Microsoft Word hits 1 billion installs on Google Play

What you need to know

  • Microsoft Word reached 1 billion installations on Android over the weekend.
  • Several other Microsoft apps have over 500 million installations.
  • Microsoft has dozens of apps on Android.

Microsoft Word reached over 1 billion installations on Android over the weekend. Microsoft's flagship document editor is arguably Microsoft's greatest success story on Android. With over 1 billion downloads, Microsoft Word is one of the most used productivity apps on the platform.

Microsoft has continued to push Office on Android along with other apps like Your Phone, Microsoft Edge, and Microsoft Teams. The shift has helped Microsoft stay relevant in the mobile space despite the death of Windows 10 Mobile. Microsoft has similar efforts on iOS in an effort to have its services available to as many users as possible.

Some around the web have pointed out that Microsoft Office comes preinstalled on many Android phones in an effort to discount Word's milestone of 1 billion installations. While it is true that Microsoft's Office applications come preinstalled on many devices, the fact that Word recently hit 1 billion installations and other Office apps like Excel have "only" hit 500 million shows that quite a few users have downloaded Word from the Google Play Store.

It is worth pointing out that an installation does not equal an exact user. Some users will download Word on devices using different Microsoft accounts and there are other ways that an installation doesn't equate to a unique user. But regardless of preinstallation statistics and any duplicate installations, this is an accomplishment for Microsoft. Android is by far the largest mobile platform on Earth, and Microsoft's efforts to push Office to these devices has proven successful.

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Sean Endicott
News Writer and apps editor

Sean Endicott brings nearly a decade of experience covering Microsoft and Windows news to Windows Central. He joined our team in 2017 as an app reviewer and now heads up our day-to-day news coverage. If you have a news tip or an app to review, hit him up at sean.endicott@futurenet.com.