Key changes:

• New Name and Icon: The app is now called the Microsoft 365 Copilot app, with a new icon to reflect this change.
• Enhanced Functionality: The app continues to serve as a productivity hub, allowing users to find, create, share, and collaborate in one place. The integration of Copilot introduces AI-driven features for tasks such as asking questions, creating content, drafting documents, and building agents.

How does this impact me?

• A fresh look and feel: The user interface (UI) has been modernized for clarity and ease of use, including cleaner layouts, smarter menus, and a more consistent experience across apps. Helpful tip: Use the built-in walkthrough the first time you open the Copilot app – it’s a great way to get oriented.
• Updated URL: The web URL has been updated to m365.cloud.microsoft, with automatic redirects from office.com and microsoft365.com. So update those Bookmarks.
• Free access to Copilot chat: Users with a Microsoft 365 license or a Microsoft 365 Copilot license can access Copilot Chat at no additional cost.

For more details, please visit the The Microsoft 365 app transition to the Microsoft 365 Copilot app.

Note: If you are supported by departmental IT administrators, please contact your local IT support person to find out when your system will be upgraded with Office 365.  

Now that all staff and faculty have access to Microsoft 365 tools in the new cloud environment, it’s time to take advantage of the great features in Office 365 (also called Microsoft 365 Apps).

Microsoft 365 Apps are integrated with OneDrive and Teams so you can access, share and co-author documents easily from wherever you are.

If you are still waiting for your upgrade, you will receive notice of your department’s upgrade date from your Business Manager.

With Office 365 on your desktop you can:

• Work collaboratively with your colleagues across all your devices
• Access the very latest version of your documents – all the time
• Collaborate on the most recent versions of Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, OneNote, Sway, and Publisher – to create impactful content together with your teams

Operation Upgrade lunch and learn series July 5-8, 2021

We’ve planned a second series of one-hour online webinars during the week of July 5 to introduce some of the new Office tools like Microsoft Planner and Bookings. 

Webinar schedule

All sessions are scheduled between 12:00 p.m. and 12:50 p.m. and will be hosted in MS Teams. Click on the links below for more information about each session. 

• July 6 – Build Your Skills with Microsoft Teams
• July 7 – Share Files in Microsoft365
• July 8 – Microsoft Teams Advanced
• July 9 – Using Microsoft Bookings

If you can’t attend a session but would like to learn more, visit the Welcome to Microsoft 365 page for links to self-guided training. 

Our project was planned to begin last summer, but the pandemic intervened. As a result, the project rolled out new licenses to all staff and faculty last March so everyone would have access to Microsoft’s online tools for collaboration.

During the summer of 2020, we began the migration of all student, staff and faculty mailboxes to our new Microsoft environment and started our training series. By the end of December, two thirds of all staff accounts (about 8300 mailboxes) were migrated to the Microsoft 365 environment and over 1500 staff and faculty had attended live Teams and OneDrive training.

Access to the new Microsoft apps enabled the university to successfully pivot to a new workstyle.  Staff and faculty were willing to quickly adopt new tools like Teams to conduct meetings and share information, and OneDrive to store files, in addition to learning how to conduct our day-to-day tasks from a remote location.

“To date, 2500 people have attended our lunch and learn sessions. It’s wonderful to see how enthusiastic people are about the new tools available with Microsoft 365,” says K-L Holter, director of IST Engagement Services.  

The project completed the remaining mail migrations in March and will be working with faculty and unit IT leads to upgrade the Office 365 desktop client this spring and summer.  The desktop applications will allow staff and faculty to take full advantage of the new tools and functionality available in Microsoft 365.

If you have any concerns or questions about desktop application rollout, please contact the IST Service Desk at 204-474-8600.

Visit our Microsoft 365 website for project updates and links to self-paced learning.

When you’re on the go, you can use the OneDrive mobile app to access or share files and photos right from your mobile device. Download and install the OneDrive app for Android or iOS to get started. 

Storing your files in OneDrive also provides some file management advantages. These include viewing previous versions of documents, controlling who has access to your files and easily restoring deleted files and folders.

View previous versions of OneDrive files

Avoid mistakes by viewing previous versions of a file, comparing different versions and restoring a file back to an older version if necessary.

Try it!

• View previous versions of Office files

Control who has access to your files

You have control of who has access to your documents. When you share a file in OneDrive, you can choose who can see the file. Add an extra layer of security by setting an expiration date or a password on a shared file. You can also stop sharing at any time.

Try it!

• Share OneDrive files and folders
• See files you shared in OneDrive

Restore deleted files

Did you accidentally throw away a file? In OneDrive, deleted files and folders are moved to the OneDrive Recycle bin. Files you delete from OneDrive are stored in the Recycle bin for 30 days before they are permanently deleted so you can easily recover a deleted file yourself. 

Try it!

• Delete and restore deleted files

New to OneDrive? Start with  Build your skills with Microsoft OneDrive . Learn more with UM’s self-paced learning modules in Microsoft 365 learning pathways  (log in with your UM email address and password).

Currently, the breakout rooms feature is only available in the desktop version of the app and only meeting organizers can start breakout rooms. However, participants can join a breakout room using any device.  

How to add breakout rooms to your Teams desktop app 

1. Ensure you have the latest version of Teams installed.  
2. In Teams, click your profile picture and go to Settings. 
3. In the General section of Settings, check the box beside “Turn on new meeting experience.” 
4. Quit and restart Teams.   

More on Microsoft.com

Read the announcement and watch breakout rooms in action: Breakout rooms generally available today in Microsoft Teams