Tag Archives: Office 365

Office 365

Office 365 Usage Scenarios

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O365 contains a lot of tools. Most users do not even know about all the tools available. Even if you know the tools, the next question is – which tool to use when? Most people take this decision either randomly or based upon their habits. Both approaches are wrong. I created a set of 5 videos to illustrate some common Office 365 Usage Scenarios.

Office 365 Usage Scenarios

This is a playlist in YouTube. Each video is about a common business need. For each business need, the video demonstrates the best suited tool. As you know, efficiency is a two step process… step 1 is to know what is available and step 2 is to use the right tool in the right place.

You can view the playlist here.
These videos have a British voice because I created these videos for global consumption.

Here are the videos. Each one is just 5 minutes long. Continue reading Office 365 Usage Scenarios →

OneDrive

Move to OneDrive option

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Small but useful enhancement for OneDrive. When you have the latest version of OneDrive for Business installed (it updates automatically along with Windows Update), you should see a Move to OneDrive option on right clicking any file or folder in Windows Explorer.

Move to OneDrive option

Choose between all the locally configured OneDrive accounts.
Business as well as Personal.

Importance of Move to OneDrive option

Without this option, most users COPIED files and folder to OneDrive. This had two side effects…

  1. The original files stayed on the local drive as a separate copy. This means the same file is occupying space twice.
  2. Often users got confused about which file they are editing / opening – the local copy or the OneDrive based file. This leads to lost changes and further confusion.

Best Practice: Move to OneDrive

The best practice is to MOVE rather than COPY local files to OneDrive. But even if you mention that as a best practice, moving itself is a cumbersome task. Even though everyone understands the difference between Copy Paste vs. Cut Paste, people feel more safe to do a Copy Paste first.

Why? Because they are worried about what happens if the Cut Paste (Move) fails. The reality is, even if a bulk Move fails, only the file which was being moved will get affected. Other files will be either in the source or destination. So there is no real danger of losing all the files in case of a failed Move operation.

Nevertheless, having a direct option for Move to OneDrive is more authoritative and reassuring.

Make sure you include this option in your training material and best practices documents.

Bonus : New OneDrive logo

Hope you have noticed the new OneDrive logo… here it is.

This one is modern and is implemented as an SVG file rather than a raster icon. It uses a more vibrant colour scheme. All Office logos have changed to make it visually consistent.

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OneDrive

Change filename while the file is open

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Hope you have noticed this handy feature. If your Office files are stored on OneDrive, Teams or SharePoint, you can change the file name WHILE you are editing the file.

It is so simple, but extremely useful. From the title bar, open the dropdown next to the file name. The filename textbox is editable. Change the name and press ENTER. That’s it.

Change file name dialog

What else can you do here?

  1. See Version History
  2. Open the file on web location (OneDrive, SharePoint or Teams)
  3. Share a file (this can be done more easily using the Share button in the ribbon)

Rename not possible with older file formats

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This is an XLS file. It opens in Compatibility Mode. Live Rename is not possible.

Teams

Minimize button in Teams Screen Sharing

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Small but useful feature added to Teams. During Teams meetings when the desktop is shared, the communication option windows used to stay on the screen. This windows often overlapped important areas of the screen. The only way to avoid that interference was to manually move it to the bottom right corner (or some such inconspicuous area).

Now the problem is solved. There is a nice Minimize button. The window disappears. Job done.

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How to get it back? Look at the Taskbar and click on the Teams app icon. There is another window visible. Click on it to get the window back.

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This applies to the Desktop Teams App only.

OneDrive

Difference between save to This PC and Browse

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While saving files we see these two options: This PC and Browse. What is the difference?

If it is a local file, Save or Save As – there is no difference. It opens the standard file save dialog showing local PC files.

If this is a OneDrive, SharePoint or Teams file, there is a difference. For saving these files for the first time, we choose OneDrive or Sites (Teams). Therefore, the Browse and This PC does not come into picture.

However, when you are saving a copy of such files, there is a difference. Note that for online files, there is NO Save As option, it is a Save a Copy option.

If you choose This PC, it will still show the standard File Save dialog showing the default folder (typically Documents).

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But if you choose Browse, it browses the current file save location – which is OneDrive or Teams or SharePoint.

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Office 365

WhatsApp vs Kaizala

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WhatsApp is simple, convenient and popular. Due to this, it is used for official work as well. Whether you like it or not, you have to accept it. Attempts to control it fail miserably. That is where Kaizala comes in. It provides all the convenience of WhatsApp plus all the security and governance you need for managing official work and data. It is a no brainer. But still, let us see WhatsApp vs Kaizala comparison from a business collaboration point of view.

