- As of March 2020, Microsoft is offering a free 6-month Office 365 E1 Trial that includes Microsoft Teams. The company is providing this free trial due to the increase in the number of people.
- Microsoft Office for Beginners: Then and Now While many features have been added since its initial launch, much of the core product has stayed intact. In addition to the initial trio, Word, Excel and PowerPoint, today, Microsoft Office also includes Access, Publisher, OneNote and Outlook – all of which seamlessly integrate with each other.
Microsoft 365 and Office 365 setup guides give you tailored guidance and resources for planning and deploying your tenant, apps, and services. These guides are created using the same best practices that Microsoft 365 FastTrack onboarding specialists share in individual interactions, and they're available to all admins within the Microsoft 365 admin center. They give information on product setup, enabling security features, deploying collaboration tools, and provide scripts to speed up advanced deployments.
To open an Office app, select the Start button (lower-left corner of your screen) and type the name of an Office app, like Word. If you have Windows 8.1 or 8.0, type the name of an Office app on the Start screen. Can't find your Office apps? To open the Office app, select its icon in the search results. This post is the first part of Microsoft Office Week, a series at Lifehacker where we offer tips to get started with or master Microsoft Office.Want more? Be sure to keep an eye on the Office Week.
How to access setup guides in the Microsoft 365 admin center
The setup guides are accessible from the Setup guidance page in the Microsoft 365 admin center. You can keep track of the status of your progress and you have the option to return at any time to complete a guide. To reach the Setup guidance page:
In the Microsoft 365 admin center, go to the Home page.
Activator for microsoft office 2019. Find the Training & guides card.
Select Customized setup guidance.
Note
Tenant administrator permissions are required to access the Microsoft 365 admin center.
How do setup guides work in the Microsoft 365 admin center?
Each guide provides you with step-by-step instructions, resources, articles, and when needed, scripts you can use to make configuration changes. These guides provide you with choices that reflect the specific needs of both small and large organizations. Additionally, the guidance includes assistance for both new and more experienced admins.
You can use the guides to learn more about specific Microsoft 365 and Office 365 features during the planning phase, during deployment and rollout, or to revisit them after you've completed a deployment to modify a setting.
Guides for initial setup
Prepare your environment
The Prepare your environment guide helps you prepare your organization's environment for Microsoft 365 and Office 365 services. Regardless of your goals, there are tasks you'll need to complete to ensure a successful deployment. To avoid any errors while preparing your environment, you're provided with step-by-step instructions to connect your domain, add users, assign licenses, set up email with Exchange Online, and install or deploy Office apps.
Email setup advisor
The Email setup advisor provides you with the step-by-step guidance needed for configuring Exchange Online for your organization. This includes setting up new email accounts, migrating email, and configuring email protection. For a successful email set up, use this advisor and you'll receive the recommended migration method based on your organization's current mail system, the number of mailboxes being migrated, and how you want to manage users and their access.
Gmail contacts and calendar advisor
When you migrate a Gmail user's mailbox to Microsoft 365, email messages are migrated, but contacts and calendar items are not. The Gmail contacts and calendar advisor provides steps for importing Google contacts and Google calendar items to Microsoft 365 using import and export methods with Outlook.com, the Outlook client, or PowerShell.
Microsoft 365 deployment advisor
The Microsoft 365 deployment advisor provides you with guidance when setting up productivity tools, security policies, and device management capabilities. With a Microsoft 365 Business Premium or Microsoft 365 for enterprise subscription, you can use this advisor to set up and configure your organization's devices.
You'll receive guidance and access to resources to enable your cloud services, update devices to the latest supported version of Windows 10, and join devices to Azure Active Directory (Azure AD), all in one central location.
Remote work setup guide
The Remote work setup guide provides organizations with the tips and resources needed to ensure your users can successfully work remotely, your data is secure, and users' credentials are safeguarded.
You'll receive guidance to optimize remote workers' device traffic to both Microsoft 365 resources in the cloud and your organization's network, which will reduce the strain on your remote access VPN infrastructure.
Windows Virtual Desktop setup guide
Windows Virtual Desktop is a comprehensive desktop and app virtualization service running in the cloud. It's the only virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI) that delivers simplified management, multi-session Windows 10, optimizations for Microsoft 365 Apps, and support for Remote Desktop Services (RDS) environments. Deploy and scale your Windows desktops and apps to Azure in minutes and get built-in security and compliance features. Adobe premiere pro 2018 vs 2019.
The Windows Virtual Desktop setup guide provides administrators with planning resources and the prerequisites for deployment, setup guidance, and additional resources.
Microsoft Edge deployment advisor
Microsoft Edge has been rebuilt from the ground up to bring you world-class compatibility and performance, the security and privacy you deserve, and new features designed to bring you the best of the web.
