Four Epic Hacks for Office 365

You’re in the Office 365 club – a club made up of millions around the world who are collaborating easier (and faster) with this online productivity suite. While collaborative cloud software can be a fantastic tool to increase productivity in the workplace, when utilizing software like Office 365, it’s easy to get bombarded by all of the features available if you’re new to the product. To make navigating the platform easier for new Office 365 users, we’ve listed some helpful tips below. 

1. Skypes and Typing: Skype for Business integrates with Word Online and PowerPoint Online. Perhaps one of most useful features available is the ability to chat with people collaborating on a Word document or PowerPoint presentation in real time. The ‘chat’ option appears whenever more than one person is actively working on the piece. Users can see their fellow editors typing, pasting, copying, etc. People are also identifiable, as their name is attached to their cursor. Even if you’re not in the document, if you have Skype on your phone, computer, or browser open, you can chat. Chat titles reflect the title of the document or presentation. Contact cards are also automatically added to group collaborators.

2. Attachment – We Bid You Adieu: Thanks to OneDrive and Sharepoint, we can leave the days of adding attachments to emails behind us. Now, once you upload or create a document, presentation, note, or spreadsheet, it lives in Microsoft’s cloud. Each has its own unique URL. You can click ‘Share+’ and a window with the shareable link pops up. Depending on your preferences, you can select links that allow people certain permissions. Collaborators can either ‘view link’ or ‘edit link’. Links are also available for sharing with people outside of your company. For example, one option would appear as ‘Edit link- no login required’. Need more detail?

3. Anywhere, Anytime Access: Not by your laptop? No problem. Office 365 applications are available to download on Androids, iPhones, tablets, ipads, and Windows phone, and Windows 10 devices. Depending on your Office 365 subscription type (home vs. business) the applications available for download on these devices may vary. Keeping these applications at your fingertips can be a great asset, especially for your business. All users need is their login and an Internet connection. Say one of your collaborators is editing a document from their mobile device, and you are editing it from the browser app, you will both be able to see one another live editing.

4. Save your doc here, there, and everywhere: While Office 365 allows you to create and edit documents inside the platform, many people still prefer to save their documents locally to their desktop. Uploading those Office documents, presentations, and spreadsheets to Office 365 may sound like a hassle. To take the extra step out of the process, Office 2016 is fully configured to save to OneDrive or Sharepoint. When you’re ready to move a document to the cloud, simply click ‘Save’ from the dropdown menu as you normally would. Then you will see options to save to OneDrive (specific notebooks too!) and Sharepoint. Should the document be a born in the cloud app, you can also choose to download it to your desktop

Office 365 is a powerful platform with tons of applications to make your workday more productive and collaborative. For even more information, check out our eBook: 8 Epic Hacks for Office 365. This eBook offers tips and tricks to help you master the software and accomplish your tasks without wasting time. Download it today!