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Overview
Microsoft 365 is more than just an email system. All students, faculty, and staff can access a range of powerful, online versions of the most popular Microsoft apps. You can access your mail, edit documents, create powerpoints, manage data with Excel, and message with Teams from any PC running a compatible web browser. You don’t have to install anything on your device since Microsoft 365 can run on the web and uses OneDrive cloud storage to save files.
The University’s Microsoft 365 environment is also configured with access to the Pitt global address list. It's easy to view your friends’ and colleagues’ availability, dash off a quick email using Outlook online, create a meeting, collaborate on a project, or watch a video.
Best of all, Microsoft 365 is available free of charge to students and teaching faculty. Non-teaching faculty and staff need to be in a department that has purchased the Microsoft Campus Agreement license in order to fully utilize Microsoft 365.
Detail
Accessing Microsoft 365
All University students, faculty members, and staff can log into the Microsoft 365 environment. Just go to microsoft365.com and enter your University email address in the Email or Phone field. You may need to select the work account login option if you are presented with a choice between a work account or a Microsoft account login. Then, look for the Pitt Passport login page and enter your University Computing Account username and password.
Cost
Access to the Microsoft 365 web applications requires a license. The University has negotiated a site license that authorizes all students and teaching faculty to access the entire suite of Microsoft 365 web applications at no individual cost. Non-teaching faculty and staff need to be part of a department that has purchased a yearly subscription to the Microsoft Campus Agreement.
Microsoft 365 Online
Microsoft 365 offers access to online versions of established Microsoft 365 PC applications such as Outlook, Word, Excel, and PowerPoint, among others.
These online versions of the Microsoft 365 applications require no configuration and can be run from any system with a reasonably up-to-date web browser. They are not intended as full-blown replacements for the full desktop-PC versions of the Microsoft 365 applications but are great for quick, convenient editing. For the best experience, establish a personal Windows or macOS computer, outfitted with full-featured versions of Microsoft 365 applications by taking advantage of your Microsoft 365 download options (see below).
The mobile versions of the Microsoft 365 applications can perform many utility functions quickly and can easily access files stored on your OneDrive cloud file share. Click on the links below for more information on the most popular uses of the Microsoft 365 online applications.
Pitt Email (Outlook)
The Outlook Mail tile in Microsoft 365 is the Pitt Email (Outlook) web interface. It is the web version of Microsoft’s powerful Outlook mail application that is the industry standard for managing mail, calendars, and contacts. Read and respond to all of your University email correspondence from the web with ease from any system that can support a compatible browser. Look up addresses in the Pitt global address list for sending messages or meeting appointments.
Microsoft Word Online
Read and make changes to your documents in an online version of the Microsoft Word interface that you already know. Great for viewing attached documents that arrive via Microsoft 365 Mail or for making changes to documents on your OneDrive share without having to download them to your PC. Documents saved or edited with Microsoft Word Online are fully compatible with desktop and mobile versions of Microsoft 365.
Microsoft Excel Online
Keep track of critical data, reports, calculations, and graphics using the web version of Microsoft’s powerful Excel spreadsheet program. While it does not support many functions of the powerful desktop version, Excel Online is an excellent collaborative platform for spreadsheets stored and shared via OneDrive. Excel Online uses the same "xlsx" file format as the desktop versions of Excel.
Microsoft PowerPoint Online
The Microsoft 365 online version of PowerPoint is especially helpful in processing presentations that arrive as attachments to your Pitt Email (Outlook) account. Double-clicking on an attachment in an email window will give you the option to view the attachment quickly using the web version of PowerPoint. You can also create your own presentations that include text, graphics, video, and a library of dynamic transition effects.
Installing Microsoft 365 Desktop Apps
The University's Microsoft 365 agreement with Microsoft includes download access for respective Windows and Macintosh applications. These applications are available for download and installation to all teaching faculty and students free of charge. Non-teaching faculty and staff can download these applications if they are members of a department that has purchased the Microsoft Campus Agreement. The University's license allows eligible students, faculty, and staff to install Microsoft 365 on up to five different PC systems.
These applications run locally on your PC, so you don't need an internet connection to use them. They are configured slightly different then their Microsoft 365 online counterparts and may offer better performance, especially calculating complex Excel formulas or editing large PowerPoint presentations. More information on Microsoft 365 is available here.
To install the Microsoft 365 desktop apps, follow the tutorials below. Note that the desktop apps are only available for Windows and Mac devices.
Windows 10/11
- Go to microsoft365.com and login with your University Computing Account
- In the upper right-hand corner, click install and more
- Click Install Microsoft 365 apps
- A new page will open. In the upper-left box, click Install Office
- Once the installer has finished downloading, run it and wait for your Microsoft 365 apps to finish installing
- Once the applications are finished installing, open any one of them. Answer the questions until you are on the main page of the app. Click sign in and enter your University email address ending in pitt.edu. Then, sign in to the Pitt Passport
- Congratulations! The Microsoft 365 desktop apps are now activated on your device
macOS
- Click on the App Store in the dock
- Search for Microsoft 365
- Click view on the result for the app bundle. Click get, install, and enter your Apple ID information if applicable
- Once the applications are finished installing, open any one of them. Answer the questions until you are on the main page of the app. Click sign in and enter your University email address ending in pitt.edu. Then, sign in to the Pitt Passport
- Congratulations! The Microsoft 365 desktop apps are now activated on your device
Mobile Apps
An additional benefit of the Microsoft 365 environment is quick access to a variety of mobile apps that you can install on your tablet or smartphone such as Word, PowerPoint, or Excel. The license that enables students, faculty, and staff access to Microsoft 365 also covers the full licensing of these mobile apps. These apps can be installed through your respective mobile device's app store.
The Microsoft 365 mobile apps will install without a license code but will operate in a reduced capacity (only being able to open, but not save files). However, registering apps with your University Computing Account username and password opens up locked features of the apps such as saving and creating new documents. This eligibility to fully utilize these mobile apps follows the license that enables access for Microsoft 365. Students and teaching faculty can download and fully activate the mobile apps at no charge. Staff and non-teaching faculty need to be part of a department that has purchased the Microsoft Campus Agreement.
Under the University's license that covers Microsoft 365 and the mobile apps, licensed users can fully activate Microsoft 365 mobile apps on up to five different mobile/tablet devices. These entitlements are separate from the Microsoft 365 privileges, that also allow installation on up to five PCs and five mobile devices.