What forever means with Office
A perpetual Office licence entitles you to permanent use of the version you bought. There is no expiry date, no shutdown, no recurring payment. In this sense, you can indeed buy Office forever: the software stays usable for as long as your device runs.
An honest limitation comes with it. Usable forever does not mean supplied with updates forever. Security updates are time-limited, for Office 2024 until October 2029, for Office 2021 until October 2026. After this date, Office keeps working but no longer receives updates. Use is therefore permanent, while update support is time-limited.
What you should keep in mind
- Perpetual licence instead of a subscription. Only the perpetual licence allows permanent use. A subscription ends when payment stops.
- Know the update period. Office 2024 with updates until 2029, Office 2021 until 2026. For long-term use, choose the current version.
- After updates end. Office stays usable. For security-critical business use, switching is then advisable.
- Transferable when changing hardware. The licence can be transferred to a new computer, provided it is uninstalled from the old one.