WPS Office FAQ Hub

No, and they are extremely unsafe. Security firm Trellix has exposed how hackers bundle the XMRig mining trojan into cracked WPS and Office builds, disguising it as a system process that silently installs in the background and steals your computer’s processing power. On top of that, the official WPS build is already free, so there is simply no reason to use a cracked one. If you want to skip the ads, switch to the clean International or Hong Kong edition, or buy an official ad-free paid plan. Never touch a cracked version.

The most reliable approach is not to verify after the fact but to simply download it again: delete the third-party installer and get a fresh copy from this site (wpsofficepro.com) or the official store. Files on third-party sites may well have been altered and laced with a mining trojan, and the official team does not publish a checksum for you to compare third-party files against. WPS is officially free, so there is no reason to take the risk. If you have already installed a suspicious file, run an antivirus scan before removing it.

The biggest difference is price and positioning. WPS Office is a free office suite from Kingsoft. Its four core components, Writer, Spreadsheets, Presentation, and PDF, are permanently free for personal use, and it is built as a free alternative to Microsoft Office with strong compatibility for the .docx, .xlsx, and .pptx formats. Office, by contrast, is a paid subscription. The WPS installer is tiny (around 5MB) and needs roughly 200MB of disk space, so the barrier to entry is low. The downside is that the free version shows upgrade pop-up ads, and advanced PDF and AI features cost money. For basic document work the two feel very similar, so on a tight budget WPS is a very practical choice.

WPS is highly compatible with the .docx format used by Word, and everyday documents with simple layouts usually open fine in both. That said, with complex layouts (lots of tables, special fonts, embedded objects) the two have different rendering engines, so slight shifts are still possible, which is common with any cross-application transfer. In practice: if an important file will ultimately go to someone working in Word, open it once in their environment first to confirm; or once finalized, export to PDF to lock the layout and avoid shifting when they open it. (Needs hands-on confirmation; sources only support the strong format compatibility.)

Generally yes. WPS Spreadsheets is highly compatible with the .xlsx format, and common functions (SUM, VLOOKUP, IF, and so on) and ordinary formulas work normally when opened in Microsoft Excel. Be aware that a few newer functions named or behaving differently between the two, macros (VBA), or special charts can occasionally differ across applications. We recommend saving directly in the .xlsx format, and opening important reports once in Excel to verify the numbers before delivery. (Needs hands-on confirmation; sources only support the strong format compatibility.)

The overall verdict is free and easy to use, but the ads are annoying. Multiple hands-on tests and reviews agree that the WPS interface resembles Office, it is quick to pick up, and format compatibility is high, making it a capable free alternative that is more than enough for students and home use. The main complaint centers on the upgrade pop-up ads in the free version, with some International edition users reporting they are still prompted to upgrade two or three times a day. Overseas Chinese users generally recommend the clean International or Hong Kong edition, which avoids the mainland version’s screen-filling Docer store promotions for a much better experience.

There is no absolute winner; it depends on your needs. WPS looks the most like Microsoft Office and is the quickest to pick up, with high compatibility for .docx, .xlsx, and .pptx, and it installs locally for offline use, with the downside of ads in the free version. LibreOffice is fully open source, ad-free, and purely local, but its interface is more traditional and Office formats occasionally shift. Google Docs runs in the browser and is the strongest for real-time collaboration, but it needs a connection and is weaker on complex layouts. For the closest Office experience choose WPS, for privacy and no ads choose LibreOffice, and for cloud collaboration choose Google Docs. (The WPS points draw on sources; the three-way comparison is general knowledge, so weigh it against your own needs.)

For personal use, the WPS personal edition is permanently free for individuals and is perfectly legal when downloaded through official channels. But for company or commercial use it comes down to the license terms: the free personal license usually targets personal or home scenarios, and for large enterprise deployments a commercial plan is generally recommended (for example, the official Taiwan offering has a WPS+ team edition at NT$1,700 per user per year). The safe approach is to confirm what your region’s official terms say about enterprise licensing before purchasing, rather than rolling out the free personal edition at scale for business. Never use a cracked version, which carries a mining-trojan risk. (Personal free and commercial editions draw on sources; enterprise licensing details should be confirmed with the official team.)

