Microsoft does not provide the user with a portable version of any of the applications included in the Office suite. Therefore, it is not possible, at least officially, to run Microsoft Word from a USB stick or a memory card.

The purpose of portable versions is to avoid the installation of an application, let the user run it from any computer in a simple way, and lighten its weight. With Microsoft Word, none of the three is possible. In fact, to use Word on your PC, it is necessary to install the rest of the tools included in Office, such as Excel or PowerPoint. In case you find a portable version of this software on the net, we advise you not to download and run it. It could be malicious software and contain some kind of virus.

All of the above does not mean that there are no alternatives. LibreOffice does have a secure portable version that you can use to edit your documents. This suite, which is open source and completely free, supports Microsoft Word files. There is also a portable version of OpenOffice, its predecessor.

However, if you feel you cannot do without the Microsoft tools and want to use them anywhere, we recommend you use their mobile applications. On devices with a screen size of less than 10 inches, Office does not require a subscription. All you have to do is sign in with your Microsoft account. When you do, you will be able to read and edit your Word documents hosted on OneDrive. It also lets the user create new documents in the internal memory of your phone or tablet.