Find out how to access the software and services you need to work and study wherever you are.
Microsoft apps, including the standard productivity apps like Outlook, Windows, Excel, and PowerPoint, as well a range of other Microsoft apps, are available online at microsoft365.com.
You can also access your email by logging into Minerva and choosing ‘University Email’.
There is a list of all the M365 apps available to students and M365 apps available to staff. You can also install M365 apps on your own personal devices (to support your work and studies) from microsoft365.com. Please make sure you check the data protection guidelines before saving data on personal devices, and only use your University email address for your work or studies.
AppsAnywhere is like an app store for software. It’s available anywhere, anytime, and on a Windows device you don’t need to don’t need to connect to the Windows Virtual Desktop or VPN to use it. With some software, once you’ve accessed it you can even use it offline for up to 30 days.
AppsAnywhere is flexible – just choose the apps you want at the time - you don’t need to install a lot of apps you don’t need which use up space and might slow your machine down.
To access some specialist software, you may need to log on to an on-campus cluster remotely. Access to this service is restricted to specific people. Students will be told by their tutors if they need to use it.
Some staff and research students may also be able to log on to their own on-campus computer through the Remote Desktop Gateway (RDG). You will need to submit a request to access the RDG.
You can still use AppsAnywhere, but you’ll need to log on to the Windows Virtual Desktop first and launch it from there.
OneDrive gives you a file storage area with 5TB of space, and is accessible from any device connected to the internet. If you are working on confidential data, please check the guidelines on the Data Protection website. Please note – you must not use your University OneDrive for non-University work or study related storage.
To access your M or N drive when you are off campus, or connected to wifi on campus, use the Windows Virtual Desktop.
Staff and students can collaborate with colleagues via Microsoft Teams. Using Teams, you can instant message colleagues, set up online meetings, collaborate in groups and share files. If you are working on confidential data check the guidelines on the Data Protection website.
You can also share files saved on OneDrive and SharePoint.
If you need to access services that are normally only available on campus, such as some library resources, Employee/Manager Self Service (ESS/MSS) and some websites which would normally only be accessible while physically on campus, use the Virtual Windows Desktop.
There are three Virtual Windows Desktops:
The VPN allows you to access applications and resources available only on the campus network.
However, there are a limited number of licences, and you should only use VPN if none of the methods above are suitable.