What is Office LTSC 2021?

• Posted on 27 March 2023
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Office LTSC 2021 is the most recently released version of the Office edition together with Office 2021. Microsoft released the two licenses in October 2021. While Office LTSC 2021 is mainly used by businesses and governments, Office 2021 is a great solution for private users. In this article, you can read more about Microsoft Office LTSC 2021, the applications the license includes and what versions are available.

What is Office LTSC 2021?

Office LTSC 2021 is a business package containing several Office applications depending on the version. Office 2021 is the most recent and up to date edition. LTSC stands for Long Term Service Channel, meaning that Microsoft will support this license for a longer time than they usually do. Office 2021 LTSC includes the following applications: Word, Excel, OneNote, PowerPoint, Outlook, Access and Publisher. Keep in mind that Microsoft Access and Microsoft Publisher can only be used on Windows. The application set varies according to the Office bundle as you can see further in this article. Office LTSC 2021 is compatible with both Windows 10 and Windows 11. Since Office LTSC 2021 is a perpetual license, you can use it for unlimited time.

What's new in Office LTSC 2021 and Office 2021?

Below you can find some of the new and most important functions added to Office 2021:

• Dark mode. You can choose between using Microsoft in light mode and dark mode. Duo te its success on social media platforms such as Twitter and Instagram, dark mode is slowly becoming the norm. This is why you now have the choice to set up your Office with a dark theme to protect your eyes, for example.
• XLOOKUP in Excel. This new function in Excel facilitates the easier search and find of data, such as a specific function.
• Automatic save. You can use autosave through a OneDrive subscription. This way, your documents will be saved automatically while you are editing and working.
• Improved search bar. With the improved Office search bar, you can more easily and intuitively find whatever you are searching for.
• Stock photos library
• Accessibility improvements
• Performance improvements

What are the differences between Office LTSC 2021 and Office 2021?

The main difference between Office 2021 and Office 2021 LTSC, is the target audience. Office 2021 is mainly used by small businesses and individuals. Office LTSC 2021 is mainly used by governments, bigger businesses and for commercial use. Next to that, another difference is the co-authoring documents feature. This feature is included in Office 2021, but not in Office LTSC 2021. Another feature that is only in Office 2021 and not in the LTSC version, is the Visual Refresh. This is a feature that includes a Quick Access Toolbar, and also a new Office theme, matching your Windows theme. The available versions you can acquire from each edition are also a point of difference between Office 2021 and Office 2021 LTSC. For LTSC there are only 2: Standard and Professional Plus. For Office 2021 there are 5 versions available: Home & Student, Home & Business, Standard, Professional and Professional Plus. This means that Office 2021 offers you a wider variety of packages than Office LTSC 2021.

Read more about Microsoft Office 2021

Read more about Office 2021 Home & Student, Home & Business and Professional

Office LTSC 2021: versions

The 2 versions you can acquire from Office 2021 LTSC are Office LTSC Professional Plus 2021 and Office LTSC Standard 2021. Below you can find which applications are included in each version.

Applications in Office LTSC 2021:

• Office LTSC Standard 2021 includes: PowerPoint, Word, Excel, OneNote, Publisher and Outlook.
• Office LTSC Professional Plus 2021 includes: the same applications as Standard, with the addition of Access and Teams.

The support end dates for Office LTSC 2021:

Unlike previously, both Office versions have the same end date for their Microsoft support. The end date for security- and update-related support is on the 13th of October 2026. From this day on, your Office license will not be receiving any sort of updates or security updates, however it remains usable, since it is a perpetual license.

Can you use Office LTSC 2021 on Mac?

Yes, it is possible to use Office LTSC 2021 on Mac. As mentioned earlier, however, Access and Publisher can only be used on Windows, as they are not compatible with Mac.

What should you do: Migrate to Microsoft 365 or upgrade to Office LTSC 2021?

If you are doubting between purchasing Microsoft 365 or Office 2021 LTSC, the first thing you could do is look at the license type. Office LTSC 2021 is a perpetual license, whereas Microsoft 365 is subscription-based. Office LTSC 2021 is a one-time purchase while Microsoft 365 is a subscription that must be renewed on a monthly or yearly basis. At first, Office LTSC 2021 seems more expensive, but after few months or years, it turns out to be cheaper than the subscription, which is Microsoft 365. The choice between the two heavily depends on your license requirements and frequency of use.

Read more about the differences between Office 2021 vs Microsoft 365

Summary:

• Besides a few different functions, there are no big differences between Office 2021 and Office 2021 LTSC.
• Co-authoring documents and Visual Refresh are only available in Office 2021.
• Office LTSC 2021 is a version of Office 2021 which is mainly used by governments and businesses.
• Apart from Publisher and Access, Office LTSC 2021 can be used on Mac.
• Microsoft 365 is subscription-based, while Office (LTSC) 2021 is a one-time purchase.