Getting Started with Office 365 before your migration

As part of the University of Manitoba’s efforts to prevent the spread of COVID-19, faculty and staff will be receiving early access to Office 365.

The University is in the process of migrating all faculty and staff to Microsoft 365 this year. Office 365** has been in use by students since 2015 and piloted with employees last fall. Its collaboration features make Office 365 an ideal solution to make working remotely easier.

If your faculty or unit has not been fully migrated to Microsoft 365, this early implementation will provide you with the most recent web-based version of Office applications on top of the core Office suite already installed on your computer. The versions of Office on your UM provided computer will remain the same until they are upgraded later this year. However, you will be able to download the newest version of Office applications to your personal and mobile devices.

** Microsoft recently rebranded their platform to the name, “Microsoft 365”.

Please note that you cannot use Outlook Online or the Outlook mobile app for your UM email at this time. Continue to use your regular mail clients or Outlook Web Access for your UM email.

For users not supported by IST, be aware that you must log in to all Office 365 services using your University of Manitoba email address (first.last@umanitoba.ca) and credentials.

You can get started using Office365 in three easy steps:

Step 1: Sign-In to Office 365

Your first step will be to sign into the Office 365 portal.  Completing this step will verify that your license was correctly provisioned.

  1. Open a web-browser on your device and navigate to http://portal.office.com
  2. Sign-in using your UM email address and password.  The Office 365 home page will open and display your most recently used applications and documents.
  3. To launch any application not displayed on the Home page, click on the “Waffle” in the top-left corner of the page. This is the App launcher icon.

To learn the basics of using Office 365, click the link below:

Step 2: Learn About Teams & OneDrive

Microsoft Teams and OneDrive are great tools that help you collaborate with coworkers and save documents in one centralized place.

Microsoft Teams

Teams makes it easier to maintain the cadence of in-person communication and collaboration with your coworkers when out of the office.  It includes individual and group chat, audio and video calls, file sharing, and more.

To access a series of Microsoft Teams training videos, click the link below:

The recommended browser for use with Teams is Google Chrome. If you are unable to use Chrome, Microsoft provides instructions for joining a Teams meeting using an unsupported browser.

Microsoft OneDrive

Microsoft OneDrive provides cloud storage for your files, giving you the convenience of working from the same version across multiple devices and preventing critical work from being lost if your main device is jeopardized.

If you have registered a personal Office 365 account with your University of Manitoba email address, it is very important to BACKUP the files in your personal OneDrive folder BEFORE adding your work account to your OneDrive configuration.

The OneDrive folder will appear in File Explorer on your UM provided computer.  Faculty and staff working remotely are encouraged to save to the cloud to prevent loss of work.  OneDrive automatically saves documents from your computer to the cloud.  A OneDrive icon in your Windows system tray notifies you when this is occurring.

To access a series of Microsoft OneDrive training videos, click the link below:

OneDrive Privacy, Security and Records Management

One Drive and Privacy

The University is rolling out M365, including One Drive to staff as part of ensuring Business Continuity.  This new service is important in ensuring access to essential information during the coming weeks.  However, all staff are cautioned against using One Drive as a location to store or manage sensitive personal health information and personal information.  All personal information and personal health information must be limited to the minimum amount of information shared with only individuals who have a need to know.

One Drive and Security

When using One Drive, staff are responsible for managing permissions for access to documents in their personal storage space.  While overarching security rules are in place, this environment still requires additional vigilance when handling sensitive personal information, or confidential/restricted university business information.  When sharing any documents from within your One Drive, please ensure to check and double check the permissions you have selected.

One Drive and Records Management

Use of One Drive will ensure that staff are able to access and share essential business information as we move to implement social distancing practices.  However, it is important to recognize that One Drive is more comparable to a personal Home drive than a Shared Drive or business information system.

When business operations return to normal, it is essential that all staff who have used One Drive as a collaborative tool ensure that all records are once again saved into their usual locations, such as an Shared Drive on local information system to ensure access to all business documentation 

Step 3 (Optional): Prepare Mobile & Personal Devices

Installing office on a personal computer or mobile device is an alternative option for faculty or staff who have non-portable computers or use a computer not provisioned by IST.

Install Office on a Personal Computer

Your faculty and staff license allows users to install Microsoft Office on up to five personal computers.  If your UM provisioned computer is a desktop, you have not been provisioned a computer, or you are using your own PC or Mac, this option will provide you with the newest version of the Office applications.

To find out how to install office on a personal computer, click the link below:

Install Office on a Mobile Device

Your faculty and staff license allows users to install Microsoft Office on up to five mobile devices and five additional tablets.  Using Office on iOS or Android can give you the on-the-go convenience of replying to a quick chat, notating a document, or delivering a presentation from your mobile device.

To find out how to install office on a mobile device, click the link below: