Microsoft Office 365

Valpo has an Office 365 subscription that covers all of campus. This includes faculty office and lab computers, as well as personal devices. Students, faculty, and staff members are entitled to download and use Microsoft Office applications (including Word, Excel, PowerPoint, OneNote and many more) on a limited number of personal devices. In addition to being permitted to install Office applications on devices, users are able to access cloud-based versions using their Office 365 account. For example, a cloud-based version of Microsoft Word is shown in the screenshot below.

Table of Contents

i. Creating an Office 365 account linked with your Valpo e-mail address

ii. Installing Office 365 programs on a personal computer

iii. Accessing and using OneDrive

Create your Office 365 Account

1) Browse to https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/education/products/office, enter your Valpo e-mail address, and click the "Get Started" button.

2) Choose your role by clicking one of the buttons on the next page (staff members should click "I'm a teacher").

3) If you have created a Microsoft 365 account previously, you will see a screen that says "You have an account with us", along with a button labeled "Sign in". Click that button and enter the password you used to create your Microsoft 365 account. NOTE: This password is not synchronized with your Valpo credentials! If you need to reset your password, click the "Forgot password" link below the password box and follow the instructions.

4) If you have not created a Microsoft 365 account previously, you will see a screen which prompts you to enter your phone number. This step is required, and will only be used for identity confirmation. Once you submit your phone number, it will be linked to your Microsoft 365 account permanently and can not be used to sign up for a different Microsoft 365 account.

5) Finally, you will enter your first and last name and create a password. This screen is also where you will enter the six-digit code you received from Microsoft via text message or a phone call. Click "Start" to finalize your account's creation.

Install Office 365 Programs on a Personal Computer

Once your Office 365 account has been created using your Valpo e-mail address, you can download Office 365 to a personal computer.

1) From the main Office 365 portal, click the button labeled "Install Office" in the upper-right corner of the screen. In the resulting drop-down menu, choose the first one labeled "Office 365 apps", at which point a small file called "OfficeSetup.exe" will begin downloading.

Before opening the downloaded installer file, be sure you have a stable internet connection, because it will download several gigabytes of data to complete the installation. This will occur in the background, so you won't see that downloading is in progress. Because of the total size of the downloaded data, it is recommended that you use a WiFi or wired connection, rather than a mobile one. Even with an unlimited data plan, using a mobile hotspot will eat up all of your bandwidth for a considerable length of time!

NOTE: There is no way to install individual Office programs, like just Word and Excel. Office 365 is a suite and must be installed as a package, though once it is installed you will be able to open programs individually.

2) When you are ready to begin the installation, open the OfficeSetup.exe file and let the installer run. You can begin using an app as soon as its icon appears in the Start Menu, but be sure to keep your internet connection active until all of the Office programs have finished installing!

Accessing Microsoft OneDrive

Included in Valpo's Microsoft 365 subscription is access to OneDrive, along with 1TB of storage per user. You are permitted to store personal documents and data on your OneDrive account, but your access will only last as long as you are enrolled or employed at Valpo. Once you leave the university, your access is immediately terminated, and any files you have not downloaded will be deleted. Be sure to keep copies of any data you upload to OneDrive as backups.

1) From the main Office 365 page, click the OneDrive icon as shown below. Once you have loaded OneDrive from the Office 365 page, you can bookmark its URL if you would like a quick way to return to it.

2) From within OneDrive, you can create a new Word, Excel, PowerPoint, or OneNote document by clicking the "New" button and choosing the type of document you want to use. Note that the online versions of these programs are not as full-featured as their desktop counterparts.

3) You can also upload files to your OneDrive account from your local device by clicking the "Upload" button and choosing either "File" or "Folder", depending on what you want to upload. While you can upload any filetype you wish, only Office files (.docx, .xlsx, .pptx, etc.) can be opened from within your OneDrive browser window. Some non-Microsoft documents (like .pdfs) can be previewed within OneDrive, but not edited.