What is Microsoft 365?
Microsoft 365 is a collection of services that provides you with Microsoft Office applications in the cloud, so you do not need to physically install them on each PC, laptop or mobile device that you use.
What do I get if I use Microsoft 365?
You will get an Outlook email account (your official College email), OneDrive cloud storage (1 TB), access to Office applications in the cloud and up to five installs per user on PCs or Macs. When you log in to Microsoft 365, you will see the list of apps and all details.
When do I get Microsoft 365?
Your account is created when you register for your first course. The details (including your Douglas College email address) are sent to your personal email. If you do not have this email from Douglas, the steps to find your email address can be found in this article - College email in Microsoft 365
How do I find out what my College email address is?
Your College Email address is sent to you via the email notification of the College account creation to your personal email or your email address can be found in myAccount.
1. Login to myAccount.
2. Select Personal Information.
3. Select View and Update Personal Information.
On a computer, your student email will be under the Email tile.
How do I login?
1. Go to http://portal.office.com.
2. On the Email field, type your College email address (username@student.douglascollege.ca).
3. On the Password field, use your College Network Access password (same password used for Blackboard/Wi-Fi/myAccount).
4. Click Sign in.
How long do I have access to it?
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Microsoft 365 is only available while you are a student at Douglas College. Once you have completed your studies, the system will email you a request to move all the files you would like to keep from OneDrive to your personal storage. You will receive a 30-day notice prior to the expiry date. All files left on the Microsoft 365 system after that will be deleted permanently and will not be recoverable.
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Please note: If you withdraw or drop out from all your courses at any given point during the semester, your Microsoft 365 account will be deleted immediately. You will NOT RECEIVE a 30-day notice before Microsoft deletes your account. Be sure to back up any files or emails that you would like to preserve before withdrawing or dropping out of all of your semester classes.
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IT Services cannot stress this enough: Do not use your student email for personal uses. IT Services also strongly recommends you forward all student emails to your personal email. You can follow these steps to set up automatic forwarding on your student email account: https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/turn-on-automatic-forwarding-in-outlook-7f2670a1-7fff-4475-8a3c-5822d63b0c8e#picktab=web
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You can visit https://products.office.com/en-CA/ and https://support.microsoft.com/en-ca/help/11545/microsoft-account-change-personal-email-address for more information.
Who can use it?
The service is available to all active students registered in an academic course at Douglas.
Why should I care about Microsoft applications in the cloud?
Some of them are the same ones you use for your assignments: Word, PowerPoint and Excel. The difference is that they are cloud applications, so it does not matter where you are and if you have the software installed on your computer. As long as you have a mobile device and Internet access, you will be able to work on your assignments.
What are the best practices for saving and storing data?
- OneDrive: OneDrive is a safe option to save your data. If you store your assignments in OneDrive, you will have access to them anytime. You will not be in a situation where you cannot work on them. We are giving you 1 TB of space. It is enough to store an essay with million pages or hundreds of thousands of photos.
- Local / Home Computer: To ensure you have access to your files even after you complete your studies at Douglas College or you withdraw from the course mid-way, we recommend that in addition to storing your files on OneDrive, always ensure you save a copy in your local / home computer. OneDrive files are deleted once you have completed your studies or have withdrawn/dropped all your courses.
- Encrypted USB Devices: DO NOT use unencrypted USB devices. Save your data securely on password protected (encrypted) USB devices.
My legal name has changed. How do I change my email address?
If your legal name has changed, please request the change to Enrolment Services. After that, they will contact IT Services to make the changes. Please wait for an email from IT Services in your personal email account confirming the change. If you do not hear back from us after a few days, please contact Enrolment Services again.
What should I do if I cannot see my Blackboard course emails in my Microsoft 365 inbox?
Check your Junk Email folder. They are probably there. When you find the messages you are looking for, select them and click "not junk" at the horizontal menu at the top. By doing it, the emails will be immediately moved to their correct folder.
Where do I get more information from Microsoft?