Licensing brief
Licensing Microsoft Office 365 ProPlus Subscription
Service in Commercial Licensing
April 2020
This brief applies to the Microsoft Licensing programs.
Contents
Summary.................................................................................................................................................................................................. 1
Details ....................................................................................................................................................................................................... 2
Per-User Microsoft Office Licensing ...................................................................................................................................... 2
Office 365 ProPlus activation options ................................................................................................................................... 2
Remote Access for Office365 ProPlus ................................................................................................................................... 3
Licensing Office Online Server ................................................................................................................................................. 3
Licensing Office 365 ProPlus for use with Windows To Go .......................................................................................... 4
Acquiring Office 365 ProPlus in Commercial Licensing ................................................................................................. 4
Online Services downgrade rights .......................................................................................................................................... 4
Frequently asked questions ............................................................................................................................................................. 4
Appendix: Microsoft Office as a subscription service ............................................................................................................ 6
Summary
This licensing brief addresses commonly asked questions about licensing Microsoft Office 365
ProPlus through Microsoft Commercial Licensing programs. This brief will help clarify the differences between use rights for Office 365 ProPlus acquired as a subscription service and Office acquired as a software product (Office 2019) under a desktop application license (typically, a perpetual license).
This brief only addresses questions about Office 365 ProPlus use rights. For more information on desktop application licenses for Office, see the Licensing Microsoft Office Software in Commercial
Licensing brief.
April 2020
Licensing Microsoft Office 365 ProPlus
Details
Per-User Microsoft Office Licensing
Office 365 ProPlus is productivity software (including Word, PowerPoint, Excel, Outlook, OneNote,
Publisher, Access, and Audio Services) that's installed on your desktop or laptop computer.
Office 365 ProPlus is a subscription service offering under the online services licensing model. It's licensed on a per user basis. Each Office 365 ProPlus User Subscription License (User SL) must be assigned to a single named user (Licensed User) before using the software. This differs from traditional Office installations (such as Office 2019) which are tied to Licensed Devices. The Office
365 ProPlus license allows Licensed Users to access Office experiences on PCs or Macs and on their mobile devices. The Licensed User may activate the software for local or remote use on up to five concurrent operating system environments (OSEs). Office 365 ProPlus licensing treats physical and virtual OSEs the same, so the five concurrent activations may be on five different devices or multiple OSEs on one device. These devices may include company managed device and employee personal devices. The Licensed User may also use the software activated by another user under a different User SL.
Each Licensed User may also access Office365 ProPlus remotely from any device, including thirdparty devices. This includes situations where you activate one of five copies of the software on a
