Essential Office

Description:


Fully featured Word Processor, Spreadsheet, Diagram Creator, Calendar and PDF viewer - all in one simple to use application, perfect for those with only basic needs without the cost of buying Microsoft Office

Compatible with Word (.doc/.docx) and Excel (.xls/.xlsx) documents from Office 97-2024

Support for Windows 10/11 Dark Mode

Multilingual user interface - as well as the default English (EN), also supports French (FR), German (DE), Hungarian (HU) and Spanish (ES)

Screenshots:

Purchase:

Click the button below to purchase from the Microsoft Store

Price:

£2.99

Version History:
10/04/14
v1.0 Initial release
17/04/14 v1.1 Bug fixes
09/08/14 v1.2 Bug fixes and added insert/overtype mode
04/08/15 v1.3 Various internal updates and fixes
26/10/16 v2.0
Fully updated with new user interface, and now includes diagram creator and map components
11/01/18 v2.1 Various internal updates and fixes, and new installer
27/08/19 v2.2 Multiple fixes and updates to dependencies, new map features added
30/11/19 v2.3 Major update of components with lots of new features in Word Processor, Spreadsheet and Diagram Creator
09/10/21 v2.4 Updated core components
Maps functionality removed
19/08/23 v2.5 Updated core components
Various bug fixes and code improvements
Now runs as 64-bit on supported devices to improve performance
Export now supports tagged (accessible) PDF for screen readers and other assistive technologies
New settings pane for Spreadsheet print preview
Add picture or text watermarks to Word Processor documents
New Shrink to Fit alignment option in Spreadsheet automatically reduces text size to fit a cell
Rotated text support in Word Processor table cells
29/08/23 v2.6 Windows 10/11 Dark Mode support added
31/08/23 v2.6.1 Close button added to PDF viewer
French, German and Spanish dictionaries added to Word Processor (default can be set in Options)
12/09/23 v2.7 Performance improvements - components loaded on demand rather than on start-up to improve speed
Import shapes option added to Diagram tool
Option to disable automatic Dark Mode switching
Improved colour scheme for Spreadsheet in Dark mode
Option to choose default start-up application e.g. Word Processor, Spreadsheet, Diagram or PDF Viewer
Custom dictionary support now for all languages not just English
Various bug fixes
16/09/23 v2.7.1 Added option to set a default calendar to load at start-up
Various bug fixes
Now also available to download as a portable app (.zip format)
20/09/23 v2.7.2 Window size and position saved and restored even for multi-monitor setups (Ctrl+Shift to override restore)
Previously configured options should now be preserved when you upgrade to a new version
Option to set default Page Colour and Font Colour for Word Processor added
13/10/23 v2.7.3 Fixed compatibility mode issue when opening .docx created with Essential Office in Microsoft Word
Visibility of Ribbon and Quick Access Toolbar is now saved between sessions
31/10/23 v2.7.4 Now remembers last used Word Processor Document View e.g. Simple View, Draft View or Print Layout
15/11/23 v2.8 This is the first multilingual release - as well as the default English the interface has now been mostly translated to support French (FR), German (DE), Hungarian (HU) and Spanish (ES) users - this is a work in progress so if you have any comments on translations or would like to see other languages then please get in touch
14/02/24 v2.9 Updated core components
Various bug fixes and code improvements
22/04/24 v2.9.1 Miscellaneous tweaks and updates
18/06/24 v2.9.2 Updated core components
Signature Info panel added to PDF Viewer
Export to SVG added to Word Processor and Spreadsheet
27/07/24 v2.9.3 Fixed file association issue - app can now be chosen as default when right clicking on supported file types
02/08/24 v2.9.4 Now remembers last used Calendar View e.g. Day, Week, Month etc