How to Get Minecraft: Education Edition

Lee Stanton June 2, 2021

Minecraft is a beloved game enjoyed by gamers of all ages, but did you know that a special version exists for students and teachers? Minecraft: Education Edition has been used in 115 countries to help students have fun and learn at the same time. It promotes creativity and collaboration through gameplay.

If you want to learn how to get Minecraft: Education Edition, you’re in the right place. The methods of getting it for all platforms are available here. We’ll also answer some burning questions you may have.

How to Get Minecraft: Education Edition?

While you can try Minecraft: Education Edition for free, you’re only going to get 25 logins for teachers and 10 for students. You need to purchase a subscription for these limits to fall away. Additionally, you’re also required to have an Office 365 education account.

Once you have an Office 365 education account, you must purchase a license on the Microsoft Store of Education, from Authorized Education Partners, or resellers. After you get the licenses, you can start assigning them to any supported devices, such as iPads and computers.

iPad

On iPad, you can get the app for free from the Apple App Store. Even if anyone can download the app, it’s useless without the Office 365 education account.

These are the steps for getting Minecraft: Education Edition on iPad:

Obtain an Office 365 education account.
Sign in to the Microsoft Store for Education with the account.
Navigate to the Minecraft: Education Edition product page here.
Choose how many subscriptions you want.
Select “Buy.”
Through the Store for Education product page, you can assign a subscription to any student’s education email.
Launch the Apple App Store on the target iPad.
Locate and install Minecraft: Educational Edition.
Sign in with the student’s education email and password.
Now the owner of the iPad can start playing.

On iPad, there’s no access to Code Connection and Classroom Mode features. Like all mobile platforms, you play Minecraft: Education Edition with touch screen controls on iPad.

Tablet

Tablets are also capable of playing Minecraft: Education Edition. If your school is issuing Android tablets or you just want your kids to use them, this section is for you. The steps can get tricky, but we’re here to help you.

These are the steps for tablets:

Obtain an Office 365 education account.
Sign in to the Microsoft Store for Education with the account.
Navigate to the Minecraft: Education Edition product page here.
Choose how many subscriptions you want.
Select “Buy.”
Through the Store for Education product page, you can assign a subscription to any student’s education email.
Launch the Google Play Store on the target iPad.
Install Minecraft: Education Edition on the tablet.
Sign in with the student’s education email and password.
Now the owner of the tablet can start playing.

Android tablets are often cheaper, but can still play the game well. Just like on the iPad, you can hold the tablet in both hands and use touch screen controls.

Android

For Android phones, the process is the same as above. However, due to phones being smaller than tablets, it’s not everyone’s cup of tea. Whether you want to let students play Minecraft: Education Edition on their personal phones or not is up to you.

Obtain an Office 365 education account.
Sign in to the Microsoft Store for Education with the account.
Navigate to the Minecraft: Education Edition product page here.
Choose how many subscriptions you want.
Select “Buy.”
Through the Store for Education product page, you can assign a subscription to any student’s education email.
Launch the Google Play Store on the target iPad.
Install Minecraft: Education Edition on the Android.
Sign in with the student’s education email and password.
Now the phone of the tablet can start playing.

Alternatively, you can get the app from other sources and install it on your Android device. This works for tablets too. One prerequisite is that you must allow your Android device to install apps from third-party sources or manually.

Without enabling this feature, you can download an APK for Minecraft: Education Edition but not install it.

iPhone

iPhones can also let students enjoy learning via Minecraft: Education Edition. The steps are similar to the iPad installation.

Obtain an Office 365 education account.
Sign in to the Microsoft Store for Education with the account.
Navigate to the Minecraft: Education Edition product page here.
Choose how many subscriptions you want.
Select “Buy.”
Through the Store for Education product page, you can assign a subscription to any student’s education email.
Launch the Apple App Store on the target iPhone.
Locate and install Minecraft: Educational Edition.
Sign in with the student’s education email and password.
Now the owner of the iPhone can start playing.