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Reading time 6 min

Continue reading WhatsApp vs Kaizala →

Office 365

Password-less login in Office 365

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Just using a login id and password is dangerous. For best protection we must use two factor login – password + OTP. But this is inconvenient and irritating. Now we have a new option – Password-less login – for Office 365. This is secure as well as convenient. See how easy it is and ask your IT team to enable it for you. (5 min reading time)

Password-less login

This requires you to download Microsoft Authenticator app on your mobile and configure it once. You must enable the Phone Sign-In option.

Once this is done, you do NOT need to type in your password at all during login. Here are the steps.

  1. Go to the login page Office.com and click Sign In
  2. Enter the login name and click Next
  3. Now, instead of asking for your password, it will just display a number

    Password-less login screen showing a 2 digit number

  4. At the same time, you will receive a notification on your mobile. This notification shows three numbers.

    Passwor-less login notification on mobile phone

  5. Choose the correct number from the mobile notification and choose Approve
  6. If the phone was locked at the time of receiving this notification, you will have to enter unlock code or use fingerprint or face sign-in
  7. That’s it. Now your login is done … without entering the password.

What happens if there is no internet connection

For the Password-less login to work, the Microsoft Authenticator app requires internet connection  on the mobile. If there is no internet connection, you can click on the Use your password instead option.

In this case, you can type the password as usual. You will NOT receive a notification on mobile. But the Microsoft Authenticator app will still show the code for your account. Type that code and the login will work. The codes are automatically generated every 30 seconds. This does not require an internet connection on your mobile.

Ask IT to enable Password-less login

This is an Azure AD feature. Ask  your IT team to refer to this article for details. It is just a single PowerShell command as of now (Dec 2018). Soon it will be available as an option in Azure AD portal user interface as well.

Office 365

Enable Office 365 MFA and be safe

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Quick guide for Office 365 MFA. Includes admin and user tasks in brief.

Admin: Enable Office 365 MFA

  1. Go to Admin Portal 
  2. Users – Select the user
  3. Office 365 MFA option in User properties
  4. Select user(s) again and click the Enable button
  5. That’s it. Now it is the user’s turn to take the next steps

User: Enable Office 365 MFA – first time only

  1. You must go to a browser – incognito / InPrivate / private mode
  2. Go to https://portal.office.com
  3. Login as usual.
  4. Click Next in the Additional Information dialog
  5. Now there are many options and this can be a confusing step
  6. Open the dropdown choose Mobile App and Choose Receive Notifications for verification option

    Choosing the Mobile App autentication option

  7. Click the Set Up option. After some processing, it will show a QR code
  8. Now it is time to download and install the Microsoft Authenticator App on mobile (Android and iOS)
  9. Open the app and from the top right menu, choose Add Account – Work or School Account
  10. Scan the QR code
  11. Now it will register the account on the mobile and you will see a 6 digit code which keeps changing every 30 seconds (does not require internet connection)

    Mobile account registered showing authentication code

  12. Now click Next on the browser side.
  13. You will now receive an notification on the mobile phone.
    Choose the Approve option.

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  14. Now the MFA is configured.
    Please note, the displayed 6 digit number is NOT REQUIRED to be entered anywhere. This is because, we are using the Receive Notification for Verification option.
  15. In the next step, it will ask another number for verification in case you lose your mobile. Add a different number here.  Click Next.

Special password for Outlook and Skype for Business

Outlook client and Skype FB does not support MFA. Your regular account password will stop working as soon as MFA is configured. Outlook will keep asking for your password and your regular password will not work. Now you have to use a special password.

That is the one shown to you in the next dialog as Step 4. Copy that password and use the same password it for Outlook and SFB. Use one password for laptop and one for desktop / mobile, etc.

If you use any ActiveSync client on mobile, that will also require a password. Technically you can use this password, but it is better to create another one.

How to do that? Go to Portal.Office.com, click on your photo, go to My account – Security – You will see a Create App Passwords option. Create a new one from there and use it.

User: Regular Office 365 MFA login

Now onwards, MFA is enabled. Now login using two steps

Step 1: Login using UID PWD as usual.

Step 2: Immediately, you will receive the Approval notification on mobile.

Congratulations

Chances of your account being hacked reduced by 99% now.

Share this with everyone you love and make their digital lives also safer.

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Office 365

Store files in Office 365 – Best Practices

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(Reading time 3 min ) This article provides concise instructions on where to store files when you have Office 365 E3 or above in your organization. There are multiple places and apps within Office 365 where files can be stored. But there is no clarity about which file goes where.  Here is a simple guide for everyone.

where to store files poster

Continue reading Store files in Office 365 – Best Practices →