At a glance
Expert’s Rating
Pros
- Packed into compelling Office package
- Full of options
- Focus mode is fantastic
Cons
- So many tools it may overwhelm some
Our Verdict
Microsoft Word remains king of the word processors, and while it definitely has some stylistic choices that may push some away, it’s combination of affordability and flexibility make it tough to beat.
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If you’re of a certain age, Microsoft Word is likely to have been a cornerstone of your early computing life.
Before Google Docs and the like, many of us used Word, helping Microsoft’s word processor become a household name whether you enjoyed using it or not.
While it still has its quirks, Word is now better than it has ever been, and is rolled into an already compelling Office 365 suite that takes away the pain of expensive one-off licenses from yesteryear.
First Impressions
Whatever platform you use Word on, there’s a pleasing familiarity to it. I used it throughout all levels of education, and as a result, found it easy to get started – but others may be more than a little overwhelmed by the sheer volume of toolbars and icons (more on that a little later).
Still, once you’re in, Word can open just about document you throw at it – with the exception of Pages files which remain openable in, well, Pages. (Want to share a Pages document with a Word user? You will need to save your Pages file in the doc. file format. To do so, press click on File and you will see an option to Export to…. choose Word. Now click on Word and Save. If you are trying to open a Pages document in Word you will need to convert it using Pages, if you don’t have Pages to hand you can use Pages in iCloud.)
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As soon as you opt to pick a new document to open you’re presented with a whole host of templates that range from Calendars to notepads, journals and resumes, and you can open from Microsoft’s OneDrive cloud storage, too.
That brings us nicely to the integration with Office365. The rise of Google Docs and other cloud-based options means that buying a full word processor isn’t a pressing concern for many of us.
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Thankfully, the combined apps and services on offer with Microsoft Office 365 make it so you’ll probably find the value from somewhere, if not specifically Word. For one user it’s $99.99/£84.99 a year ($9.99/£8.49 a month) for Microsoft 265 Personal. Or for $129.99/£104.99 a year (or $12.99/£10.49 per month) you can get the Microsoft 365 Family edition with up to six licenses including Word, Excel, Powerpoint, Outlook and more.
However, if you only want to buy Word you can do that too. Microsoft sells a lifetime license of Word for $179.99/£159.99 (one device).
Word is also available for free with 5GB of cloud storage and a series of basic templates, too. See: How to get Word for free.
Microsoft Word features
As you might expect from Microsoft, Word has a fairly business-like appearance, with easy to read labels and tooltips on the huge variety of buttons it offers.
I’d still rather look at the more minimalist Pages interface, but Word on Mac does a good job of putting things in places your muscle memory knows to drift to.
You can share documents in real-time, too, with comment and highlighting functionality included, and as you can imagine it’s very easy to share via OneDrive or Outlook.
New in recent years is, as you may expect, AI integration. On the web comes in the form of Copilot which works a little like Apple’s own Apple Intelligence Writing tools, letting you write or rewrite with simple prompts, but in the Mac app it’s seemingly restricted to the Editor tool.
AI Editor: The Editor is included on the Mac version of Word, but Copilot isn’t.
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It’s fine, and feels like the way the world is moving, but it really just operates as a quick checklist of potential grammar mistakes and a rudimentary plagiarism check.
My favourite feature is the Focus mode that helps you zoom in with minimal distractions. I tend to work on articles in Draft for its simpler view, but this is definitely something I can see myself coming back to for longer pieces.
Focus Mode: Focus Mode is a great way to minimise distractions and get work done.
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Microsoft Word annoyances
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Microsoft Word’s only real negative is just how chock-full of options it is. Just look at the toolbar in the screenshot above, for example – there are buttons everywhere, and then there’s the menu bar, too.
If you’re used to it, or you genuinely do find yourself using a lot of those features, you’ll have no issues here. But, as Microsoft shoehorns more AI features into its Office apps, it could end up getting more and more complex.
Should you buy Word for Mac?
Interface issues aside, Microsoft Word is a full-featured word processor that runs well on Mac, has an excellent ecosystem of sibling apps, and can be used for free. If you’ve not tried it for a while, it might just surprise you.
