Get started with Office 365

Your organization recently got Office 365, and now you need to use Office 365 so you can start reading email, sharing documents, and more. Read this article to learn how to set up and use Office 365 on your computer, phone, and tablet.

• Sign in to your new Office 365 account
• Explore Office 365 on the web
• Use Office 365 on your phone or tablet
• Install software like Office or Lync
• Use Word, Excel, and other Office programs
• Find answers to your questions

Sign in to your new Office 365 account

First, go to the Office 365 portal, and then sign in with the user ID and temporary password that your admin or manager gave you. The first time you sign in, you’ll be asked to change your password.

 Note    If this information doesn’t match what you’re seeing, you may be using Office 365 pre-upgrade. Try Get started with Office 365 (for a small business) or Get started with Office 365 (for an enterprise) to find the information that applies to you. Am I using Office 365 after the service upgrade?

Explore Office 365 on the web

After you sign in, you can get right to work in the Office 365 portal. Your account is already up and running.

At the top of the page, click…	To explore…
Outlook, Calendar, or People	Outlook Web App for email, calendars, and contacts Read more: Start using Outlook Web App for email and calendars
Newsfeed	SharePoint newsfeeds for people at your organization Read more: Start using SharePoint sites, SkyDrive Pro, and Newsfeed to share documents and ideas
Sites or SkyDrive	SharePoint team sites and SkyDrive Pro, where you can access and share Office documents Read more: Start using SharePoint sites, SkyDrive Pro, and Newsfeed to share documents and ideas
Settings	Your personal account settings in Office 365 Read more: Change your account settings in Office 365 like your password or language

Use Office 365 on your phone or tablet

You can use Office 365 with many phones, tablets, and other mobile devices—including Windows Phones, iPhones, BlackBerry® devices, and Android devices. Depending on your mobile device, you can use email, share documents, and more.

To see setup instructions for your device, at the top of the page in Office 365, click Settings > Office 365 settings> Get started > Phone & tablet. Then, select your phone or tablet.

Read more: Set up and use Office 365 on your phone or tablet

Install software like Office or Lync

Office 365 is online, so you can access it from almost anywhere, but it also works with software that you install on your computer:

• You probably already use Office desktop programs like Word and Excel. Office works with Office 365 (and some plans of Office 365 include a subscription to the latest version of Office).
• Office 365 includes Lync for IM, Lync meetings, and video conferences.
• Office 365 works with a PC or a Mac.

Use Word, Excel, and other Office programs

• At the top of the page in Office 365, click Sites or SkyDrive. Both SharePoint team sites and SkyDrive Pro let you access and share documents, including documents from Word, Excel, PowerPoint, OneNote, and Access.
• Anyone can use Office Web Apps, which include Word Web App, Excel Web App, PowerPoint Web App, and OneNote Web App. To make a new document, click SkyDrive at the top of the page, and then click New document.
• See Install software like Office or Lync for details on how to set up Office desktop programs and use them with Office 365.

Find answers to your questions

If you have a problem with Office 365, ask an Office 365 admin in your organization for help. (If you aren’t sure who your admins are, ask around. They’re probably the people who sent you information about how to sign in to Office 365.) If an admin isn’t available, take a look at these resources.

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