Using Office 365
for Students

Students have had access to Microsoft Office 365 for a few years now, however - now that we have transferred from Gmail to Microsoft Outlook (an Office 365 app) it may be useful to learn a bit about how to use it.

On this page you'll find instructions on how to access Microsoft 365, and how to use Microsoft Outlook, which works a little differently than Google Gmail.

Accessing Office 365

Office 365.mp4

Here's a video that can help you see how to access and navigate Office 365.

Accessing Office 365 works very similarly to accessing Google Workspace (or Google Drive) and is as easy to access anywhere you have an internet connection.

The website for Office 365 is office.com and your login information is the same as your school account that you use for your Chromebook and for the district's SSO. If you are already logged into your Chromebook, you won't have to sign in and you'll be brought to the dashboard (pictured). From here you can access all the apps available to you such as Microsoft Word, Excel, and PowerPoint and most importantly Outlook.

All of these apps function the same as they would on a computer, with some additional benefits (such as online storage).

Navigate to the different apps using the navigation menu on the left hand side or by using the apps button (the "Waffle" button) in the top left corner. This button is available in every Office 365 app in the same corner.

Using Microsoft Outlook

Here is a video you can watch that walks through the various sections of Outlook.

Microsoft Outlook Basics.mp4

Microsoft Outlook is an email service similar to Google Gmail. However, it works a bit differently from Google Gmail.

Steps:

  1. Go to office.com and open Outlook or go directly to outlook.office.com.

  2. Here are the various sections on the screen:

    1. New Message - Compose a new email by selecting this button. This will open a new message in the body section of this screen and it can be typed on and sent out to other email users.

    2. Folder Navigation - This section of the screen allows you to navigate different folders in Outlook, the most useful one is likely Inbox, but you may find use of Sent Items and Archive (if you choose to archive certain emails).

    3. Inbox Navigation - This section of the screen will list emails present inside whichever folder you have selected. By default, it will be your inbox. When there are many email messages here you can scroll up and down to find messages.

    4. Message - This section of the screen contains whatever message you have currently selected. It will default to the latest message in your inbox.

    5. Search - This search bar will navigate your messages within your email. You can search for email content or names of senders.

Composing and Sending an Email

This video will walk through all the steps to write and send a new email.

Outlook Sending Emails.mp4

Composing a new email is fairly straightforward but there are slightly different buttons than with Gmail.

Here are the steps to follow to complete an email:

  1. Navigate to office.com and open Outlook or go directly to outlook.office.com.

  2. Click the "New Message" button in the top left corner of the screen.

  3. Add an addressee by typing their information in the "To" box.

  4. The "Cc" box is for sending emails to additional people who are not necessarily the main person or people you want to receive the email.

  5. Type in a subject in the "Add a subject" box.

    • The subject line is where you can enter a few words or a phrase to let your addressee what your email is about.

  6. Type your message in the body of the email - this is the large blank box.

  7. Once finished, review your message to make sure it includes everything you want to say, and then click "Send."

    • Note: You can select the "Send Later" option using the drop down menu next to the Send button. This allows you to schedule a time for your message to get sent in the future.

  8. That's all! You should receive a message that your email successfully sent.