Office 2024 Professional Plus is Microsoft's newest one-time-purchase Office suite. It brings 14 new Excel functions, pictures inside cells, a live camera feed in PowerPoint, a built-in Recording Studio, smarter Outlook search and automatic session recovery in Word. If you still run Office 2021, the timing matters too: Microsoft ended all support for Office 2021 on October 13, 2026.
Should You Upgrade from Office 2021 to Office 2024?
Yes, for most users. Office 2021 stopped receiving security updates on October 13, 2026, and Microsoft has confirmed there are no Extended Security Updates. Office 2024 Professional Plus is supported until October 9, 2029, adds useful new features in Excel, PowerPoint, Word and Outlook, and is still a one-time purchase with no subscription.
Your Office 2021 apps will keep opening after the deadline. What stops is the flow of security fixes, so every vulnerability found after that date stays open. For a PC that handles email attachments and shared documents every day, that risk grows month by month. Microsoft explains the details on its Office 2021 end of support page.
Top 10 Office 2024 Professional Plus Features
These are the changes you will notice most in day-to-day work, based on Microsoft's official What's new in Office 2024 list.
1. A Fresh, Modern Look Across Every App
Office 2024 uses a new default theme built on Microsoft's Fluent Design principles. Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, OneNote and Access now share a cleaner, more consistent interface. It is designed to look its best on Windows 11 while still improving the experience on Windows 10.
Why it matters: less visual clutter and a consistent layout mean less time hunting for commands when you switch between apps.
2. 14 New Text and Array Functions in Excel
Excel 2024 adds 14 functions for splitting text and reshaping data: TEXTBEFORE, TEXTAFTER, TEXTSPLIT, VSTACK, HSTACK, TOROW, TOCOL, WRAPROWS, WRAPCOLS, TAKE, DROP, CHOOSEROWS, CHOOSECOLS and EXPAND.
Why it matters: jobs that used to need a long nested formula or Power Query now take one function. For example, =TEXTSPLIT(A2," ") splits a full name into separate cells, and =VSTACK(Jan!A2:C50,Feb!A2:C50) combines two monthly sheets into one list. These functions are not available in Office 2021.
3. Pictures Inside Cells with the IMAGE Function
You can now place pictures directly inside Excel cells, either by pasting them or by using the new IMAGE function to pull an image from a web address. Because the picture belongs to the cell, it stays with its row when you sort, filter or resize a table.
Why it matters: product catalogues, stock lists and staff directories finally keep their photos lined up with the right data.
4. Dynamic Charts and Faster Workbooks
Charts in Excel 2024 can reference dynamic arrays, so they update automatically when a formula result grows or shrinks, instead of being fixed to a set number of data points. Microsoft has also improved speed and stability when several workbooks with independent calculations are open at once.
Why it matters: dashboards stay accurate without manually resizing chart ranges, and heavy multi-workbook sessions hang less often.
5. Present with Cameo in PowerPoint
Cameo places your live camera feed directly on a slide. You can resize it, crop it and apply the same styles, effects and transitions you use on pictures.
Why it matters: for online meetings and training, your audience sees you and your content together, in a layout you control.
6. Recording Studio for Video Presentations
Recording Studio lets you record a whole presentation or a single slide, capturing your voice, ink annotations and camera video, then export the result as a video file.
Why it matters: you can build training videos, product demos and course lessons inside PowerPoint without separate screen-recording software.
7. Closed Captions for Video and Audio
PowerPoint 2024 can add closed captions or subtitles to the video and audio files in your presentation. You can also embed Microsoft Stream (on SharePoint) videos.
Why it matters: captions make your slides usable for people with hearing impairments, viewers in noisy places and audiences who speak a different language.
8. Smarter Search and Meeting Options in Outlook
Outlook 2024 search now surfaces the most relevant messages, attachments, contacts and calendar entries as you type. When scheduling, you can set meetings to end early or start late automatically, creating short breaks between back-to-back calls.
Why it matters: finding an old invoice or thread takes seconds, and your calendar builds in breathing room without manual editing.
9. Automatic Session Recovery in Word
If Word 2024 closes unexpectedly before you save, it reopens every document you had open when it restarts, so you can continue where you left off.
Why it matters: a crash or forced Windows update no longer means losing a morning's work across several documents.
10. Accessibility Ribbon and Photos from Your Phone
The Professional Plus (LTSC) edition adds an improved Accessibility ribbon in Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Outlook that gathers the tools for checking and fixing accessibility issues in one place. You can also insert photos from an Android phone straight into Word, Excel and PowerPoint, without emailing them to yourself first.
