Once you have signed into the portal, you have the option to use several different apps. You may have noticed or added apps such as Word, PowerPoint, or Excel. These are a few of the Microsoft Program apps that are accessible from your Student Portal and linked to your Microsoft 365 account. When you create and edit documents using the online programs, they are saved to OneDrive and accessible centrally at OneDrive.com.
If you do not see the icons for these apps in your GCU Portal, you may need to manually add them to your My Apps section. For instructions on how to add apps, check out Navigating the GCU Portal.
Rather than going to an individual program that only shows recent documents, OneDrive automatically saves your files and makes re-accessing them much more manageable.
If you haven’t already, add the OneDrive app to your app dashboard by Customizing Your Apps and select it to navigate to the OneDrive homepage.
If you have not already signed into Microsoft 365, you may be prompted to sign in when you select the app you want to use from the GCU Portal. Alternatively, you can access the online programs at portal.office.com or by going to myapps.microsoft.com.
Be sure to sign in with the same credentials you signed into the portal with and select Work or school account if you receive a prompt.
After signing in, you may be prompted with Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA). Which can happen when signing into any Microsoft programs with your GCU student account.
Once verified, you will be directed to your main page and you can select your file or upload files to edit from here. OneDrive will display all of your files, regardless of application, and will allow you to access and edit them. For more details about uploading, utilizing, or accessing documents in OneDrive, please see the OneDrive option below.
Navigating the Applications
Please select and click on one of the Microsoft Application icons below for further details about using Microsoft Online through the Portal:
To set up your OneDrive account, navigate to OneDrive.com. Then, sign in using your GCU email (ending in @my.gcu.edu) and password. After you sign in, your account will be set up.
To open an existing file in OneDrive, navigate to OneDrive.com. From here, you will see a list of files saved in OneDrive. Simply select a file to open it in a new tab. If you have the Microsoft 365 desktop applications and would like to open your file using the desktop app, select the Editing button in the middle of the navigation bar. From the drop-down menu, select Open in Desktop.
To create a new file, click the +New menu and select the type of file from the drop-down menu.
For more information on creating and saving files in OneDrive, view this tutorial from support.office.com.
To download files directly from OneDrive, place a check mark next to the file(s) you wish to download and select Download from the navigation bar at the top of the page. Your file(s) will immediately begin to download onto your computer.
To upload file(s) to OneDrive, select Add New on the navigation bar. You can then choose to upload individual files or an entire folder.
After selecting an option, the browse dialogue box will appear. Locate and select a file or folder. You can select multiple files by holding down the Ctrl key on Windows or the Command key on macOS.
Click Open and your document(s) will be uploaded to OneDrive.
- Sign into OneDrive with your GCU email and password which is the same as the one used to access the GCU Portal.
- Navigate to My Files from the left-hand side panel. Select the file you wish to share and click the Share button in the ribbon at the top of the page.
- Select the Link Settings button to the right of Copy Link. From here you can manage who to share the link with and what they can do with the document.
NOTE Anyone who is not logged into a GCU email will not be able to access the shared document when set to share with People in Grand Canyon University. To allow people not using a GCU email domain to access the document select the Anyone option in the Sharing settings tab. This option is not as secure as the People in Grand Canyon University option provided.
- In the More settings section, you can choose Can edit, Can review, Can view or Can't download to change the level of access the recipient may need to have.
- When all the settings are set to your preferences select Apply to save those settings.
- Click Copy link to copy the link to your clipboard that you can share.
To open a new file in Word, either select a template, or select Blank Document to get started.
You can find previously created files and edit them by searching the Recently Opened or All sections.
Once you have your file open, you can edit the file online. Since you are using an online version instead of the downloaded program, some features may be limited.
If you have already downloaded the offline version of PowerPoint, and you would like to use it instead, you can select Open in Desktop from the top menu bar at any point.
- Begin by navigating to the Word document you are wanting to download.
- Then, select File in the upper left-hand side. After clicking File, select Create a Copy.
- Next, click on Download a copy.
- You will be prompted with a message stating "Do you want to download a copy of this file and work offline?" Select Download a copy to begin the automatic download of your document.
To open a new file in PowerPoint, either select a template, or select Blank Presentation to get started.
You can find previously created files and edit them by searching the Recently Opened or All sections.
Once you have your file open, you can edit the file online. Since you are using an online version instead of the downloaded program, some features may be limited.
If you have already downloaded the offline version of PowerPoint, and you would like to use it instead, you can select Editing then Open in Desktop from the top menu bar at any point.
- Open up the PowerPoint you wish to download.
- Select File in the upper left-hand side.
- After clicking File, select Save As.
- In Save As, click on Download a Copy.
- You will be prompted with a message stating "Your presentation is ready." Select Download to begin the automatic download of your presentation.
To open a new file in Excel, either select a template, or select Blank workbook to get started.
You can find previously created files and edit them by searching the Recently Opened or All sections.
Once you have your file open, you can edit the file online. Since you are using an online version instead of the downloaded program, some features may be limited.
If you have already downloaded the offline version of Excel, and you would like to use it instead, you can select Editing then Open in Desktop from the top menu bar at any point.
- Open up the Excel Workbook you wish to download.
- Select File in the upper left-hand side.
- Under File, select Create a Copy.
- Next, click on Download a Copy.
- Your Excel Workbook should automatically download.