How to Set Up Microsoft 365 Family and Share It with Loved Ones

Microsoft 365 Family (formerly called Office 365 Home) is a subscription that gives you access to Microsoft's most popular apps — Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, and more — installed on up to five devices per person. One subscription covers up to six people in your household or family, each with their own separate account. The subscription also includes 1 terabyte of OneDrive cloud storage per person, which is a huge amount of space for documents, photos, and files.

At roughly $100 per year (as of 2026), Microsoft 365 Family works out to a very reasonable price when split among several family members. Compare that to buying the software outright, which used to cost hundreds of dollars and quickly became outdated. With a subscription, you always have the latest version.

The subscription is valuable even if you only need Word for writing letters, Excel for tracking finances, or Outlook for managing email. Having the full Microsoft Office apps installed means you can open, edit, and save documents in the formats that businesses, doctors' offices, government agencies, and schools use — which matters when someone sends you a form to fill out or a document to review.

OneDrive, the included cloud storage, works like a backup drive in the sky. Files you save to OneDrive are accessible from any device and are automatically backed up. If your computer stops working, your files are safe and retrievable.

Microsoft 365 Family requires a Microsoft account to set up and manage. If you have ever used Hotmail, Outlook.com, or Xbox, you already have a Microsoft account. New accounts are free to create.