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Microsoft Office

As CUNY students, all Macaulay students are entitled to a free download of the Microsoft Office suite of software, including Word, Excel, Powerpoint, and more. If you came across a problem while downloading Microsoft Office during your GRWMacaulay workshop, try the possible solutions below.

You can download Microsoft Excel, Powerpoint, and Word on your computer.

Do you know your CUNYfirst login?

You’ll use your CUNYfirst username and password to download Microsoft Office. If you didn’t know this info at the time of your GRWMacaulay workshop, use the below information to help.

If you never set up a CUNYfirst account, go to this page and click “New User” (underneath the “Log In” button). Follow the steps, and take note of your username and password.

By default, your username format is firstname.lastname##@login.cuny.edu — the ## represents the last two digits of your EMPLID, which you can find on your school ID and in official communications from CUNY.

If you already set up your CUNYfirst account, but don’t know your password, go to this page and click “Forgot Password” (underneath the “Log In” button) and follow the steps.

Once you’ve got your CUNYfirst username and password, try following the below steps.

The Steps

Note: These are the same steps that were used during your GRWMacaulay workshop.

  1. Go to this site.
  2. Do not click on “Microsoft Office 365 for Education,” because some campuses limit access to this.
  3. Instead, scroll down a bit and click on “Microsoft Office 365 ProPlus.”
  4. It will prompt you to log in using your CUNYfirst credentials, described above.
  5. Once you’ve logged in, click the button on the page that says either “Install Office” or “Install Apps,” and select the software that you’d like to install. It should download automatically; just follow the on-screen steps.

Troubleshooting

Even with your CUNYfirst credentials, things can still go awry!

If you get a message about not having been assigned a license that includes the apps, please try the steps below.  (regardless of your campus).

Follow all the steps carefully! If these steps don’t work, you will have to contact your campus helpdesk.  We’re sorry for any confusion about this process!  Macaulay does not provide these licenses or authorize them, so we are dependent on CUNY and the campuses for assistance.

This seems to be working for some students. Give this a try if you have trouble:

Follow all steps carefully!

  1. Pull these instructions up on your phone or another device. You’re going to log out of everything on your computer shortly, so in order to refer to these steps, you should read them on a different device.
  2. Log out of everything on the laptop. Go to www.office.com and make sure you’re signed out, and go to mail.office365.com and make sure you’re signed out.
  3. Shut down your browser. (On a mac, click the browser’s name, then click “Quit.” On a PC, click X on the browser or close it using Task Manager.)
  4. Restart your computer.
  5. Open your browser of choice. Then, open an incognito window in that browser. (In Safari, go to File > New Private Window. In Firefox, go to File > New Private Window. In Chrome, go to File > New Incognito Window.)
  6. In that incognito window, go to https://www.cuny.edu/about/administration/offices/cis/technology-services/.
  7. Scroll down to “Microsoft Office 365 ProPlus” and click it.
  8. Log in with your CUNYfirst credentials.
  9. Click “Install Office.”

If this works, great! If not, then…

  1. Close this incognito window.
  2. Open a new incognito window.
  3. In that incognito window, go to https://www.cuny.edu/about/administration/offices/cis/technology-services/.
  4. Scroll down to “Microsoft Office 365 ProPlus” and click it.
  5. On the sign-in screen, try signing in with your campus credentials, not your CUNYfirst credentials.
  6. If you are able to sign in this way, try clicking “Install Office.”

If this works, good! If not, then…

  1. Close this incognito window.
  2. Open a new incognito window.
  3. In that incognito window, go to www.office.com
  4. Click “Sign in” (not “Get Office”)
  5. Enter your campus email address and password
  6. Once you’re signed in, at the upper-right corner of the page should be either your name or your initials. Click that.
  7. A dropdown menu should appear with the option “My Account.” Click that.
  8. From this page, there should be a tab called “Office apps.” Click that.
  9. There should be a section called “Office apps & devices,” with a button or link saying “Install Office.” Click that.

If this STILL doesn’t work…

Sorry! You might be on a campus where IT is not activating the licenses until classes actually begin.  Be patient, and give the process another try on the second or third day of the semester.  It should work then. If not, then it’s off to the campus helpdesk you go.