Yes. WPS’s four core components, Writer, Spreadsheets, Presentation, and PDF, are permanently free for personal use, with built-in basic PDF reading and annotation plus 1GB of cloud storage, which is plenty for students writing papers and building presentations, at no cost. Only advanced PDF features (PDF to Word, batch conversion, OCR text extraction), some AI features, and paid templates require a membership. Overseas students should download the clean International or Hong Kong edition from the official website to avoid ad interruptions.

The key is to download the clean version only from this site, wpsofficepro.com, avoiding the bundled installers that third-party sites slip in. During installation, read each screen carefully and untick any extra Recommended install or Set as default options before clicking next. The International or Hong Kong edition has the least promotion to begin with. When you first open the app after installing, remember to turn off startup-on-boot and push notifications. (Official channels and edition choice draw on sources; unticking each item is general install know-how.)

As long as you downloaded the installer from this site (wpsofficepro.com), this message is usually just the standard macOS block for sources outside the App Store and does not mean anything is wrong with the software. WPS officially supports macOS (including Apple Silicon M1 to M4 and Intel). The safer route is to install WPS directly from the Mac App Store, which avoids the prompt entirely. If you insist on the website download, be sure to confirm the source is the official domain first, then go to System Settings, Privacy and Security, and allow it to open. Never install a version of unknown origin. (Official Mac support draws on sources; the Gatekeeper prompt is a general macOS mechanism, so confirm the source yourself.)

WPS is developed by China’s Kingsoft, and its cloud account system splits into separate International and mainland versions that do not interconnect. The general understanding is that mainland-version data runs on servers within China, while the International version serves overseas users. The sources do not specifically state where the International version’s data centers are located. For users concerned about where data resides, the safest approach is to use only local features and not enable cloud sync (WPS can run purely locally), or keep confidential files in your own local or private storage. (Version and cloud account separation draw on sources; the specific data center location is not covered by sources, so confirm with the official team.)

WPS is developed by China’s Kingsoft, and its cloud service splits into separate International and mainland account systems. The sources contain no specific evidence about censorship, so no firm conclusion can be drawn. If you have concerns about where data resides, the most direct option is to not enable cloud sync and use only local storage (WPS can run fully offline and locally), keeping confidential files off the cloud; or choose an International edition account and turn sync off, saving files locally or in storage you trust. (Cloud version separation draws on sources; the censorship topic is not covered by sources and is a personal risk judgment, so keeping confidential material off the cloud is the safe move.)

Yes. The core editing features of WPS, Writer, Spreadsheets, Presentation, and PDF, all work offline on your machine, and you can open, edit, and save files locally without logging in or enabling cloud sync. Only cloud sync, online templates, real-time collaboration, and online PDF conversion require signing in. To work entirely locally: choose Sign in later after opening, do not enable document cloud sync, and pick a local folder when saving. The International edition is relatively light on login prompts, so overseas users rarely run into locked features.

WPS cloud sync only kicks in after you log in, so to turn it off, go to Documents, Recent, find the Document cloud sync switch, and turn it off; on mobile, go to Me, My cloud services, Document cloud sync to turn it off. A more thorough approach is simply not to log in: choose Sign in later when opening, so files stay only on your machine and never go to the cloud. When saving, remember to set the path to a local folder on your computer rather than the cloud.

WPS itself is Kingsoft’s genuine, free software, and as long as you download it through official channels there is no malware concern. But the core worry with confidential files is whether they go to the cloud: for files like these we recommend using only local features throughout, not enabling cloud sync, and not uploading to the cloud (WPS can run fully offline and locally), saving instead to internal company storage or storage you trust. You can export the final version to PDF. Absolutely do not use a cracked version (mining-trojan risk). If you have enterprise compliance requirements, first confirm whether your company’s information security policy permits its use. (Local use and genuine software draw on sources; confidential compliance is a personal judgment that should follow company policy.)