The Microsoft Edge deployment advisor will help you configure Enterprise Site Discovery to see which sites accessed in your org might need to use IE mode, review and configure important security features, configure privacy policies and additional policies to meet your org's requirements, and manage web access on your devices. You can download Microsoft Edge to individual devices, or we'll show you how to deploy to multiple users in your org with Configuration Manager or Microsoft Intune.Windows Virtual Desktop is a comprehensive desktop and app virtualization service running in the cloud. It's the only virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI) that delivers simplified management, multi-session Windows 10, optimizations for Microsoft 365 Apps, and support for Remote Desktop Services (RDS) environments. Deploy and scale your Windows desktops and apps to Azure in minutes and get built-in security and compliance features.
Intune Configuration Manager co-management setup guide
Use the Intune Configuration Manager co-management setup guide for existing Configuration Manager client devices and new internet-based devices that your org wants to co-manage with both Microsoft Intune and Configuration Manager. This co-management deployment guide allows you to manage Windows 10 devices and adds new functionality to your org's devices, while receiving the benefits of both solutions.
Guides for authentication and access
Azure AD setup guide
The Azure AD setup guide provides information to ensure your organization has a strong security foundation. In this guide you'll set up initial features, like Azure role-based access control (Azure RBAC) for admins, Azure AD Connect for your on-premises directory, and Azure AD Connect Health, so you can monitor your hybrid identity's health during automated syncs.
It also includes essential information on enabling self-service password resets, conditional access and integrated third-party sign-on including optional advanced identity protection and user provisioning automation.
Sync users from your org's directory
The Sync users from your org's directory wizard walks you through turning on directory synchronization. This brings your on-premises and cloud identities together for easier access and simplified management. Unlock new capabilities, like single sign-on, self-service options, automatic account provisioning, conditional access controls, and compliance policies. This ensures that your users have access to the resources they need from anywhere.
Plan your passwordless deployment
Upgrade to an alternative sign-in approach that allows users to access their devices securely with one of the following passwordless authentication methods:
- Windows Hello for Business
- The Microsoft Authenticator app
- Security keys
Use the Plan your passwordless deployment wizard to discover the best passwordless authentication methods to use and receive guidance on how to deploy them.
Plan your self-service password reset (SSPR) deployment
Give users the ability to change or reset their password independently, if their account is locked, or they forget their password without the need to contact a helpdesk engineer.
Use the Plan your self-service password reset deployment wizard to receive relevant articles and instructions for configuring the appropriate Azure portal options to help you deploy SSPR in your environment.
Active Directory Federation Services (AD FS) deployment advisor
The AD FS deployment advisor provides you with step-by-step guidance on deploying an on-premises AD FS infrastructure that authenticates users for Microsoft 365 and Office 365 services. With this guide, your organization can review AD FS components and requirements, acquire and install SSL certificates that are necessary for deployment, and install a required web application proxy server.
Guides for security and compliance
Microsoft Defender for Endpoint advisor
The Microsoft Defender for Endpoint advisor provides instructions that will help your enterprise network prevent, detect, investigate, and respond to advanced threats. Make an informed assessment of your organization's vulnerability and decide which deployment package and configuration methods are best.
Note
A Microsoft Volume License is required for Microsoft Defender for Endpoint.
Exchange Online Protection setup guide
Microsoft Exchange Online Protection (EOP) is a cloud-based email filtering service for protection against spam and malware, with features to safeguard your organization from messaging policy violations.
Use the Exchange Online Protection setup guide to set up EOP by selecting which of the three deployment scenarios—on-premises mailboxes, hybrid (mix of on-premises and cloud) mailboxes, or all cloud mailboxes—fits your organization. The guide provides information and resources to set up and review your user's licensing, assign permissions in the Microsoft 365 admin center, and configure your organization's anti-malware and spam policies in the Security & Compliance Center.
Microsoft Defender for Office 365 advisor
The Microsoft Defender for Office 365 advisor safeguards your organization against malicious threats that your environment might encounter through email messages, links, and third-party collaboration tools. This guide provides you with the resources and information to help you prepare and identify the Defender for Office 365 plan to fit your organization's needs.
Microsoft information protection setup guide
Get an overview of the capabilities you can apply to your Information Protection strategy so you can be confident your sensitive information is protected. Use a four-stage lifecycle approach in which you discover, classify, protect, and monitor sensitive information. The Microsoft information protection setup guide provides guidance for completing each of these stages.
Microsoft information governance setup guide
The Microsoft Information governance setup guide provides you with the information you'll need to set up and manage your organization's governance strategy, to ensure that your data is classified and managed according to the specific lifecycle guidelines you set. With this guide, you'll learn how to create, auto-apply, or publish labels, label policies, and retention policies that are applied to your organization's reusable content and compliance records. You'll also get information on importing CSV files with a file plan for bulk scenarios or for applying them manually to individual documents.
