Training: Get up and running quickly on Skype for Business for Mac with this Quick Start. And since Office 365 can be installed on several devices, you can access Office Apps, including Skype for Business, from a PC/Mac, tablet or smartphone. Skype for Business is sold with Office 365 plans for small business, such as Office 365 Business Premium, Business Essentials or Skype for Business Standalone plan.
. Sign in to Office 365. At the top of your Office 365 page, choose Office 365 settings. Choose Install and manage software. Choose Skype for Business Install to download the Lync for Mac 11 installation program onto your Mac.
If you don't see Skype for Business listed, then it's not included with the you have. The lync14.dmg file is downloaded onto your computer. This is the Lync for Mac 11 installation program. After the Lync for Mac 11 installation program downloads to your Mac, go back to the Skype for Business page, and choose Lync for Mac 2011 update. At the Microsoft download center, choose Download to download the Lync for Mac 2011 update program onto your Mac.
The lync14.dmg file is downloaded onto your computer. This is the Lync for Mac 11 update. After the programs are finished downloading, go to Downloads on your Mac. You'll see two Lync programs there. Choose the first one, lync.dmg, to open the installer. Important: Depending on your Mac settings, the Lync Installer might be blocked from running because it's not from the Mac App Store and identified developers.
Open the General pane of Security & Privacy preferences, choose the unlock icon, and then choose Anywhere to allow the Lync Installer to run. Choose the Lync Installer button to start the installer. Follow the prompts in the Lync for Mac Installer until it's finished, and then choose Close at the end. Next, go back to Downloads on your Mac, and choose the update program, lync-2.dmg. Choose the Lync Installer button to start the installer for the update. Follow the prompts in the Lync for Mac Installer until it's finished, and then choose Close at the end. You're done installing Lync for Mac 2011.
Now you're ready to sign in for the first time. Were these steps helpful? When you purchased a Skype for Business Online Plan, you created an Office 365 user ID at the same time, even though you didn't purchase Office 365.
To install Lync for Mac 2011, you need to sign in to Office 365 first. Here's how you do that:. Locate your Office 365 user ID. You received an email from the Microsoft Online Services Team that contains your Office 365 user ID. It looks something like this:. Go to and enter your Office 365 user ID and password. After you sign in, you'll see the Office 365 admin center.
Choose Download software. Choose Software. Choose Skype for Business. Choose Install to download the Lync for Mac 11 installation program onto your Mac. After the Lync for Mac 11 installation program downloads to your Mac, go back to the Skype for Business page, and choose Lync for Mac 2011 update. At the Microsoft download center, choose Download to download the Lync for Mac 2011 update program onto your Mac. After the programs are finished downloading, go to Downloads on your Mac.
You'll see two Lync programs there. Choose the first one, lync14.dmg, to open the installer. Important: Depending on your Mac settings, the Lync Installer might be blocked from running because it's not from the Mac App Store and identified developers. Open the General pane of Security & Privacy preferences, choose the unlock icon, and then choose Anywhere to allow the Lync Installer to run. Choose the Lync Installer button to start the installer. Follow the prompts in the Lync for Mac Installer until it's finished, and then choose Close at the end. Next, go back to Downloads on your Mac, and choose the update program, lync14.-2.dmg.
Choose the Lync Installer button to start the installer for the update. Follow the prompts in the Lync for Mac Installer until it's finished, and then choose Close at the end.
You're done installing Lync for Mac 2011. Now you're ready to sign in for the first time. Locate your Office 365 user ID.
You received an email from the Microsoft Online Services Team that contains your Office 365 user ID. It looks something like this: If you can't find your user ID, ask the person who purchased your plan. Go to and enter your Office 365 user ID and password. After you sign in, you'll see a page like this:. Choose Install to download the Lync for Mac 11 installation program onto your Mac. After the Lync for Mac 11 installation program downloads to your Mac, go back to the Skype for Business page, and choose Lync for Mac 2011 update.
At the Microsoft download center, choose Download to download the Lync for Mac 2011 update program onto your Mac. After the programs are finished downloading, go to Downloads on your Mac. You'll see two Lync programs there. Choose the first one, lync14.dmg, to open the installer. Important: Depending on your Mac settings, the Lync Installer might be blocked from running because it's not from the Mac App Store and identified developers. Open the General pane of Security & Privacy preferences, choose the unlock icon, and then choose Anywhere to allow the Lync Installer to run. Choose the Lync Installer button to start the installer.