Linux

Unfortunately, while you can play Minecraft on Linux, the Education Edition isn’t available for Linux computers. According to this post from 2020, Microsoft hasn’t allowed any support for the education game on Linux. Even using WineHQ, software for running Windows programs on Linux, won’t work.

Mac

Macs are among the two most popular desktop platforms to play Minecraft on, the other of course being Windows. As such, Minecraft: Education Edition is readily available to install and play on your Macs.

This is how you install the game on Mac:

Obtain an Office 365 education account.
Sign in to the Microsoft Store for Education with the account.
Navigate to the Minecraft: Education Edition product page here.
Choose how many subscriptions you want.
Select “Buy.”
Through the Store for Education product page, you can assign a subscription to any student’s education email.
Download the game from the official website.
Install the game and then launch it.
Anyone can log in with their details.
Start playing and learning.

As long as you have an educational account and license, you can start playing the game.

When you just installed the game, you might need to locate it with your finder. It should appear on your list of applications. You can find it by scrolling down.

School MacBooks are often very barebones, but you should be able to create shortcuts for easier access.

Windows

Now, we’ve arrived at the most popular computer platform, Windows. Just like on Mac, the game is readily available as long as you have an educational account and subscription.

These are the steps for Windows:

Obtain an Office 365 education account.
Sign in to the Microsoft Store for Education with the account.
Navigate to the Minecraft: Education Edition product page here.
Choose how many subscriptions you want.
Select “Buy.”
Through the Store for Education product page, you can assign a subscription to any student’s education email.
Download the game from the official website.
Install the game and then launch it.
Anyone can log in with their details.
Start playing and learning.

If you’re a teacher, you can start playing with your students. On computers, you have access to all features, such as Classroom Mode and also Code Connection. The mobile versions have fewer features due to constraints.

Code Connection and Classroom Mode can be installed by getting them from the official website. The installers will do everything for you.

How You Can Use Minecraft: Education Edition?

You can use Minecraft: Education Edition as a sort of virtual classroom. Instead of asking students to write on blackboards, they can perform all sorts of actions in the game. You can use a parkour course to teach them things or even answer math questions on signs.

The world you’ll be in is large, so there’s plenty of room for creating objects related to the lessons. Minecraft also has educational worlds pre-built for purchase. You can buy them from the Minecraft Marketplace.

There are also free toolkits that help instructors teach the students.

Minimum System Requirements for Minecraft: Education Edition

The minimum software requirements are:

Windows 7
macOS 10.15.5 Catalina
Chrome OS 83 (for Chromebooks)
iOS 10

These are the minimum hardware requirements for a PC:

CPU: Intel Core i3-3210 3.2 GHz or similar AMD CPU
2 GB of RAM
GPU (Integrated): Intel HD Graphics 4000 (Ivy Bridge) or AMD Radeon R5 series (Kaveri line) with OpenGL 4.4
GPU (Discrete): NVIDIA GeForce 400 Series or AMD Radeon HD 7000 series with OpenGL 4.4
HDD: At least 1GB for the core files and other content

Make sure your computers meet these requirements, or the experience will be full of lag and frame drops.

Additional FAQs

Do I Need a School Email to Get Minecraft Education Edition?

Yes, you need one if you’re going to get the game. This is especially the case for administrators. If you don’t have a school email, you can still try a free trial.

Your education email account has to be verified before you can access the full game.

Creative Lesson Planning With Minecraft Education Edition

You can get lessons from the Minecraft Marketplace or create your own. There are plenty of guides available to help you design the best lesson for your students. You can use official lessons for inspiration as well.

Get Through the Course and We’ll Have Cookies

Now that you know how to get Minecraft: Education Edition, you can start teaching with this wonderful tool. Your students will never get bored with this unique teaching method. There are plenty of options within the game for teaching as well.

Does your school use Minecraft: Education Edition? Have you tried installing mods for your classroom? Give us your answers below.