Guides for collaboration
Microsoft 365 Apps deployment advisor
The Microsoft 365 Apps deployment advisor helps you get your users' devices running the latest version of Office products like Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and OneNote. You'll get guidance on the various deployment methods that include easy self-install options to enterprise deployments with management tools. The instructions will help you assess your environment, figure out your specific deployment requirements, and implement the necessary support tools to ensure a successful install.
Office mobile apps setup assistant
The Office mobile apps setup assistant provides instructions for the download and installation of Office apps on your Windows, iOS, and Android mobile devices. This guide provides you with step-by-step information to download and install Microsoft 365 and Office 365 apps on your phone and tablet devices.
Microsoft Teams setup guide
The Microsoft Teams setup guide provides your organization with guidance to set up team workspaces that host real-time conversations through messaging, calls, and audio or video meetings for both team and private communication. You'll receive the instructions for determining your organization's network requirements by using the Network Planner tool and the Teams advisor within the Teams admin center. Once your deployment is complete, the guide includes helpful resources to get started using Teams.
SharePoint setup guide
The SharePoint setup guide helps you set up your SharePoint document storage and content management, create sites, configure external sharing, migrate data and configure advanced settings, and drive user engagement and communication within your organization. You'll follow steps for configuring your content-sharing permission policies, choose your migration sync tools, as well as enable the security settings for your SharePoint environment.
OneDrive setup guide
Use the OneDrive setup guide to get started with OneDrive file storage, sharing, collaboration, and syncing capabilities. OneDrive provides a central location where users can sync their Microsoft 365 Apps files, configure external sharing, migrate user data, and configure advanced security and device access settings. The OneDrive setup guide can be deployed using a OneDrive subscription or a standalone OneDrive plan.
Yammer deployment advisor
Connect and engage across your organization with Yammer. The Yammer deployment advisor prepares your Yammer network by adding domains, defining admins, and combining Yammer networks. You'll get guidance to deploy Yammer and then customize the look, configure security and compliance, and refine the settings.
Advanced wizards
In-place upgrade with Configuration Manager
Use the In-place upgrade with Configuration Manager guide when upgrading Windows 7 and Windows 8.1 devices to the latest version of Windows 10. You'll use the script provided to check the prerequisites and automatically configure an in-place upgrade.
Deploy Office to your users
Deploy Office apps from the cloud with the ability to customize your installation by using the Office Deployment Tool. The Deploy Office to your users guide helps you create a customized Office configuration with advanced settings, or you can use a pre-built recommended configuration. Whether your users are conducting a self-install or you're deploying to your users individually or in bulk, this advanced wizard provides you with step-by-step instructions to give users an Office installation tailored to your organization.
Deploy Office to remote users
Now that working remotely is the norm, users need to receive your organization's Office settings when they're not connected to your internal network or when using their own devices.
Use the Deploy Office to remote users guide to create a customized Office installation and then send users a generated PowerShell script that will seamlessly install Office with your configuration.
Deploy and update Microsoft 365 Apps with Configuration Manager
For organizations using Configuration Manager, you can use the Deploy and update Microsoft 365 Apps with Configuration Manager advisor to generate a script that will automatically configure your Microsoft 365 Apps deployment using best practices recommended by FastTrack engineers. Use this guide to build your deployment groups, customize your Office apps and features, configure dynamic or lean installations, and then run the script to create the applications, automatic deployment rules, and device collections you need to target your deployment.
A Beginner's Guide to Microsoft Office
Microsoft Word is a word processing program that was first made public by Microsoft in the early 1980s. It allows users to type and manipulate text in a graphic environment that resembles a page of paper. Extra features, such as tables, images and advanced formatting give users more options to customize their documents. Over the past three decades, there have been a number of updates and additions to Microsoft Word. Today it is one of the most widely used word processors available for Macs and PCs. It is often taught to students in schools and required as part of the basic computer requirements for many office jobs. In this guide, new users will learn the basic functions of Microsoft Word and how to use them.
Alignment – The alignment options dictate whether the left and right edges of the text in a document adhere to the right side, left, center or justified. Alignment can be set from the formatting toolbar at the top of the window or under by choosing 'Paragraph' under the Format menu.
Bullets/Numbering – When creating a list of text items, users can choose from several bullet or numbering system to add a small graphic icon or series of numbers before each item. To add bullets or numbering to a series of text, click on the corresponding buttons in the formatting toolbar or choose 'Bullets and Numbering' from the Format menu.
Clipboard – The clipboard acts as a type of storage area when a piece of text is temporarily removed and stored for later use within the same session. Using the Cut or Copy commands will place the text in the clipboard. Click on 'Clipboard' under the Edit menu to view any text that may be temporarily stored in it.
