Which version of Office or 365 do I need?

Question

Which version of Office or 365 do I need?

Steve Tayler 45

I'm replacing a Win 10 desktop with a version of Office Home and Business from 10 years ago! I have a new Win 11 laptop and have been sold MS 365 Personal. The hardware - great. The software - I think I have the wrong version, and my research tells me the options are numerous, and I could really use some advice.

Our current setup, which I want to replicate, is an admin user to do all the installing, and my wife and I with separate local ids. We have network storage, and share Word and Excel files as well as having our own. We have our own e-mail addresses, and our own e-mail stores.

Outlook means Office Home and Business rather than Office Home, and any version of 365 would be fine. Two separate e-mail stores is the issue. Previously our Office 2016 registered to and installed by my Microsoft account has had 2 different stores of mail, both storing e-mail from different non-MS accounts. I find I cannot now create a store for a user without an MS registered account. Do I have to register accounts from our e-mail provider as MS accounts? Can I continue to have 2 separate e-mail accounts with a single user personal version of MS software?And the crucial question - which versions of Office or 365 would let me have the same 2 user setup with our own personal stores? I'd be really grateful if someone on the forum could steer me the way the shop should have.

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Answer 1

To replicate your previous setup with separate email stores and separate user identities for you and your wife, you should use Microsoft 365 Family or a perpetual license like Office Home & Business. MS 365 Personal only supports one user profile.

The short answer to your question is no, you cannot easily run two separate email stores under a single Microsoft 365 Personal subscription. That version is licensed for exactly one person. Your email provider accounts do not need to be Microsoft-registered emails to set up stores in Outlook. However, a Personal subscription will only let you configure one primary set of Office credentials on the machine.

Microsoft 365 Family is likely the best option for your specific situation. This version covers up to six users. You can purchase and own the subscription as the administrator. Then, you send a sharing invite to your wife’s personal Microsoft account. Once she accepts, you both get separate Outlook setups, separate document stores, and one terabyte of individual cloud storage.

Office Home & Business 2024 is your other viable option. If you prefer a one-time purchase without monthly or yearly subscription fees, this version of Office allows for Outlook use. It is licensed for use across one computer. You would just need to set up your two different Windows User accounts on the laptop to keep your email stores separate.

The shop should have steered you toward Microsoft 365 Family if you wanted the benefits of regular feature updates. If you prefer to own your Office software permanently without a subscription, they should have sold you Office Home & Business.

To fix this, you should contact the retailer to return or exchange the Microsoft 365 Personal license. Once you have the right software, you can continue using your two local Windows user IDs. You will still be able to save your shared Word and Excel files to your network storage just like you always did.

If the above response helps answer your question, remember to "Accept Answer" so that others in the community facing similar issues can easily find the solution. Your contribution is highly appreciated.

hth

Marcin

Steve Tayler 45 Reputation points

2026-06-21T14:30:51.0433333+00:00

Thanks Marcin. You've clearly understood the problem, and your advice is clear!

The only bit you did not explicitly cover is the separate admin id, but I can send sharing invites to both myself and my wife from the installing id.