and 37 animations. For a larger selection or to create custom animations, use the PowerPoint desktop app.
2 The device you're working on needs to support ink.
Supported file types for Office for the web
| Word documents created in Word 2.0 or later | View mode | Edit mode |
|---|---|---|
| Open XML (.docx) |
Yes |
Yes |
| Binary (.doc) |
Yes |
Converted to .docx |
| Macro (.docm) |
Yes1 |
Yes1 |
| Other (.dotm, .dotx) |
Yes |
No |
| OpenDocument (.odt) |
Yes |
Yes |
| Portable Document Format (.pdf) |
No |
No |
| Excel workbooks created in Excel 97 or later |
View mode |
Edit mode |
| Open XML (.xlsx, .xlsb) |
Yes |
Yes |
| Binary (.xls) |
Yes |
Converted to .xlsx |
| Template (.xlt, .xltx) |
No |
No |
| Macro (.xlsm) |
Yes1 |
Yes2 |
| OpenDocument (.ods) |
Yes |
Yes |
| OneNote notebooks created in OneNote 2010 or later |
View mode |
Edit mode |
| Open XML (.one) |
Yes |
Yes |
| PowerPoint presentations created in PowerPoint 97 or later |
View mode |
Edit mode |
| Open XML (.pptx, .ppsx) |
Yes |
Yes |
| Binary (.ppt, .pps) |
Yes |
Converted to .pptx or .ppsx |
| Template (.pot, .potx) |
Yes |
No |
| Macro (.pptm, .potm, .ppam, .potx, .ppsm) |
Yes1 |
No |
| Add-ins (.ppa, .ppam) |
No |
No |
| OpenDocument (.odp) |
Yes |
Yes |
Note
1 Macros can't be run or changed.
2 If macros exist, users are prompted to save a copy of the file with the macros removed.
Note
Newer file formats (such as .docx, .xlsl, and .pptx) can be created in Office 2016, 2013, 2010, or 2007, or in Office 2000 and later with the compatibility pack.
Messaging
To stay informed of upcoming changes, including new and changed features, planned maintenance, or other important announcements, visit the Message Center. For more information, see Message center.
Licensing terms
For licensing terms and conditions for products and services purchased through Microsoft Commercial Volume Licensing Programs, see the Product Terms site.
Accessibility
Microsoft remains committed to the security of your data and the accessibility of our services. For more information, see the Microsoft Trust Center and the Office Accessibility Center.
Learn more
- When you open an Office document, either as an Outlook email attachment or from a SharePoint document library, the document will launch in Office for the web and will be read-only. To edit a document in Office for the web (edit mode), you need a suite license, such as Office 365 Enterprise E1.
- To edit a document in the desktop app, you need an Office desktop suite license, such as a Microsoft 365 Apps for enterprise subscription or an installed version of Office LTSC 2021.
- Microsoft Office Online Server on-premises customers get an Office for the web editing license if they have purchased an Office desktop suite license (such as an Office Professional Plus, Office Standard, or Microsoft 365 Apps for enterprise license). Microsoft 365 Apps for enterprise is a monthly subscription offer of the latest Office desktop suite.