Common questions about Office 365

What is Office 365?

Microsoft Office 365 is a service offering access to Office programs over internet (cloud services), in addition to storage space available on the net (OneDrive).

Office 365 also includes the desktop versions of the most recent Office software, available for installation on your computers or devices. The programs included in UiB's package are: Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Publisher and Access. You may install the programs on multiple devices, including PC, Mac, Android pads and smart phones, iPad and iPhone. When you have an active Office 365 subscription including these desktop versions, you will always have the latest version of the Office programs available.

Please note that UiB's package does not include all services found in other flavours of the package. Notably, e-mail and calendar are not included.

Who can use Office 365?

All students at UiB. The services it not available for employees at this time.

Many other norwegian universities and colleges already offer or are planning to offer the service for their students.

What is OneDrive?

A cloud storage service included in Office 365. The files are stored in the Microsoft network cloud and are available to you from anywhere on the internet.

How do I get Office 365?

Access is opened automatically once you are registered as a UiB student.

How can I get started using Office 365?

Sign in on portal.office.com. See also How to log on to Office 365.

Why is Outlook/e-mail not included in Office 365?

As a UiB student, you get your own UiB e-mail-address ending in @student.uib.no, available on webmail.uib.no. This is the address used by UiB for communication regarding your studies etc.

Are my files safe in Office 365/OneDrive?

You may count on your files (data) being safe in the sense that they will not disappear or become available to others. However, you should not store sensitive data in cloud services. Please see Cloud services for more information.

Should I store my files in Office 365 or in my directory at UiB?

Any sensitive data should be stored in your directory at UiB. Other data may be stored where it is most convenient to you.

Do I have to use Office 365?

No, this is a voluntary offering.

Is UiB handing information about me to Microsoft?

To allow all students to use the service, UiB must hand over the following information aout the users to Microsoft: Name and e-mail-address.

UiB has entered into a data processing agreement woth Microsoft (Microsoft Online Services Data Processing Agreement (with EU Standard Contractual Clauses) Amendment ID MOS12) about the handling of these data.

I get an error message "Sorry, we couldn't create your new document". What do I do?

Apparently, Office 365 does not prepare your storage area until you need it. This takes some time, causing this error message the first time you try to open a new document. Please wait a little bit and try again. If the error persists, please contact student user support.

I have installed the Office software on my computer. When I start it, I receive a message asking me to log in or enter a license key. What do I do?

When you start the programs for the first time on your computer, you must log in to the Office 365 portal. Choose to log in (not license key) and log in using username@student.uib.no and your regular UiB password.

What happens when I finish my studies at UiB?

Your user account at UiB will be closed two moths after the term you finish your studies here. (In practice approx. November 1st if you finish in the spring term or April 1st if you finish in the autumn term.) After this your Office 365 account will be available for 30 days, allowing you to clear up and move any data you want to keep. After this your Office 365 account will be closed and you data deleted. You may continue a personal subscription and pay for this, see the next answer.

May I continue my Office 365 account after having finished my studies?

Microsoft has introduced an offer to continue the subscription as a "Office 365 Personal" subscription that you buy personally. For more information see Microsoft's web pages. (Please note that as UiB's Office 365 service at present does not include e-mail, the information about moving and redirecting e-mail are not relevant to UiB students.)

I use EndNote to manage my references. May I use Office 365 with EndNote?

For Windows it should work fine.

The current version of EndNote for Mac does not work with Office 365. If you need to use EndNote on Mac, you should stick to another (older) version of Micorsoft Office until EndNote releases a version compatible with Office 365.

How much storage space do I have on OneDrive?

1 Terabyte (TB).

May I install the Office 365 programs on multiple computers/devices?

Yes, they may be downloaded and installed on up to five devices. If you have exhausted this quota, you may manage your devices e.g. to remove the license from a computer you no longer use to transsfer it to a new computer.