Follow the prompts in the Lync for Mac Installer until it's finished, and then choose Close at the end. Next, go back to Downloads on your Mac, and choose the update program, lync14.-2.dmg. Choose the Lync Installer button to start the installer for the update. Follow the prompts in the Lync for Mac Installer until it's finished, and then choose Close at the end.
Note: Thanks to reader feedback, these steps were updated on to clarify that your Office 365 user ID is also your email address. Double-check that you're connected to the Internet. On your Dock, choose the Lync icon. When prompted, choose Use Lync if you want to make and receive telephone calls through it.
Otherwise, choose Don't change. At the Lync for Mac 2011 sign in page, choose Advanced at the bottom of the page after entering your Office 365 user ID (which is also your email address) in both the Email Address box and the User ID box, and your password. Under Authentication, clear the Use Kerberos box so it's blank.
Under Connection Settings, choose Automatic and OK. Back at the Sign in page, choose Sign In. If you get the error message 'No Kerberos ticket is detected':.
At the Lync for Mac 2011 sign in page, choose Advanced at the bottom of the page, after typing your Office 365 user ID in both the Email Address box and the User ID box, and entering your password. Under Authentication, clear the Use Kerberos box so it's blank. Trying signing in again. If you get the message 'Lync was unable to sign in. Please verify your logon credentials and try again' or 'The service might not be available,' the issue might be a connection can't be established with Lync.
Author's note: when I tested these instructions from home, where my Internet service isn't very good, I wasn't able to connect and kept getting errors, even after trying for 30 minutes. But the next day I could connect. When I tested the instructions at work, the connection worked the first time. If you still can't connect, or for other issues, see. Leave us a comment Were these steps helpful? If so, please let us know at the bottom of this topic. If they weren't, and you're still having trouble setting up Lync for Mac 2011, tell us what was confusing or wrong.
We'll use your feedback to double-check our steps.
Microsoft on Tuesday its new Office 2013 and Office 365 productivity software suites. Lost in the announcement, however, was what (if anything) those suites would mean to Mac users. Macworld spoke to Microsoft representatives to get some clarification. Microsoft Office for Mac 2011 For starters, Office 2013 doesn’t mean anything to the Mac: it’s for Windows computers only. Office 365, on the other hand, does impact Mac users, but it doesn’t introduce any new features; rather, it’s essentially a new licensing model for Office for Mac. A subscription to Office 365 ($10 per month, or $100 per year) gives you the right to download Office software to up to five computers.
For Mac users, what you'll download is Office for Mac 2011—it's pretty much the same version of the suite that we've been using for a couple of years now, but it's been updated to include activation for Office 365 Home Premium. Your subscription must be renewed monthly or annually in order to continue to use the software. (A that runs on two computers is available for $80.) If you currently own Office for Mac 2011, you must uninstall that software when you sign up for Office 365. You will then download and install Office for Mac 2011 through your Office 365 account—again, on up to five Macs. Mac users who sign up for Office 365 will also get 20GB of SkyDrive storage (up from the 5GB that comes with a free account) and 60 minutes per month of Skype calls. One of the marquee new features of Office 365 is, a service that allows a PC without Word, Excel, or PowerPoint installed to run those programs via Internet streaming. But Office on Demand is a Windows-only feature; it remains to be seen whether it will be available to Mac users when the next version of Office for Mac is released.
Word Web app Mac users do have an alternative to Office on Demand:, which have been available since 2010. Accessible through a account, those apps let you create and edit Word documents, Excel spreadsheets, and PowerPoint presentations using Web-based versions of those apps, then save those documents to your SkyDrive or Mac. However, those Web apps aren’t as full-featured as the desktop versions; SkyDrive does provide the option to open a document directly in the desktop version of each program (provided that app is on your Mac).
Unrelated to the Office 365/Office 2013 announcement, Microsoft released an on Tuesday. The update provides several fixes to Outlook and PowerPoint. Editor's note: Updated on 1/29/13 at 7pm PT to clarify what the downloaded version of Office for Mac 2011 offers.