Copy – Copying text simply means making a replica of any text that is currently selecting and saving it to the clipboard. Pressing the Control and C keys in Windows or Command and C on a Mac will copy the text. Alternatively, users can also select the text and then click the 'Copy' option under the Edit menu or in the main toolbar.
Cut – Cutting text removes the text entirely from the viewable document and stores it in the clipboard. Control-X or Command-X are the keyboard shortcuts for the Cut function on Windows and Mac respectively. The Cut function can also be found under the Edit menu or the toolbar.
Document – Each document in Microsoft Word is essentially a new file. Each document can be several pages long. A new document can be created by hitting Control-N or Command-N, or by choosing the 'New Blank Document' option from the File menu or the standard toolbar.
Edit – The edit menu or toolbar in Microsoft Word allows users to perform basic editing functions in their document such as copying, cutting and pasting. It also contains options for the Undo and Find/Replace functions.
Font – A font is a type of design for text and typically incorporates this design into each letter, number and symbol found on a keyboard. Fonts can range from formal to whimsical. Microsoft Word comes with a series of provided fonts and additional ones can also be downloaded if needed. To change the font used in a document, select the text and either click on the main Font menu, the Font drop-down menu in the formatting toolbar or hit Control-D or Command D.
Footer – The footer is the text that consistently appears on every page of a document, at the bottom of each page. Footers normally include details such as the page number, or a company's name and contact details in formal documents. Add or edit a footer by choosing 'Header and Footer' under the View menu.
Format – The Format menu (or toolbar) goes one step further than the Edit menu. Users can make stylistic changes by changing the look of the text itself, paragraphs, lists and more.
Header – The header is similar to a footer except that it sits at the very top of every page in a document. Headers often contain page numbers, the document name or sub-titles within a document. The header can be edited by clicking on 'Header and Footer' within the View menu.
Justify, left justified, right justified – Justification is a type of alignment for text in a word processor. Justify ensures that both the left and right sides of the text in every paragraph run in a straight line. Left justify makes only the left side of the text aligned, while the right side remains ragged. Right justified does the complete opposite, with only the right side of the text aligned. Users can apply justification to their text by clicking on the corresponding buttons in the formatting toolbar or by selecting the text and clicking on 'Paragraph' under the Format menu.
Open – The Open command opens an existing document in Microsoft Word. Command or Control plus O, or choosing 'Open…' from the File menu will provide a pop-up window for users to select the document they wish to open.
Paste – The paste command takes any previously copied or cut text and lays it down within the document where the cursor is pointing. Control or Command plus V, or 'Paste' from the Edit menu or standard toolbar will run the paste function.
Print – The print command first opens a window where users can specify parameters of the paper, printer and ink they wish to print with and it provides a preview of what the physical print will look like. Control or Command plus P, or clicking on 'Print' in the File menu or standard toolbar lets users access the print window.
Quick access tool bar – The quick access toolbar is a small and moveable toolbar at the top of the document window. It usually contains buttons to save, undo, redo and print. This toolbar can also be customized to include or remove other commands.
Ribbon – The Ribbon is a type of toolbar found in versions of Microsoft Office 2007. It contains graphic buttons for commands and similar commands are shown in groups for easy access.
Save – The save command is one of the most important ones. It saves all of the work done to date within a document. The save command enables users to return to the same document later and continue writing, editing or printing. Control or Command plus S, or clicking 'Save' under the File menu or standard toolbar will save the document. The 'Save As' option is slightly different; it allows users to save the document as a different version by adding a different file name.
Text – Text is any of the words and paragraphs that a user types within a document.
Standard tool bar – The standard tool bar is the row of icons at the top of the document. Each of these buttons are used for basic functions such as saving, opening or printing documents, among other commands.
Undo – The undo feature keeps track of each command that a user issues while working on their document. Issuing the undo command allows the user to go back one step and restore the document as it was before their latest editing command. Related to the Undo command is Redo, which lets the user redo the same formatting command again. Control or Command plus Z, or 'Undo' under the Edit menu is used to undo a command, while Control or Command plus Y or 'Redo' under Edit is to redo a command.
Additional Resources
1. The Microsoft Word Toolbar Quiz
2. Test Your Knowledge of Microsoft Word Basic Functions
3. Print Microsoft Word Vocabulary Flash Cards
4. How Well do You Know Microsoft Word? (PDF)
5. Try This Online Microsoft Word Test
Articles
- Able2Extract Professional
Microsoft Office Training Books
- PDF to Excel
- PDF Conversion & Creation
- PDF Editing
- OCR for Scanned Documents
Office 365 Guide Book
- Miscellaneous
