Interested in boosting your Microsoft Office skills? Learn which courses and methods can help you master Word, PowerPoint, and Excel, and understand how these skills can enhance your career path in various industries.

How to Learn Microsoft Office

If you are interested in getting a better grip on using Microsoft Office applications, this article will provide advice on choosing courses and methods for learning about Word, PowerPoint, and Excel. There will also be an emphasis on which industries to pursue, applying skills with word processing, presentations, and spreadsheets facilitated by the Office programs you will be studying.

Interested individuals will be able to find strategies for learning Microsoft Office applications that will help them make informed decisions about their future. 

What is Microsoft Office?

Microsoft Office is essential for many working environments across a spectrum of business, education, and media categories. Its software bundles provide various functions for word processing, building databases, creating spreadsheets, and designing promotional material. Working with Microsoft Office suite applications provides skills for gaining employment with creating, editing, saving, and printing documents. Microsoft Office offers a variety of applications that include Word, PowerPoint, Outlook, and Excel for use on both PCs and Macs, as well as the cloud through Microsoft 365.

Microsoft Office is among the most widely used software applications in the world. Microsoft Office allows users to manage email accounts, calendars, and to-do lists. Office also enables users to get work done remotely or onsite through chats, calls, hosting meetings, or sharing documents in the cloud. Microsoft Office skills can be learned through several online education providers offering basic knowledge training or certifications for various applications.

Read more about what Microsoft Office is and why you should learn it.

What Can You Do with Microsoft Office?

Microsoft Office provides features and tools that allow users to organize tasks ranging from creating presentations with PowerPoint, analyzing and visualizing data using Excel, communicating through email with Outlook, or writing documents using Word. These are just a few examples of the programs and features that have made Office an essential tool for professionals worldwide.

Microsoft PowerPoint has become the industry-standard for creating presentations that allow users to customize projects by designing layouts, creating tables and charts, modifying text, or using images and inserting shapes, animations, and layered objects. With Excel, users can create formulas, PivotTables, and macros, along with other essential techniques, including calculations, basic functions, charts, formatting, and printing. Outlook can handle email functions as well as organizing calendars, creating contact lists, managing junk email, configuring calendar settings, and setting up appointments and meetings.

Finally, Microsoft Word is the most widely used word-processing application worldwide and likely the most used software. Word offers a trove of features waiting to be unlocked to help users design, edit, and create in various document formats. Through training, students will learn shortcuts, tips, and techniques for optimizing professional or personal use of Word. Training includes lessons on formatting techniques, creating hyperlinks, setting bookmarks, or inserting images, videos, or audio.

In-Person Microsoft Office Training

While live online courses are available for training with Microsoft Office applications, some people feel more comfortable learning inside a classroom with a teacher standing in front of them. Learning on location allows students to have direct, personal interaction with an instructor. While there can be interaction with a teacher in a virtual setting, there is something special about sharing space, being able to read body language, or simply the nuance of physical interaction that comes with occupying that same physical space. The most significant difficulty with an in-person class is getting there. Obstacles such as traffic, weather, or unforeseen events can make getting to a classroom location difficult.

Learning Microsoft Office applications can improve skills with tools for the workplace and make using those tools more efficient and reliable. Noble Desktop offers in-person and live online Microsoft Office courses in New York City that can help students enhance their skills with Word, Excel, or PowerPoint from training inside Manhattan classrooms. These classes are taught by expert instructors who can offer guidance and feedback on the spot. For example, students can enroll in the Excel Bootcamp to learn about functions, formulas, PivotTables, and shortcuts by using the spreadsheet software or the PowerPoint Bootcamp for training in creating and designing professional-looking presentations. With in-person training inside a classroom, students get to personally interact with instructors and other students, which provides a benefit that extends beyond the classroom.

Live Online Microsoft Office Training

Virtual learning provides an alternative to returning to traffic to find a classroom somewhere after a long day at work. Noble Desktop offers virtual learning options that provide the same level of education that a student would get from sitting inside a classroom without having to leave the comforts of home. Students can learn Microsoft Office programs like Excel, Word, or PowerPoint without worrying about facing heavy traffic or having to hunt for a parking space. Gaining skills with Microsoft Office applications can create career options for web design, graphic design, computer programming, or data analysis.

Noble Desktop offers live online Microsoft Office classes that take place in real-time. It gives students direct access to their instructor and the opportunity to get feedback on assignments or answers to questions related to complex concepts or topics. Noble Desktop also provides training through its affiliate NYIM Training, which offers the Complete Microsoft Office Bootcamp that includes several levels of training for Excel, PowerPoint, Word, or Outlook through several courses. NYIM also provides the Microsoft Office Fundamentals Bootcamp that trains participants in the essentials of Microsoft Office programs through courses like Excel for Business Fundamentals, PowerPoint for Business, Microsoft Word Level I, and Microsoft Outlook Level I.

Students can enroll in NYIM Training’s Microsoft Certification courses, which provide certificate training for Microsoft Office applications like Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, and Access. Live online courses allow students to balance taking classes with work or other obligations. However, some people may miss the personal touch of being able to interact physically with teachers and classmates in a traditional classroom setting. Nevertheless, live online training provides options for people who want to improve their skills for career advancement but lack the flexibility to get to a classroom location.

Free Online Courses & Tutorials

Don’t feel ready to handle a fully loaded Microsoft Office training course? Noble Desktop offers free classes, including a free online Excel course or a free PowerPoint Presentation Design seminar. The Excel class gives techniques for beginners to save time when using the spreadsheet application in day-to-day activities for work or at home. The PowerPoint class provides lessons for creating professional-looking presentations for work, school, or home.

Udemy offers a collection of Microsoft Office-related courses that fit whatever an individual might want with learning basic lessons in various Microsoft software. Coursera also trains students in Microsoft Office features and interfaces, including how to perform basic tasks using Word, PowerPoint, or Excel. You can also find other education providers that offer free online training for Office applications.

Interested students can also find a basic introduction to Microsoft Office from online tutorials, YouTube video channels, and other video outlets.

Read more about free Microsoft Office videos and online tutorials.