Office 365 - Outlook Desktop Client vs Outlook Web App

Office 365 is always available through online Outlook Web App. The Outlook desktop client has advanced features and options for email, calendar, and tasks. Which one is right for you?

Outlook Web App (OWA) represents the official e-mail and calendar account of UW-Platteville. All campus account holders can access Outlook Web App connected to the Internet via browser

Outlook Web App provides basic functionality for e-mail, calendar, contacts, tasks, and access to OneDrive (storage) and Word, Excel, and PowerPoint Online. Mobile devices can be configured directly as Office 365 accounts or through OWA applications. Most account holders use Outlook Web App

You must install the Outlook desktop client on your computer or laptop and configure it as an Office 365 account. A desktop client can only be accessed from the computer on which it is installed.

You can access your Office 365 account at any time via the Internet and Outlook Web App. You can choose to use the desktop client for some functions and use the web application for other functions. Operations performed on the desktop client (such as replying to e-mails, scheduling appointments, etc.) are reflected in Outlook Web App and vice versa.

Working: UW-Platteville employees should be able to access the Office suites of workstations / laptops including Outlook.

Personal Use: UW-Platteville students and staff can download Outlook from Office 365 to PC or Mac as part of a free license.

If you have any questions, please contact the ITS help desk (608.342.1400) or send an e-mail to helpdesk@uwplatt.edu. You can also access the service desk located on the first floor of the Kalman Library.

Office 365 can be accessed through Exchange Online and Outlook Web App. With Exchange Online App, you can use Outlook Web App to manage contacts, e-mails, and calendars together in one app. When you create a user account as described in the previous step, Office 365 will provide a mailbox for each user account that you created. However, as an administrator you can control the configuration of each user account and mailbox. Next, you need to have all important information and documentation accessible from anywhere on your team site. Upon signing up, Office 365 automatically creates team sites. Therefore, you can use the relevant document so that team members can use that site. Team members can also use Office 365 applications such as Excel, OneNote, PowerPoint, and Word.

You can access your Office 365 account at any time via the Internet and Outlook Web App. You can choose to use the desktop client for some functions and use the web application for other functions. Operations performed on the desktop client (such as replying to e-mails, scheduling appointments, etc.) are reflected in Outlook Web App and vice versa.

Outlook Web App provides basic functionality for e-mail, calendar, contacts, tasks, and access to OneDrive (storage) and Word, Excel, and PowerPoint Online. Mobile devices can be configured directly as Office 365 accounts or through OWA applications. Most account holders use Outlook Web App. You can access your Office 365 account at any time via the Internet and Outlook Web App. You can choose to use the desktop client for some functions and use the web application for other functions. Operations performed on the desktop client (such as replying to e-mails, scheduling appointments, etc.) are reflected in Outlook Web App and vice versa.