Why it matters: accessible documents are increasingly required by public-sector clients, and moving photos from phone to document becomes a one-step job.
Also Improved in Office 2024
Smaller changes round out the release: support for OpenDocument Format (ODF) 1.4 in Word, Excel and PowerPoint; a Like reaction and new-comment indicator in Word and PowerPoint; faster, more customisable inking on the OneNote Draw tab; and a Dataverse connector that lets Access connect its data to Microsoft Power Platform.
Office 2021 vs Office 2024 Professional Plus: Side-by-Side
| Feature | Office 2021 Pro Plus | Office 2024 Pro Plus |
|---|---|---|
| Microsoft security updates | Ended October 13, 2026 | Until October 9, 2029 |
| Licence type | One-time purchase | One-time purchase |
| Excel TEXTSPLIT, VSTACK and 12 more functions | No | Yes |
| Pictures in cells (IMAGE function) | No | Yes |
| Dynamic array charts | No | Yes |
| PowerPoint Cameo and Recording Studio | No | Yes |
| Closed captions in PowerPoint | No | Yes |
| Word session recovery | No | Yes |
| ODF format support | ODF 1.3 | ODF 1.4 |
| Microsoft Publisher | Included (retired October 2026) | Not included |
What's Included in Office 2024 Professional Plus?
Office LTSC Professional Plus 2024 includes Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, OneNote and Access for Windows. Skype for Business is available as an optional install. Office 2024 is available in 32-bit and 64-bit versions, and Microsoft recommends 64-bit on PCs with 4 GB of RAM or more.
It does not include Microsoft Publisher, Microsoft Teams or Copilot AI features, which belong to Microsoft 365 subscriptions. If you don't need Access and want a licence that also covers a Mac, Office 2024 Home & Business for PC/Mac is the better fit.
Who Should Upgrade Now, and Who Can Wait?
Upgrade now if you run Office 2021 on a business PC, handle client files or email attachments daily, or rely on Excel for reporting. Losing security updates is the main risk, and the new Excel functions pay off quickly for anyone who works with data.
You can wait briefly if the PC is offline or used for occasional personal documents. Plan the move anyway, because unpatched Office apps become a bigger target over time.
A common issue we see is businesses upgrading Office but forgetting the standalone apps. Visio 2021 and Project 2021 lose support on the same day, so check them too: Visio 2024 Professional and Project 2024 Professional are the supported replacements.
How to Upgrade from Office 2021 to Office 2024
- Save your work and note any Outlook account settings you use.
- Uninstall Office 2021 from Settings > Apps > Installed apps. Your documents and Outlook data files stay on the PC.
- Restart the PC.
- Download Office 2024 Professional Plus using the link in your order email and run the installer.
- Open Word or Excel and enter your product key when asked to activate.
Our step-by-step Office Professional Plus installation guide shows the same installer screens and activation steps in detail.
Frequently Asked Questions
When did Office 2021 support end?
Office 2021 and Office LTSC 2021 reached end of support on October 13, 2026. Microsoft does not offer Extended Security Updates. The apps keep working but receive no further security fixes, bug fixes or technical support.
How long is Office 2024 supported?
Office 2024 and Office LTSC 2024 are supported until October 9, 2029, giving you about three more years of security updates than Office 2021.
Is Office 2024 a subscription?
No. Office 2024 Professional Plus is a one-time purchase for one PC. It does not require a monthly or yearly fee, but it also does not receive new features after release, unlike Microsoft 365.
Does Office 2024 include Copilot?
No. Copilot features are part of Microsoft 365 subscriptions and are not included in Office 2024 or Office LTSC 2024.
Can I keep my Office 2021 files after upgrading?
Yes. Office 2024 opens all Office 2021 documents, workbooks and presentations, and uninstalling Office 2021 does not delete your files.
The Bottom Line
Office 2024 Professional Plus is a practical upgrade rather than a radical one, but the combination of new Excel functions, PowerPoint recording tools, Word session recovery and three more years of security support makes it the sensible move now that Office 2021 support ended on October 13, 2026.
Get your Office 2024 Professional Plus license key with instant email delivery, a 30-day money-back guarantee and a lifetime replacement warranty.
Useful Links
| Resource | Link |
|---|---|
| Office 2024 Professional Plus key | Buy Office 2024 Professional Plus |
| Office for PC and Mac | Office 2024 Home & Business |
| Diagramming | Visio 2024 Professional |
| Project management | Project 2024 Professional |
| Installation help | Office Pro Plus install guide |
| Official feature list | Microsoft: What's new in Office 2024 |
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