Looking to upgrade your Microsoft Office skills for better career opportunities? Explore live online courses that allow you to learn at your own pace, mastering popular Microsoft Office applications that are essential in most work and educational settings.

How to Learn Microsoft Office Online

This article provides information and advice for people looking to optimize skills for several Microsoft Office applications through virtual learning. If you’re trying to improve on results for creating documents, visualizing and analyzing data, or making professional-looking presentations, consider enrolling in live online courses for enhancing productivity with Word, Excel, or PowerPoint. You can also look for information about options with free online tutorials, YouTube videos, and other methods for learning tips and shortcuts with various Microsoft Office products.

People can enroll in live online courses to develop skills that can help improve their career opportunities with learning options that allow individuals to train at their own pace. Virtual learning will enable students to master popular Microsoft Office applications that businesses, schools, and individuals use daily for various purposes. A deeper understanding of Office provides skills that can contribute to nearly every working and educational setting by helping improve any organization’s efficiency and productivity.

What is Microsoft Office?

Microsoft Office is an essential tool used in workplaces across a spectrum of industries. Its software bundles provide functions that include word processing, building databases, creating spreadsheets, and designing promotional material. For example, working with Microsoft Word provides skills in creating, editing, saving, or printing documents. Microsoft Office applications include Word, PowerPoint, Outlook, Excel, Access, Project, Publisher, SharePoint, and Visio for various functions on PCs or Macs and the cloud through Microsoft 365.

Microsoft 365 is a subscription version of Microsoft Office that offers the same core desktop productivity applications, additional apps, and online services for secure cloud storage, communication, and collaboration for working and educational environments. 365 is available in various packages that provide convenient access to desktops, laptops, tablets, and smartphones.

Microsoft Office is among the most widely used software applications on the planet. Knowledge and experience with Microsoft Office can be acquired through online education providers for fundamental skills or certification, with training available for several applications. Office allows users to manage email accounts, calendars, and to-do lists. Skills with Microsoft Office help users to get work done remotely or onsite through chats, calls, hosting meetings, or sharing documents in the cloud.

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 data using Excel, communicating through email with Outlook, or composing 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 inserting images, including shapes, animation, and layered objects. Excel allows users to create formulas, PivotTables, and macros, along with other essential techniques, including calculations, basic functions, charts, formatting, and printing. Outlook can handle email functions, arrange calendars, organize contact lists, manage junk email, and organize appointments.

Finally, Microsoft Word is the most widely used word-processing application worldwide and likely the most used application. Word provides features designed to help users compose, edit, and produce documents in various formats. Through training, students will learn shortcuts, tips, and techniques for professional or personal work using Word. Lessons include formatting techniques, creating hyperlinks, setting bookmarks, or inserting images, videos, or audio.

Live Online Microsoft Office Training

Gaining skills with Microsoft Office applications can give you options for finding work related to web design, graphic design, computer programming, or data analysis. Virtual learning provides an alternative to returning to traffic after a tough day at work. Noble Desktop offers live online courses that provide the same level of education you would get from sitting inside a classroom without having to leave the comforts of home. Students can get trained in Microsoft programs, including Excel, Word, and PowerPoint, without worrying about heavy traffic or needing to hunt for a parking space. Best of all, virtual learning offers an opportunity to build on skills with Microsoft Office applications from the privacy of your home or office at your own pace and comfort.

Noble Desktop offers live online Microsoft Office classes that take place in real-time and give students direct access to their instructors with opportunities 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, and Outlook through various courses. NYIM also provides the Microsoft Fundamentals Bootcamp, which trains participants in the essentials of Microsoft Office applications with courses like Excel for Business Fundamentals, PowerPoint for Business, Microsoft Word Level I, and Microsoft Outlook Level I. Students can also enroll in NYIM Training’s Microsoft Certification courses, which provide certification training for Microsoft applications like Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, and Access.

Live online courses allow students to balance taking classes while working a job or having other obligations. However, some people may miss the personal touch of being able to interact with their teachers or classmates in a traditional classroom environment. Nevertheless, live online training provides flexibility for those who would like to improve on skills that could help with finding a new career but don’t have the wiggle room in their schedule to make it to campus.

