ALL EMPLOYEES: How do I add Claude to my Microsoft 365 apps?

Prerequisites

This article shows BSU users with an active, IT-provisioned Claude Team license how to install Claude add-ins in Word, Excel, and PowerPoint.

Free accounts and individually purchased subscriptions are not approved for BSU business operations. Installing an add-in does not create or activate a paid membership. To obtain a Claude team license, see ALL EMPLOYEES: How do I get a Claude.ai paid license? 

BSU has not approved direct Office 365 document access through connectors inside Claude Team. These instructions cover add-ins opened within Office apps.

How to add Claude to Word, Excel, or PowerPoint

  1. Open Word, Excel, or PowerPoint and sign in with your BSU credentials. Open a file.

  2. Select Add-ins and search for Claude. Choose the Anthropic-published add-in that supports your Office app, confirm the publisher, and select Add.

Microsoft PowerPoint ribbon Home tab in dark mode, highlighting the Add-ins button framed with a yellow rectangle on the right.

Claude search results showing Claude by Anthropic for Word and Claude for Microsoft 365, each with an Add button.

  1. Open the Claude panel and select the sign-in option.
  2. Follow the browser sign-in instructions. If the add-in displays a code, confirm that it matches the code shown in your browser.
  3. Sign into your IT-provisioned Claude Team plan (see ALL EMPLOYEES: How do I Log into Claude.ai Team Plan?). If prompted to choose an organization or workspace, select the BSU team associated with your license. Complete the on-screen setup and return to your Office app.
  4. Enter a request in the Claude panel and review the changes to your file.

Note: If Claude asks you to purchase or upgrade a plan, confirm that you signed in with the account linked to your BSU IT-provided membership and selected the correct BSU team. Contact BSU IT at itsupport@bridgew.edu if the message continues; do not purchase an individual subscription for this process.

The message below can appear when Claude does not recognize an eligible paid membership. Use the account checks above before continuing.

Claude reports that Microsoft Office access requires an eligible paid plan. If this appears with your BSU paid membership, check your account and team selection. Identifying account details are obscured.

If you cannot access your paid account or add-in

If you can’t access your Claude for Work team plan, check that you signed in using the BSU Single Sign On option (see ALL EMPLOYEES: How do I Log into Claude.ai Team Plan?) with the account linked to your BSU IT-provisioned paid membership and selected the correct BSU workspace or team. If the browser is signed into a different account, sign out and restart the add-in sign-in process.

If Add-ins is missing, installation requests administrator approval, or your paid membership is still unavailable, contact BSU IT at itsupport@bridgew.edu for help. Include the Office app, AI service, and error message. Menu locations can vary between Office versions.

If you reach a usage limit, follow the guidance displayed by the service.

Anthropic does not use inputs or outputs from Claude Team to train its models by default, as described in its commercial data-use policy. The Office add-ins have specific retention practices: chat history is stored locally, and the add-ins do not inherit an organization’s custom retention settings. See Anthropic’s Office add-in data storage and retention documentation for details. 

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