As with previous versions, Office 2021 offers the LTSC, or Long Term Servicing Channel, option. Office LTSC 2021 is the latest standalone version available through a volume licensing agreement.
Why would you want to have Office LTSC 2021?
Created for customers who are not yet ready to move to cloud-based solutions, Office LTSC 2021 offers a one-time volume purchase for five or more licenses. This product is unnecessary if Microsoft 365 is already in use.
Office LTSC 2021 is available for both Microsoft Windows as both 32-bit and 64-bit and macOS 64-bit.
For Microsoft Windows, the following applications are available:
- Office LTSC Professional Plus 2021
- Office LTSC Standard 2021
- Project LTSC Professional 2021
- Project LTSC Standard 2021
- Visio LTSC Professional 2021
- Visio LTSC Standard 2021
For macOS, the following applications are available:
- Office LTSC Standard 2021*
What Office products are available in each version?
Office LTSC Professional Plus 2021 for Windows 10 or 11
- Word
- Excel
- PowerPoint
- Outlook
- OneNote
- Access
- Publisher
- Teams
Deployed via the Click-To-Run functionality and activated via Key Management Service (KMS) or Multiple Activation Key (MAK)
Office LTSC Standard 2021 for Windows 10 or 11
- Word
- Excel
- PowerPoint
- Outlook
- OneNote
- Publisher
Deployed via the Click-To-Run functionality and activated via Key Management Service (KMS) or Multiple Activation Key (MAK)
Office LTSC Standard for Mac 2021
- Word
- Excel
- PowerPoint
- Outlook
- OneNote
What has Microsoft added in Office LTSC 2021?
Office LTSC 2021 offers administrators the ability to use Group Policy to control the following:
- Configure what diagnostic information Microsoft receives
- Allow or deny the connected experience
New supported languages:
- UK English
- French Canadian
- Mexican Spanish
Open Document Format 1.3 in PowerPoint, Word, and Excel.
Microsoft Teams can connect to an existing subscription or use the free version.
What has Microsoft removed from Office LTSC 2021?
Office LTSC 2021 no longer includes the Office Telemetry Dashboard. This feature provided a local data store with links to error fixes after a program crash.
OneDrive for Business no longer supports the first generation groove.exe. This version was the Windows 7 sync client.
Power View is no longer available for Excel 2021; PowerBI has replaced this.
What has Microsoft kept the same in Office LTSC 2021?
Microsoft has maintained the major version of Office LTSC 2021 as 16.0. This version is the same as Office 2016 and Office 2019, ensuring policies and registry settings can reference the exact location.
Is an in-place upgrade possible to Office LTSC 2021?
Microsoft recommends uninstalling any previous versions before the installation of Office LTSC 2021.
What support is available?
Microsoft will support Office LTSC 2021 under their Fixed Lifecycle Policy, which offers five years of mainstream support and no extended support.
Conclusion
Microsoft would prefer customers to move to the cloud-based subscription services but offers Office LTSC 2021 as a choice for customers who prefer to have a one-off cost or require strict version control of applications.