On-Demand Microsoft Office Classes

If you’re interested in Microsoft Office Training On-Demand, there are several options for learning the fundamentals or shortcuts associated with Office’s variety of software tools. Individuals can choose from free basic tutorials to advanced online courses from Noble Desktop and other education providers. 

For example, Noble Desktop offers Top 10 Beginner Excel Tricks You Need to Know, a free live webinar created to help users optimize Microsoft Excel. Lessons include shortcuts for applying autofill, adding charts, inserting screenshots, and creating links. 

Other providers include Coursera, which offers the Excel Skills for Business Specialization course that trains students to customize spreadsheets through learning formulas and functions for analyzing data. Udemy offers Ultimate Microsoft Office; Excel, Word, PowerPoint & Access, which focuses on beginner and advanced-level techniques for using Excel and Access, along with lessons covering PowerPoint, Word, Outlook, Teams, and OneNote. Students can also enroll in Exceljet’s Excel Shortcuts class, which trains participants about using shortcuts for entering, editing, and formatting data using spreadsheets.

Free Intro Courses & Tutorials

Don’t feel ready to handle a full load of Microsoft Office training courses? Noble Desktop offers free classes, including a free online Excel course and a free online PowerPoint Presentation Design seminar. The Excel class teaches beginners techniques for saving time when using the spreadsheet application for day-to-day work or home activities. The PowerPoint class provides training on how to put together professional-looking presentations for work or school. 

You can also find other education providers that offer free online Microsoft Office training. Udemy provides a collection of Microsoft Office courses that fit whatever a person is looking for, with basic lessons for handling a variety of MS software applications. Coursera trains students in Office features and interfaces, including how to perform basic tasks using Word, PowerPoint, or Excel. You can also find a basic introduction to Microsoft Office programs with online training through video tutorials from YouTube and other video platforms.

Read more about free Microsoft Office videos and online tutorials.

Comparing Online Methods with In-Person Learning 

There are three main ways to train for Microsoft Office applications–learning inside a classroom, live online courses, or self-paced tutorials that are usually available on video. Depending on personal preferences, including where a person lives, an individual has choices in how to gain skills with any number of Microsoft Office tools.

Noble Desktop offers a variety of in-person and live online Microsoft Office Courses in New York City, which are taught inside Manhattan classrooms or through a virtual learning option. The New York City classrooms also provide computers and software with the courses. Of course, the benefit of face-to-face training inside a school is that students get opportunities to interact personally with instructors and classmates.

Taking an online course to learn Microsoft Office programs provides its own benefits, including the convenience of being able to train from the comfort of your own home, which can be especially advantageous following a long day at work. Noble Desktop’s online courses provide training through video conferencing software that gives enrollees the same hands-on experience and interaction they would get from sitting inside a classroom.

On-demand training offers students a variety of options for learning Microsoft Office applications. Students can choose from free basic online tutorials to taking advanced courses from Noble Desktop or other online providers.

Tips to Succeed when Learning Microsoft Office Online

If you would like to get the most out of your online training with Microsoft Office applications, take a look at the tips listed below:

• Figure out how to improve skills with Microsoft Office applications to maximize career opportunities. For instance, you might consider how PowerPoint training will help you construct multimedia presentations using video and audio enhancements. You might also look at training to help understand Excel’s functions for advanced data analysis.

• Don’t be afraid to ask for help. Because of the physical distance inherent with online learning, students may sometimes hesitate about asking an instructor for help. However, an online environment provides opportunities for more open communication allowing for connecting through email or instant messaging to ask questions and get feedback at any time.
  
  
• Students must ensure that their computers are in top condition and have an adequate internet connection to participate fully in the class.

• Some students' most significant problem with live online courses is remaining engaged. People can get easily distracted by what’s happening around them in their homes or wherever they are when connected to follow their lectures. Everybody believes they can multitask while learning remotely, but divided attention is unfocused. With training to learn complex new skills for Office applications, students will need to pay attention and remain focused on their teacher’s instruction.
  
