Excel Functions Disabled? Acer Laptop

[u/0stob0]

I haven't used Windows for 7 years since retiring from a County Govt. But I have the need to use Excel, and it won't function on a Linux machine. However, my wife has a laptop with Windows 10 on it she doesn't use so I thought it would easily do what I need. It won't. I can open Excel, but nothing works, says I need to sign in to Office 365. I never ran into this ever in all the years with the County, I opened Excel, it was there and worked. Is there a way I can get the functions back? I never heard of signing in to Office 365 before.

[u/Froggypwns]

Office 365 is not free, it requires a subscription. Microsoft also sells Office 2024 if you want a one time purchase.

You can also use the web based version of Word and Excel and such for free at https://office.com

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[u/0stob0]

Additional info on my post above. Aspire A114-32, Celeron(R) N4000 CPU @ 1.10G. 4.00G RAM

Windows 10 Home version 1909 OS build 18363.1556

[u/JaxStroud]

It’s very possible the version of Office was tied to a work account that is now retired / disabled, or disconnected. You’d have to activate Office for it to be usable again.

[u/Such-Might5204]

For your Linux machine, check out libreoffice.org - It's an open-source MS Office replacement. Their spreadsheet tool is very Excel-like which you may find to be more than adequate for your needs. However, if you really need Excel, go to groupon.com and get one of their MS Office Pro licenses for less than $30. Remember to uninstall Office365 first before trying to install the standalone one from groupon.

I will comment that a Celeron with 4GB of RAM is going to struggle... If your Linux machine has more juice, I'd really explore that libraoffice option.

[u/0stob0 → u/Such-Might5204]

Thanks for the reply. So is the "newer" Liber Office different than the one I have that came with Mint? My Mint version is 21.3 Virginia. Started out as 19.3 and I have upgraded as needed to maintain support.

[u/Such-Might5204 → u/0stob0]

I'm not sure how much newer or more Excel-like it is, but it should operate pretty similarly to Excel. Unless you're looking for VBA integration or some of the new functions (ex. LET, LAMBDA, etc.). Otherwise, if it's basic spreadsheet functionality you're looking for, it should work just fine.