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 Office 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 Office 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.
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 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 open a new file in Word, either select a template, or select New blank document to get started.
You can find previously created files and edit them by searching the recent section, or by clicking the More in OneDrive and searching the Files section.
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 Word, and you would like to use it instead, you can select Open In Word from the top menu bar at any point.
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 App 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 Save As.
- In Save As, click on Download a Copy.
- You will be prompted with a message stating "Your document is ready." Select Download to begin the automatic download of your document.
To open a new file in PowerPoint, either select a template, or select New blank presentation to get started.
You can find previously created files and edit them by searching the recent section, or by clicking the More in OneDrive and searching the Files section.
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 App 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 Download As.
- In Download 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 New blank workbook to get started.
You can find previously created files and edit them by searching the recent section, or by clicking the More in OneDrive and searching the Files section.
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 Open in Desktop App 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 Save As.
- In Save As, click on Download a Copy.
- Your Excel Workbook should automatically download.
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 Office 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 App.
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 Upload on the navigation bar. You can 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.
OneDrive allows you to share a file link in your classroom.
From the Files page, select the document you would like to share and click the Share button in the ribbon at the top of the page.
Select Anyone with this link can view and edit to open up a menu with the option to check or uncheck the Allow editing option and Apply.
In the Copy Link section, click Copy. This will generate a shareable link to your document. 
Finally, you can copy and paste the link into a Word Document to submit big files or into a Discussion Forum post for your instructor or other students to view.
You could also perform this step if you are planning to submit a big video file to your instructor. Copy and paste the link on a blank Microsoft Word document. Upload and submit the Word document to your classroom for your instructor to view.