Standalone Office applications — Visio, Project, Word, Excel, Outlook, Access, PowerPoint and Publisher — are licensed separately from the Office suite. They install on their own and sit alongside an existing Office or Microsoft 365 installation without conflict, which is usually why people buy them.

You do not need Office installed first

A common misconception. A standalone Visio or Project licence installs and activates entirely on its own — there is no requirement for Word or Excel to be present. Equally, if you already run Office or Microsoft 365, adding a standalone app does not disturb it. Visio and Project are never included in any Office suite, not even Professional Plus, which is precisely why they are sold separately.

Step 1 — Download the correct installer

Use the link in your delivery email. Standalone apps have their own installers, and it matters that you use the right one: a Visio Professional key will not activate a Visio Standard installation. The link we send matches the exact edition you bought.

Step 2 — Install alongside your existing Office

Run the installer and let it finish. If you already have Office installed, one thing is worth knowing: mixing installation technologies can cause problems. If your existing Office is a Click-to-Run installation and the standalone app uses MSI, the second install may refuse. If you hit that, the delivery email tells you which build to use, or message us and we will send the matching installer.

Step 3 — Activate

Open the newly installed application. It will prompt for a product key — enter the 25-character key from your email, pasting rather than typing where possible. Confirm afterwards through File → Account, where Product Information should name the edition and show it as activated.

Which edition do you actually need?

For both Visio and Project, the choice is Standard or Professional. Standard covers the core feature set most people use; Professional adds advanced capabilities aimed at larger or more technical work. The honest test: if you cannot name a Professional-only feature you intend to use, Standard is the sensible buy and the saving is real. Each product page lists exactly what its edition includes.

If something goes wrong

Send your order number and the exact error message. The most common causes are an edition mismatch, a conflicting installation technology, or a leftover trial. All three are fixable, and every order carries our 180-day money-back guarantee.

Browse Office application licences, including Visio and Project.