This guide is for University of Toronto (U of T) community members who are moving to the standard (A1) Microsoft 365 toolkit. Questions regarding your eligibility and the standard toolkit should be directed to your divisional IT team.
The standard toolkit is for U of T community members who require access to standard Microsoft tools to perform their roles at the University. It includes online access to a full range of Microsoft Office tools, eliminating the need to download applications like Word, Excel and PowerPoint: you can access them all from any internet-connected device and share, edit and collaborate on files with your colleagues.
Prior to moving to the standard toolkit, you may have used the following features:
Please read the remainder of this document to understand how your access to these features could change and the steps you can take to prepare. To learn more about navigating Office apps online, read this knowledge article:
Microsoft Office ProPlus allows eligible users to download Microsoft Office (via mail.utoronto.ca) on up to five personal devices. People assigned to the standard toolkit do not have access to the Microsoft Office ProPlus desktop versions of Word, Outlook, Excel and PowerPoint. However, you will continue to have access to the full online versions of these tools.
If you do not have access to desktop versions of Word, Excel and PowerPoint we recommend following these steps:
You can prepare for the transition to the online version of Office in the following ways:
You can upload your Office files to OneDrive so that you can start using them with the online versions of Word, Excel and PowerPoint. To do this:
Note: If you use Dropbox to store Office files, simply download the files from Dropbox to your computer, then upload them to OneDrive.
For a video walkthrough of OneDrive, view this guide from Microsoft: https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/onedrive-basics-work-or-school-110ca7b0-ae3d-4e51-a14c-9d583e2d630c
Once you have added your Office files to your OneDrive, you can begin accessing and editing them with the online versions of Word, Excel and PowerPoint. You can access your Office files online in two main ways:
To get started using the Office for the web programs, see:
The standard toolkit does not include access to Microsoft Bookings. However, if you rely on Bookings for appointment scheduling or room reservations as part of your role at the University, you can work with your divisional IT support to submit an exceptions form to request access.
Standard toolkit mailboxes are limited to 50GB of storage. This is a very large storage quota, and it’s unlikely that you will exceed it. However, if you are concerned that your current email storage exceeds 50GB, you can follow these steps:
Toolkits aren’t always one size fits all: sometimes you might need to access a tool outside of the standard toolkit. If you require access to an advanced administrative tool that is not included in your toolkit, your divisional IT support team can fill out an exceptions request form on your behalf. If approved, IT will change your license assignment so that you can access the required tool(s). Please note that exceptions requests must be submitted through divisional IT teams to be considered. Individuals who submit their own requests will be redirected to their divisional IT office.
Exceptions requests are reviewed on a case-by-case basis. The approval of an exceptions request is contingent on the business use case submitted as part of the exceptions request form. Only business use cases that are relevant to the duties associated with your role at the University will be considered. Personal use cases are not considered valid reasons for license reassignments. Learn more about the licensing exceptions policy and how to submit a request from this knowledge article.
To learn more about the standard toolkit and the University’s licensing model, please access these resources: