Get Started with Office 365

Add, edit, and delete user accounts

Unless you run a one-person operation, you’ll likely need to add other users to your Office 365 subscription. When you do, they can use all the programs and features that Office 365 provides.

To add a user to Office 365, sign in to your Office 365 account and open the Admin Center. Then follow these steps:

1. Click Users and then Active Users in the pane on the left.

2. Click the Add User button (the plus sign). The Create New User Account page opens (see Figure 2-20).

   

   Figure 2-20 Create a new user.

3. Enter the following information. When you’re finished, click Create.

   • First name This is the user’s first name.
   • Last name This is the user’s last name.
   • Display name When you enter the user’s first and last names, they are automatically concatenated for the display name. If you want to change the display name to a nickname or some other type of shorthand, go ahead and do it now.
   • User name This is the name your new user will use to sign in to his or her account when accessing Office 365. Be sure to click your new custom domain in the drop-down list on the right.
   • Password If you leave the default Auto-Generated Password, a random password will be chosen and emailed to the user. Alternatively, you can set a password for the user. To do so, click Type Password and enter the password you want to use.

   NOTE

   The initial password is temporary. The user will need to change it within 90 days.

   • Make this user change their password with Outlook Web App on next login Select this check box if you want the user to change the password the next time he or she signs in.
   • Email password to the following recipients After you choose a password option, enter the user’s email address so that the password can be sent to that user. Also enter your own email address so that you, the administrator, also get the password, for safekeeping.

   NOTE

   This email address should be one to which the user currently has access. Don’t send it to his or her new Office 365 email address.

4. A confirmation message similar to the one shown in Figure 2-21 informs you that the user account has been created. Click Close.

   

   Figure 2-21 You’ll receive a notification that the account has been successfully created.

If you prefer, you can add multiple users at the same time.

To add multiple users, follow these steps:

1. In Excel, create a spreadsheet with the following column headings:

   • User Name
   • First Name
   • Last Name
   • Display Name
   • Job Title
   • Department
   • Office Number
   • Office Phone
   • Mobile Phone
   • Fax
   • Address
   • City
   • State or Province
   • Postal Code
   • Country or Region
2. Populate the spreadsheet with the information for each person you want to add. The User Name and Display Name fields are required for each user. To leave other fields blank, enter a space followed by a comma. When you’re finished, save the spreadsheet.
3. In the Office 365 Admin Center, click Users and then Active Users in the pane on the left. Then click the Add Users button (the button with two people and a plus sign).
4. The Bulk Add Users Wizard starts. On the Select A CSV File page, click the Browse button and locate and select the spreadsheet you created in steps 1 and 2. Then click Next.
5. The wizard verifies that the entries in the spreadsheet are formatted correctly. If there are no errors, click Next. (If there are errors, view the verification log, and then correct the errors in your spreadsheet.)

6. On the Settings page, click Allowed. Then click the Select A Location drop-down list and click the country or region where these users are located. Finally, click Next.

   TIP

   If you want to enter users from multiple countries/regions, you must create a spreadsheet for each country/region and run the Bulk Add Users Wizard for each spreadsheet.

7. On the Assign Licenses page, click the licenses you want to apply for the individuals listed in your spreadsheet. Then click Next.
8. On the Send Results In Email page, enter the email address of anyone who should receive a list of these new users, along with their temporary passwords, via email. Then click Create. The list is emailed to the address you specified.
9. The Results page lists the users whose accounts were created and their temporary passwords. Click Close to close the wizard.
10. Notify each user that his or her account has been created and supply each user with his or her temporary password.

Sometimes a user’s information changes. For example, a user might get married and change his or her name. Fortunately, editing a user account to reflect this and other changes is simple. To edit a user account, sign in to your Office 365 account and open the Admin Center. Then follow these steps:

1. In the Office 365 Admin Center, click Users and then Active Users in the pane on the left.
2. On the page that appears, click the user whose account you want to edit. Then click Edit.
3. The Details page appears. If the information on this page is OK as is, click Save. If you need to change any information on this page, do so before you click Save.
4. Click Settings. Follow the same procedure as with the Details page.
5. On the Licenses page, retain, replace, or add licenses as needed. Then click Save.

If a user leaves your organization, you should delete his or her account. Not only will this prevent the departed employee from accessing the account, it will free up the associated license for a new user. To delete a user account, sign in to your Office 365 account and open the Admin Center.  Then follow these steps:

1. In the Office 365 Admin Center, click Users and then Active Users in the pane on the left.

2. On the page that appears (see Figure 2-22), click the user whose account you want to delete. Then click Delete.

   

   Figure 2-22 Select the check box next to the user account you want to delete.

3. In the confirmation message that appears, click Yes.