The Most Commonly Asked Questions About Microsoft 365

I’ve been an active part of the Microsoft community since 2005, and have worked with dozens of partners as an employee, consultant, advisor, and mentor. I’ve also conducted numerous interviews with MVPs, RDs, and MCTs over the years. One observation about the space I’ve shared countless times is that because many of us in the community are technologists who love to keep up with the latest releases and share our knowledge, we tend to forget the people just starting their journeys. It’s one of the reasons why I started presenting productivity tips, sometimes sharing new features — but mostly tips for features and shortcuts that had been around for many years, and help round out introductory knowledge of Microsoft 365.

While I am not presenting on productivity tips as much as I did a few years back (I need to ramp that back up, I think), I do pay attention to the questions people are asking. While I don’t create content for my blog based on SEO data, as I’ve done post-production on the #M365AMA series I do regularly research the patterns in questions about Teams, SharePoint, Exchange, and other products. It’s always interesting to see what search queries bring people to my blog or similar sites. And so I thought I’d tackle some of them here — but not just with my own perspective on each. I thought I’d do something a little different….and get some friends to share their thoughts (and relevant resources) on each.

What are the most commonly asked questions about Microsoft 365? Based on my research, they are as follows:

• What is Microsoft 365 and how is it different from Office 365?
• How much does Microsoft 365 cost and what subscription plans are available?
• How do I install and set up Microsoft 365 on my devices?
• How do I share and collaborate on documents with others using Microsoft 365?
• How do I access and use the various applications included in Microsoft 365?
• How do I troubleshoot common issues and errors in Microsoft 365?
• How do I manage my Microsoft 365 subscription and account settings?
• How do I migrate my data and files from another platform to Microsoft 365?
• How do I use Microsoft 365 for remote work and collaboration?
• How do I keep my data and information secure while using Microsoft 365?

Can I answer each one in a single paragraph? Some of them, for sure. But I love bringing other people into the fold and hearing their perspectives, and how they would answer the questions that inevitably pop up at conferences and user groups around the world.

This is the beginning of a series. It’ll take a little more effort to pull each post together, but I’m excited to hear from other people on each…and will include a heavy dose of my own perspective on each response.

Watch this space for more!