Microsoft Office 2013 SP1 for Windows

Microsoft Office 2013 is a version of Microsoft's office suite for Windows, released on 29 January 2013, with Service Pack 1 as its last major update. Microsoft ended support on 11 April 2023, so before you look for an Office 2013 download for Windows, check whether it still fits your situation.

Who it still suits

Office 2013 makes sense in a narrow set of cases. If you bought a licence years ago, have the product key and use the PC mostly offline for your own documents, the suite still opens and edits Word, Excel and PowerPoint files in the modern formats. Some offices keep it on machines that run a single legacy add-in or macro that was never updated for newer versions. It also runs on older systems: Wikidata lists Windows 7, Windows 8, Windows RT and Windows 10, plus server editions. For everyone else, and especially for anyone who reads mail and opens attachments from outside, the suite is a poor choice today. Since support ended, security holes in Word, Excel and Outlook are no longer fixed, and old Office versions are a regular target of malicious documents. The last listed build, 15.0.5371.1000, came out on 10 August 2021, and no fixes will follow.

What was new in Office 2013

This version gave Office its flat, cleaner look and a stronger link to OneDrive, with documents saved to the cloud by default. Excel gained Flash Fill, which fills columns by recognising a pattern, and Quick Analysis for instant charts and formatting; Microsoft's What's new in Excel 2013 article lists more. Word added Read Mode and could edit PDF files after converting them.

Can you still install it?

Microsoft no longer sells Office 2013. The official Office 2013 page now points to current products. If your copy is linked to a Microsoft account, sign in to your account page and check the services and subscriptions section for the reinstall option. Do not use installers from unofficial sites: pirated Office packages are a common way to spread malware.

Moving to a supported version

1. Back up documents and export Outlook data to a PST file.
2. Uninstall Office 2013 through Settings, then Apps.
3. Install Microsoft 365 or a free suite.
4. Open your files: docx, xlsx and pptx work without conversion.

Requirements and size

Office 2013 runs on Windows 7, 8 and 10. The package is about 774.04 MB according to catalogue data.

Price

Office 2013 was sold as a one-time licence; the catalogue lists it as a demo. Its successor, Microsoft 365, is a subscription, while LibreOffice and WPS Office offer free alternatives.

Pros and cons

• Pro: one-time licence, no subscription.
• Pro: Flash Fill and Quick Analysis in Excel.
• Pro: runs on older Windows systems.
• Con: no security updates since end of support.
• Con: not sold by Microsoft any more.
• Con: cloud features depend on old services.

Alternatives

The official successor is Microsoft 365 Office. Free suites on our site include LibreOffice and WPS Office, Google Sheets works in the browser, and Microsoft Word, Microsoft Excel and Microsoft PowerPoint are available separately.