Microsoft Office 2024 is now available for consumers and small businesses. It includes fixed versions of Word, Excel, PowerPoint, OneNote, and Outlook for Mac and PC.
This new release brings many previously available updates to Microsoft 365 subscribers. The last standalone version was released in 2021, and Office 2024 offers improvements to core apps, accessibility, and the user interface.
It features a new default theme with Microsoft's latest Fluent Design principles, matching the visual changes in Windows 11. Additionally, Microsoft has added accessibility improvements to help users identify potential issues in documents, slideshows, workbooks, and emails.
The most significant changes in Office 2024 are in Excel, PowerPoint, and Outlook.
In Excel, Microsoft added new functions to use text and arrays in worksheets, plus a new IMAGE function to pull pictures from the web. Excel 2024 can now reference Dynamic Arrays in charts, which update automatically. Microsoft claims Excel 2024 is faster and more stable.
PowerPoint now has a cameo feature to insert a live camera feed into slides. It also includes a new recording studio for narration, animations, transitions, and inking. You can add closed captions or subtitles to videos and audio files, making presentations more accessible.
Outlook 2024 has improved the search for more relevant results in messages, attachments, contacts, and calendar entries. It also offers more meeting options, like automatically shortening them.
In Word, Excel, and PowerPoint, you can now insert a picture easily from an Android mobile device. Microsoft is also supporting version 1.4 of the OpenDocument format (ODF), which includes a variety of new improvements. Word and PowerPoint also allow you to like and react to comments in documents.
Word 2024 users can recover their sessions if their PC crashes. Word will automatically reopen all documents you had opened before the crash, power loss, or unexpected closure. OneNote 2024 users will get a new inking and drawing experience.
Microsoft says Office 2024 will need a Microsoft account and an internet connection. Like Office 2021, you'll only need the internet to install, activate, and get security updates. Office 2024 will run on Windows 10 and 11 and the three latest macOS versions.
Office 2024 comes in two editions. Office Home 2024, priced at $149.99, includes Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and OneNote for PC or Mac. For Outlook, you'll need the $249.99 Office Home and Business 2024 version, which also allows commercial use.