From the software’s standpoint, WPS is genuine Kingsoft software, the official build is free, and downloading it through official channels poses no malware concern. But whether institutions like government agencies and schools may use it is often governed by the official information security procurement policy of your region, and the sources do not cover the specific rules of agencies in each location, so it cannot be generalized. The safe approach is to judge based on your institution’s own information security checklist and procurement rules; if adopted, we recommend using only local features, keeping confidential files off the cloud, and downloading only from the official domain. (Genuine software draws on sources; agency information security policy is not covered by sources, so confirm against local rules.)

Yes, WPS Office is developed by China’s Kingsoft, a software company with a long history, and WPS is its flagship office suite, positioned as a free alternative to Microsoft Office. The official build is itself free and genuine, and you can use it with confidence by downloading from this site, wpsofficepro.com. What to avoid is not the company itself but third-party cracked versions: security firms have exposed cracked builds laced with a mining trojan, so be sure to stick to official channels.

The free version of WPS can open, edit, and save Word, Excel, and PowerPoint files, including basic PDF reading and annotation and basic PDF conversion, plus 1GB of cloud, which is plenty for students and home use. The paid membership (International Pro and Premium) mainly adds: no ads, cloud expanded to 20GB, full PDF editing, conversion, and e-signatures, unlimited templates, and AI features with a daily quota (translation, summarizing, generation, PDF chat, and more). In short, the free version handles basic documents, while the paid version buys you no ads, full PDF, and AI.

The free version of WPS shows upgrade pop-ups and ads, and the cloud is only 1GB. The main features locked behind the paid version are: advanced PDF (PDF to Word, batch conversion, OCR image text extraction, merge and split), paid templates, and some exports carrying a watermark; full PDF editing and quota-based AI features also require a membership. Basic Writer, Spreadsheets, and Presentation editing, along with PDF reading and annotation and basic conversion, are free to use. To see fewer ads, overseas users should use the clean International or Hong Kong edition.

Converting to PDF and merging PDFs in WPS depends on the case. Basic PDF reading and annotation, plus basic conversion between PDF and Office, are available in the free version. But advanced operations require a paid membership: PDF to Word, batch conversion, OCR image text extraction, and merging and splitting PDFs are all locked behind Pro and Premium, and some free-version exports may carry a watermark. If you only convert a file or two occasionally, try the free version’s basic conversion first; if you regularly use full PDF features, consider an International edition membership (around US$29.99 per year).

The sources do not list any hard limit on local file size or page count in the free version of WPS, and local editing is generally not subject to such limits. The clearer limit is in the cloud: a free account has only 1GB of cloud storage, and once it is full you cannot upload, create, or modify cloud files until you free up space; in addition, if you do not log in for 180 consecutive days, your cloud files are all deleted. We recommend keeping large files locally and logging in periodically to keep the account active. (Cloud limits draw on sources; local file size and page count limits are not covered by sources, so this needs hands-on confirmation.)

Most likely not an infection, but rather the promotional pop-ups and news feed built into the free version of WPS (especially the mainland version), a normal if annoying design choice. As long as you downloaded the genuine build through official channels, these pop-ups are the software’s own ads. To handle it: turn off startup-on-boot and push notifications in settings; the most thorough fix for overseas users is to switch to the clean International or Hong Kong edition (this site, wpsofficepro.com), which has no Docer store or screen-filling ads. If you genuinely suspect an infection, think back to whether you ever installed a cracked version (that is what carries the trojan risk).

In the WPS settings or configuration tool, find the startup-on-boot (launch on startup) and push notification (message push) options and turn them off; on Windows you can also disable the WPS startup item on the Startup tab of Task Manager. If pop-ups are still frequent, the easiest fix for overseas users is to switch straight to the clean International or Hong Kong edition (this site, wpsofficepro.com), which has no Docer store or screen-filling ads. (Edition choice draws on sources; the exact location of the toggle options is general settings know-how, so this needs hands-on confirmation.)