Sign up for a free Dynamics 365 Business Central trial

Business Central offers a free trial. There are two ways to access the trial version, depending on your location. If you are in a country where Microsoft offers official localization, you can follow one path. If you are in a country where localization is handled by partners, you'll need to follow a different path. Explore the different types of localization here. After a quick sign-up, you'll have access to many of the app's key features. The trial allows you to test the app with sample data. If you want to try out things with your own data, you'll switch to a free 30-day trial. Learn more about Business Central features.

Start the trial in Microsoft-based localizations

You can find your free Business Central trial on the Dynamics 365 Business Central product page. You just need to follow the steps and you'll get trial localized version tailored for your location. If you want eventually to try different localization, you can do it in the sandbox.

The trial takes a few moments to load, then you can start using the app. The Get Started checklist takes you through the steps to make you ready for business. The steps vary depending on your country/region and any industry-specific functionality that you've added to your Business Central.

In Business Central, some things will be familiar to you, and other things might be unfamiliar. When you first sign in to the demonstration company, you get access to a Get Started card with a link to show demo tours. For more information, see Get Ready for Doing Business and the quick starts articles.

Tip

Tip:
Business Central includes tooltips for fields and actions that can help guide you through the various business processes. Some pages also have teaching tips and tours to help you. On each tooltip and teaching tip, choose the Show help link to open the Help pane where you find information about the current page and related tasks. If the chat with Copilot feature is turned on, instead of the Show help link on tooltips, you have an Ask Copilot link. When you select this link, the chat pane opens and a prompt asking for an explanation of the field is automatically entered, like "Explain field name "Invoice Discount %". On all pages, use Ctrl+F1 on your keyboard to open the Help pane. On any device, use the question mark in the upper right corner to get to the Help.

If you decide not to use Business Central, you can let the trial expire.

Note

Note:
If a Business Central trial is left unused for 45 days, Microsoft considers the trial as expired, and the Business Central tenant is deleted. If the environment is linked to a Power Platform environment, the relationship is removed.

If the trial is converted to a paid subscription before the trial expires, the countdown to 45 days of non-usage does not apply.

Should you run into problems, check the Trial FAQ or Frequently Asked Questions articles to find answers to some of your questions. If you're unable to sign up for the trial, check the Troubleshooting Self-Service Sign-Up article for tips. You can also contact a partner and ask them to create a free trial or a different type of preview of Business Central for you.

Start with the trial in location with partner-based localizations

In countries where Microsoft doesn't offer built-in localization, obtaining a localized version by default isn't possible due to localization being managed by partners. Consequently, Microsoft can only provide the standard base app, typically without localization or translation. To avoid confusion not offering all local requirements and the language, we have different path of getting trial version, so you can have full local experience.

You can get your trial version following these steps:

  1. You must run "Find your partner" on Microsoft web site or ask local Microsoft office for advice.
  2. Microsoft can help you find a partner for you or you might have already found a partner based on your experience.
  3. You might offer your partner for the trial version and then partner goes to CSP.
    1. Finds or adds customer tenant.
    2. Assigns the Business Central Trial SKU in CSP.
    3. Assigns the localization and translation, and eventually assigns translated demo data to the created tenant.
    4. Sends customer link to the environment.
    5. The test trial environment will be accessible.
Note

Note:
Microsoft doesn't oversee how partners set up the trial environment or what specific elements are included. While Microsoft offers recommendations, partners have the flexibility to implement them in their own way. Using a trial version from one partner doesn't obligate you to purchase a license from them, and you can always choose to switch partners at any time.

What to try

Your trial environment includes the same features as the paid version. The links below guide you through some of the key features.

Get started with a subscription

Each time you sign in during the trial period, a notification in a blue bar at the top displays the time remaining. If you decide to subscribe, find a Business Central partner. For more information, see How do I find a reselling partner?. The reselling partner can help you set up Business Central to fit your business, including importing your data from your previous system. You can also customize Business Central by adding apps from the Microsoft commercial marketplace.

Business Central online uses Microsoft 365. If your company uses a different type of email setup, the reselling partner can help you decided how to migrate, or if you should use Business Central on-premises.

You can also contact the Business Central Sales team.

Tip

Tip:
If you want to start using Business Central to run your business, you must buy a license. Your administrator can then assign the license to users. However, if you want to convert a 30-day trial company into your actual production company, we encourage all users to sign out of Business Central. Then, once an administrator has assigned the license to your account, the first user who signs into Business Central must be a user with this license assigned. This way, the 30-day trial ends, and any trial-related notifications disappear so that users can use Business Central to do work.

For more information about what you can do with Business Central, see Getting Ready for Doing Business and Business Functionality.

See also

Visit our video library
Trial FAQ
Troubleshooting Self-Service Sign-Up
Personalize Your Workspace
Run and Print Reports
Accessibility and Keyboard Shortcuts
Trials and Subscriptions (for administrators)
Country/regional availability and supported languages