Microsoft 365 (including Office): Features for DePaul Employees


All current DePaul faculty, staff, and student employees have access to Microsoft 365 apps, including email with Outlook, conferencing and chatting with Teams, cloud storage and file sharing with OneDrive, and a host of other features that continue to expand now that the university has migrated to Microsoft Exchange Online.

Information Services would like to thank all DePaul faculty, staff, and student employees for their patience as we moved all remaining DePaul email accounts to the Microsoft 365 cloud (also known as Microsoft Exchange Online). Now that the email migration is complete, all DePaul employees can utilize enhanced features. 

Which 365 apps can I use?

Visit your MyApps dashboard at myapps.microsoft.com (login with your BlueKey credentials) to see all of the apps available to you.

Install 365 Apps on up to 5 Personal Devices or Computers

Dont forget all current DePaul employees can install the latest version of Microsoft 365 apps on up to 5 personally-owned computers or mobile devices. Go to office365.depaul.edu, login with BlueKey, and select the "Install Apps" option.

Lots of Helpful Training Videos

Visit the Microsoft Training page for lots of brief and helpful training videos for 365 apps.

How to Access 365 Apps

Why use Microsoft 365 if I'm comfortable using something else?

Although you may be accustomed to using other productivity software, Microsoft 365 and its apps are important and central tools in many organizations and institutions. If you haven't learned how to use these apps, it's a good time to start using them. Microsoft offers quick and helpful training modules for all of their apps.

 


Expanded Microsoft 365 features available to DePaul employees in Microsoft 365 Cloud:  

Microsoft Planner

Microsoft Planner is an intuitive, collaborative task management tool available through Microsoft 365. It enables people to plan, manage, and complete task-based initiatives. With Planner, you can create plans for simple projects. Each plan has its own board, allowing you to effortlessly collaborate around tasks, including due dates, status, checklists, labels, and related file attachments. Check out the Microsoft Planner product page and training page

Microsoft To Do 

Microsoft To Do is a simple and intelligent to-do list that helps you manage all your tasks in one place. In each list you can add as many tasks as you like. Since all your tasks are stored on Exchange Online servers, they'll also appear automatically in Outlook tasks.  Learn more about To Do

Microsoft Bookings

Microsoft Bookings is a collaborative scheduling tool with a web-based booking page. Creators or team members selected as administrators can use the Bookings web-application to customize the booking page, manage staff, and set service offerings. The Booking page can be published to grant visitors the ability to choose a service and book an appointment date/time that is convenient for them. Learn more about Microsoft Bookings or check out this Bookings article with a helpful tutorial video.


Expanded Outlook Features for DePaul Employees

FindTime 

FindTime is an Outlook add-in for sharing meeting time options via poll. Microsoft will soon be releasing an update to Outlook to remove the add-in and adding an Outlook native feature called Scheduling Polls. How to create a FindTime poll.

Workspace Reservation 

With many DePaul employees now working remotely, some departments have opted to move from permanent individual office spaces to temporary shared Workspaces. Each Workspace can be individually reserved through your DePaul BlueM@il account. Please visit this Workspace Reservation article that provides helpful information and a tutorial video. If your department has not yet requested that Workspaces be created for your use, please submit a Resource Mailbox Request

Plus Email Addressing 

Plus addressing allows you to create unique, receive-only email addresses that work like extensions to your basic email address. It helps you keep your inbox tidy and protect it against influx of unwanted messages. You can create new plus addresses by adding a new tag to your BlueKey email address. You can use a plus address as a unique address for a service that you sign up for, then create rules to automatically organize these messages.  Learn more about Plus Email Addressing


Most Commonly Used 365 Apps

Outlook

Email and calendar, together in one place send, receive, and manage your email. Use Outlook’s built-in calendar to keep track of appointments and events. View the series of helpful tutorial videos linked below to learn how to do more things in Outlook.

Training Video: Getting started with Microsoft Outlook on a Windows, Mac, Apple, or Android computer or mobile device.

Teams

Stay connected and access shared content any time to learn, plan, and innovate—together. With Microsoft Teams you can make calls, video calls, and group calls. You can also chat with colleagues or create a channel to communicate with any group within the university. You can also easily find, share, and edit files together in real time with apps like Word, PowerPoint, and Excel.

Training Video: Getting started with Microsoft Teams

Word

Microsoft Word is a word processing program that allows for the creation of both simple and complex documents. Word has a desktop, mobile, and web app. Share Word documents with colleagues and collaborate with ease. Word now offers access to Microsoft Editor, stock images, icons, templates, and a growing number of features.

Training Video: Getting started with Microsoft Word

Excel

Micosoft excel is a spreadsheet-based application. Excel is a powerful tool for getting meaning out of vast amounts of data. But it also works really well for simple calculations and tracking almost any kind of information. The key for unlocking all that potential is the grid of cells. Cells can contain numbers, text, or formulas.

Training Video: Getting started with Microsoft Excel

Microsoft 365 - Mobile App

The new Microsoft 365 Mobile app combines Word, Excel, and PowerPoint with exclusive features to make it your go-to productivity app. It has Word, Excel, and PowerPoint in one app. View, edit, and share files without the need to switch between multiple apps. Transform pictures into editable Word and Excel files with the press of a button, and more. Create and sign PDFs, use Sticky Notes, quickly transfer files between devices, and more.


OneDrive

Training Video: Getting started with Microsoft OneDrive

Access files on your computer, mobile app, or web browser. Check out this quick intro video about OneDrive. You access, edit, and share your files on all your devices, wherever you are. You can also stay connected, share your documents and photos with friends and family, and collaborate in real time with Microsoft 365 apps. Access OneDrive by using your BlueKey login credentials (username@depaul.edu and password).

OneDrive is storage in the cloud. There are many ways to access your cloud files, or upload files to your OneDrive cloud storage. Make sure to setup files so that they backup (or sync) automatically. You can view, download, and upload files through a web browser at onedrive.com. You can also download the OneDrive app to a Mac, smartphone, or older Windows computer to sync and manage files.

All files go to the same place. Lose a device, you don't lose the files (as long as you are syncing your files to the cloud). Instead of saving files to a computer or phone's hard drive, choose to save in OneDrive (once OneDrive has been installed on your computer). When a file is saved in OneDrive, any changes are automatically saved when the file is connected to a mobile or WiFi network. 

OneDrive on a DePaul-issued, Windows-based computer:

OneDrive in a web browser:

OneDrive on a Mac or Windows computer that doesn't have OneDrive preinstalled:

DePaul students, faculty, and staff also have the option to download OneDrive for either a Windows computer or Mac.

OneDrive on Android or Apple mobile devices:


Helpful Links