  
• Learning shortcuts for Microsoft Office applications can help get projects done more efficiently. For example, learning Excel shortcuts allows users to quickly create tables, perform analysis, or calculate mathematical formulas with a few keystrokes.
  
  
• The most effective way to learn how to work with Microsoft Office applications would be through courses that provide real-world projects relevant to everyday use.
  
  
• This is especially important for sharpening skills with software like Word, PowerPoint, or Excel, which are industry standards for word processing, presentations, and spreadsheets. A practical course will teach students how to apply shortcuts to optimize their use of these applications.

Additionally, there are other common uses for Microsoft Office applications:

Word

• With Microsoft Word, users can compose, edit, and format documents and other files.
• Word allows users to change fonts and font sizes as well as insert tables, shapes, and images.
• Word also makes it easy to alter a document’s design, including alignment, margins, or line spacing.
• Word is used in workplaces, schools, and homes for business, training, or personal use.

Excel

• Microsoft Excel is a spreadsheet application used for budgeting and other accounting tasks.
• Excel is used for collecting, analyzing, and visualizing data.
• Users can import, export, or convert data and other information with Excel.
• Excel is mainly used for banking, finance, and business.

PowerPoint

• Microsoft PowerPoint allows users to create and design presentations for professional and academic projects. 
• PowerPoint provides templates with attractive and imaginative themes for creating appealing and vivid presentations for a variety of audiences.
• PowerPoint can be used for professional, educational, or entertainment purposes.

Access

• Microsoft Access provides users with a database application tool for storing material, reporting information, or analyzing data.

Outlook

• Microsoft Outlook allows users to create schedules and calendars or receive and send an email for business, school, or personal use.
• Outlook is used mainly as an email manager for companies and individuals.

Key Takeaways

• Students can enroll in live online courses to develop skills to improve career opportunities with training options that allow them to learn at their own pace.
• Microsoft Office is a suite of desktop software applications used in working environments worldwide.
• Microsoft Office performs a variety of functions, including word processing, building databases, organizing spreadsheets, and designing promotional material.
• Office has features and tools that allow users to create presentations with PowerPoint, analyze data using Excel, communicate through email with Outlook, or compose documents using Word.
• Online training provides the same level of education that an individual would get from sitting inside a classroom without having to leave the comforts of home.
• Virtual learning allows students to build on skills using Microsoft Office applications that many people may take for granted due to everyone’s familiarity with Word, Excel, and PowerPoint from day-to-day use of those programs.
• Live online training in Microsoft Office programs can contribute to finding careers in business, finance, or education.
• Microsoft Office not only serves as a staple in workplaces throughout the world but also helps with essential household functions such as creating spreadsheets for maintaining the family budget or collecting recipes.
• Students have options for seeking out free basic online tutorials or advanced online courses from Noble Desktop and other online education providers.
• Individuals can find basic introductions for learning more about Microsoft Office applications through online training with video tutorials from YouTube channels or other video outlets.

Learn Microsoft Office with Hands-on Training at Noble Desktop

If you’re looking to improve skills with using Microsoft Office applications, Noble Desktop has courses that provide training for a better understanding of Office programs. This includes in-person classes in New York City and live online courses offered at various durations and costs.

Noble Desktop offers in-person and live online Microsoft Office classes that provide hands-on training from expert instructors. Courses offered include Excel, PowerPoint, Word, Project, and Outlook training that can be taken inside a classroom or live online.

Microsoft Office courses include the Excel Bootcamp, which provides lessons covering functions, formulas, PivotTables, and time-saving techniques learned from hands-on training with real-world projects. Excel courses offer training from the fundamental level up through advanced classes available at varying times, with tuition between $229 and $549.

Students can also enroll in the PowerPoint Bootcamp to learn how to design everything from slides for building multimedia presentations to customizing text or using images, shapes, animation, layered objects, and creating tables and charts. Noble Desktop also offers the PowerPoint Level I course that offers individuals lessons on fundamentals such as applying images and SmartArt or inserting tables and graphs to design professional-looking presentations.