Get Started with SharePoint - Set Up Your Free Trial Today
As a SharePoint consulting firm, we frequently get asked by new clients how to get started with SharePoint.
Setting
up a free SharePoint trial is the best way to kick the tires and see if
SharePoint is right for your business needs.
Why Try SharePoint?
Before
jumping into the setup process, let's look at some of the benefits of
SharePoint:
● Enhanced team collaboration - Share files, data, news, and
resources across your entire organization in real time. SharePoint facilitates
group communication.
● Document management - Store all your office documents, PDFs, images, and more in a
central, secure location that can be accessed from anywhere. No more emailed
files and attachments!
● Workflows and tracking - Automate business processes like
document reviews/approvals, project management workflows, and task
assignment/tracking.
● Enterprise search - Find any file or information in seconds with powerful
search functionality.
Those
are just a few reasons why over 200,000 organizations leverage SharePoint
today. Now let's look at how to test drive SharePoint for free.
Step 1: Navigate to the SharePoint
Trial Page
Open your web browser and go directly
to Microsoft's
SharePoint trial sign-up page. This is
where you can activate a 30-day trial.
Tip:
Bookmark this page to make it easy to return when your trial expires.
Step 2: Create a Microsoft Account
On the SharePoint trial page, click the large purple Start free trial button.
You'll now be prompted to either sign in with an existing
Microsoft account or create a new Microsoft account if you don't already have
one.
I recommend creating a new account
dedicated exclusively to this SharePoint trial. This keeps your trial
workspace separate from any other MS services you currently use.
The account creation process only takes a minute or two.
You'll add an email address, phone number, and password and fill in other
basic personal details.
Step 3. Confirm Your Account
Once your new Microsoft account is created, you'll need to
confirm it.
Check your email inbox for a confirmation link sent by
Microsoft automatically. Click the link to verify your new trial account.
Log into your account on the SharePoint site to continue the
trial setup.
Step 4. Set Up Your SharePoint Trial
Site
Now the fun starts - building your actual SharePoint team
site!
You'll be walked through a wizard that sets up your:
● Team site name - Choose something like your company name. This can be
changed later.
● Primary site language - Select the default language for
your SharePoint site's interface. English is a common choice.
● Storage location - Pick a geographic data center region to host your site's
data.
Once you submit this info, Microsoft provisions your
SharePoint online trial site!
This process can take several minutes.
Be patient as the site builds in the background.
In my experience, the trial site can take 3-5 minutes to fully
create.
Step 5. Explore Your SharePoint Trial
Site
When
ready, Microsoft will redirect you right to your new SharePoint team site
automatically.
You're
now free to explore and test-drive SharePoint's collaboration capabilities!
Here
are some quick ways to get familiar with your site:
● Upload documents to document libraries
● Create lists and add data
● Set up workflows like review/approvals
on files
● Customize site permissions for groups
● Integrate with other Office 365 apps
Your
30-day trial lasts the entire month. Make sure to spend enough time to fully evaluate whether SharePoint meets your work needs.
Want to Jump into SharePoint
Head-First?
Hopefully,
this quick-start guide to creating a SharePoint trial has been helpful! Setting
up the trial is the critical first step to adopting SharePoint.
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