For the students enrolled in our "Microsoft Office" course, we make the Microsoft Office 365 Suite available. (We only make this available to students enrolled in the course, if you are not enrolled in the course you will not be able to access this resource.)
Installing the desktop version of Microsoft Office 365 on your PALCS Device
This install method will only be available on your PALCS device, however your Microsoft 365 account can be used on personal devices.
To download the Microsoft Office programs to your PALCS computer, you will need to find the "Microsoft Office 365" icon in the Software Catalog ( Software Distribution via The Software Catalog ). It can be found inside of the "PALCS" folder. Either double click on the icon or right click on it and press "Open."
(If this icon does not show up for you, follow the instructions here to find out how to refresh the Software Catalog or re-login - Why is my Software Catalog empty? )
After double clicking the icon, a couple of windows will pop up over the course of the installation.
Once it completes you should see a "You're all set!" screen. Click on "close."
You can find the newly installed apps as icons on your desktop or inside of the Start menu.
The first time that you open one of these programs a screen like this will show up prompting you to sign in. Click on "Sign in or create account."
Enter your full student email (username@stu.palcsmail.org).
Then it will prompt you for a password. The FIRST time that you attempt to sign in, the default password is set to "palcsMS365". Use that password for the first time logging in and it will prompt you to update your password. Set this to something memorable (it can be the same as your lobby password but it does not need to be). Click on "Sign in" once you have entered the new password.
Then click on "Ok" for the next screen.
It may take a minute or two to sign in and register.
Eventually it will complete the sign in process and you can press "Done."
You should now be signed in and have full access to the Microsoft 365 Desktop apps. (Word, PowerPoint, Excel and OneNote.
Issues and Troubleshooting Installing the Desktop Version
If there is not enough room on the computer to install Office, you may get an error screen.
You will need to clear up room on your "C" drive to complete the installation. (Cleaning up Computer Storage ) The first thing to do is to check if there are any pending updates. If there are any pending updates, apply them and restart the computer.
Accessing the Online Version of Office 365
Our Office 365 licenses can also be used for online access from any device. To access the Online Microsoft Office 365 suite, all you will need to do is visit www.office.com and click "Sign In."
Enter your @stu.palcsmail.com email account and select Next.
Then it will prompt you for a password. The FIRST time that you attempt to sign in, the default password is set to "palcsMS365". Use that password for the first time logging in and it will prompt you to change your password. Set this to something memorable (it can be the same as your lobby password but it does not need to be).
Once you sign in you will be at the Office dashboard. From here you can click on the icons to the left to access the different "Office" applications like Word and Excel.
There will be a list of available files or you can click on the "Create new" button to start a new document.
When you open or create a file you will have a fully functional document processor all within the web browser.
The online version of Microsoft Office 365 is very similar to the Google Workspace (Docs, Sheets, Google Drive) in that everything is accessible from any web browser. It has almost every feature that you would need for basic to advanced word processing tasks.
If you have a Word or Excel document on your computer (that you've downloaded from somewhere else), the easiest way to open it with Microsoft Office 365 is to visit the dashboard www.office.com and drag the file over.
If it is successful it will say "Upload Complete."
It will then open up a new tab with the file opened in Microsoft 365.
If you do not remember the password that you set for this account, you cannot use the forgot my password button or you will get an error message like this.
If you have forgotten what password you set for your Microsoft Office 365 login, please let us know by submitting a ticket.
Installing Microsoft Office 365 on a personal device
Students are allowed to use their Microsoft 365 accounts to download and install the desktop version on personal devices. (This method will NOT work on student devices) The PALCS Helpdesk cannot troubleshoot or assist with installation on personal devices, so you will have to attempt this on your own.
Visit and login to office.com Click on the "Install and more" option at the top right of the home screen. Select "Install Microsoft 365 apps."
That will take you to your Microsoft Account information, from this page click on "Install Office."
This will download an installer file to your computer.
Run the setup file and it will begin to install the Microsoft Office 365 programs to your computer.
You will have to sign into your student email ( username@stu.palcsmail.org ) to utilize the applications.