How to Create and Share Office Documents with Microsoft Office Online (Free)

In this article you will learn how to share a MS Office file online (Word, Excel, PowerPoint...) using Microsoft Office Online (free).

Microsoft Office Online is a free office suite attached to OneDrive, allowing you to create and save your documents, spreadsheets, and presentations online. It also gives you the ability to share your documents online. Authorized users can view or edit your documents directly from their web browser.

In order to create, save and share documents with Microsoft Office Online, you will need a Microsoft account. Creating a document with Microsoft Office Online is really easy. Go to THIS LINK and sign-in using your Microsoft Account. Select the appropriate application based on the type of document you want to create. In our example we will create a spreadsheet:

The online version of Excel lacks a lot of features when compared to the classic software version. To overcome these limitations, you can edit your online documents using the MS Office installed on your computer. Click on the File menu > Info > Open in Excel - Use the full functionality of Microsoft Excel:

You only have to save your document once that is when you first create it. Click on File > Save As > Save a copy to OneDrive:

All the future modifications made to the document are automatically saved. There's no such thing as a Save button on Office Online.

You have accidentally deleted or overwritten important data in one of your documents? Don't worry as Office Online gives you to the ability to view, restore or download a previous version of any of your documents. Click on the File menu > Info > Previous versions and a column listing the dates and times the document has been modified will be displayed at the left corner of your screen. Select the entry of your choice.

You can start sharing your online documents by clicking on the Share+ button displayed at the top of your screen:

Several sharing options are available; The Invite People menu allows you to send an email containing a link to the document to the recipients of your selection. You can also set the read/edit permissions and choose whether the users require a Microsoft account to access the document or not:

The Get a Link option allows you to generate a link to view or edit the document. You can also make you document publicly available on the internet: