Can I install both Microsoft 365 and Office 2021 on the same computer in different user profiles

Charles Kenyon 171.3K Reputation points Volunteer Moderator
2023-09-17T07:47:35+00:00

I have both, and regularly answer questions here in the Word forum. My laptop with 365 just died and I would like to be able to access both on one machine, even if I have to switch users.

I know that I can't have both on the same computer with the same user.

Microsoft 365 and Office | Install, redeem, activate | For home | Windows

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  1. Anonymous
    2023-09-17T10:11:59+00:00

    Hi Charles, Welcome to the Microsoft Community. I am a Microsoft user just like you, and I hope you are well.

    Please note: This is a user-to-user community forum. We are users just like you who help others. We are not employees of Microsoft.

    Yes, you can install both Microsoft 365 (formerly known as Office 365) and Office 2021 on the same computer, even with different user profiles. These are separate installations and can coexist on the same machine without conflicts.

    I hope this helps! Let me know if you have any other questions.

    Best Regards, Umar Majeed

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  2. Charles Kenyon 171.3K Reputation points Volunteer Moderator
    2023-09-18T04:51:20+00:00

    So are you telling me that I can have the desktop applications from Office 2021 Pro and from Microsoft 365 coexist on a computer, even with the same user profile? I'm skeptical but am willing to try.

    Microsoft's AI gives the following response which is closer to what I think of as reality.

    Yes, you can install both Microsoft 365 and Office 2021 on the same computer in different user profiles. However, you cannot have both installed on the same user profile. You will need to create a separate user profile for each installation. Once you have created the separate user profiles, you can switch between them to access the different installations of Microsoft Office.

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  3. Diane Poremsky MVP 17,621 Reputation points MVP Volunteer Moderator
    2023-09-20T02:59:52+00:00

    I think you will have problems in the second profile too since they share the same program files -each side will install updates to override the other side. A virtual machine is a better option.

    Try it report back in a couple of weeks. :)

    BTW... AI lies. :))

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  4. Anonymous
    2023-09-20T04:22:55+00:00

    Hello Charles,

    Thank you for reaching out to this forum. As a fellow Microsoft user, I'm here and ready to help you out today.

    Apologies for the confusion. If you have a Microsoft 365 subscription or non-subscription version such as Office Home and Business 2021, 2019, 2016 or 2013, in most cases you can't run these versions together on the same computer.

    But if you're trying to install on different user profile, it should work fine.

    Please verify the details in below link. https://support.microsoft.com/office/6ebb44ce-18a3-43f9-a187-b78c513788bf

    Best Regards, Ravikumar

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  5. Charles Kenyon 171.3K Reputation points Volunteer Moderator
    2023-09-21T04:07:10+00:00

    I think you will have problems in the second profile too since they share the same program files -each side will install updates to override the other side. A virtual machine is a better option.

    Try it report back in a couple of weeks. :)

    BTW... AI lies. :))

    I've got plenty of disk space and RAM.

    Where would be a good spot to look for information on a virtual machine.

    I am using Windows 11.

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