How to Set up Office 365 on iPhone

Add Microsoft Outlook email the suite of Office apps to your iPhone

Person holding an iPhone with PowerPoint on the screen

Thanasis Zovoilis / Getty Images

by Dave Johnson
Dave Johnson has been writing about tech since 1990. He's the author of over 2 dozen books and his writing has appeared in Wired, PCWorld, Business Insider, and many other publications.
Updated August 23, 2019

If you have an Office 365 subscription, you can install the complete suite of Office apps on your iPhone so you can work anywhere, anytime, including Word, Excel, PowerPoint, OneNote, and Outlook. Here are the steps you need to set up Office 365 on your iPhone, including configuring Outlook and your email account.

Install the Office 365 Apps

Start by installing the Office 365 apps you want to use on your iPhone. You don’t need to install every Office app; you can choose to only install the ones you plan to regularly use, and add others at any time in the future. You can open the App Store to search for and install each app:

  • OneDrive: Microsoft’s cloud storage service.
  • Word: Office suite’s word processor.
  • Excel: A spreadsheet program.
  • PowerPoint: Microsoft’s slideshow and presentation program.
  • OneNote: A digital notebook, similar to Evernote.
  • Outlook: Office 365’s email client. You can install it or choose to use Apple’s built-in Mail client.
  • Skype: A voice and video messaging service.

After you've installed the apps you need on your iPhone, open one of them (except Outlook) and in the Sign In field, enter your Office 365 email address and password.

Once you sign in, you’re automatically activated and logged in for all Office 365 apps, so you won’t need to do that over and over again.

If you don’t have an Office 365 account, you can get a free 30-day trial or sign up for service at the Office 365 website or tap the Activate icon at the bottom of the iPhone screen.

How to Set up a Webmail Account in Outlook on the iPhone

Now that you've installed the Office 365 apps, including Outlook, you can set up Outlook with one or more email accounts. The first time you open Outlook, it will ask you to enter an account and set up your email.

Here's how to add a webmail account, like Gmail or Yahoo.

  1. Open Outlook.

  2. Enter the email address for your first email account, then tap Add Account.

  3. Enter your password and tap Next.

    Sign in and Password screens for Office 365 on iOS

  4. You may see a screen requesting permission for Microsoft to access your account. If so, tap Allow.

  5. Outlook will display a page asking if you want to add another account. If you want to add more accounts, tap Let’s Do It! then repeat the process by entering the next email and password.

    Add Account, permissions, and Let's Do It! button for Google accounts on iOS

Set up an Exchange Account in Outlook on the iPhone

If you have a Microsoft Exchange account to add to Outlook, the process is very straightforward.

Outlook can usually figure out what kind of account you're adding based on your email address. If Outlook tries adding this as the wrong kind of account, you can tap the link at the top right of the screen to change the kind of account Outlook is configuring.

  1. Enter the email address for your first email account. And then tap Add Account.

  2. Enter the password for the account.

  3. Tap Sign In.

    Add Account, Password field, Sign In button in Outlook mobile

Set up an IMAP Account in Outlook on the iPhone

If you have an IMAP account, the process is slightly different. You’ll need to have information from your email provider, such as your IMAP and SMTP usernames and passwords. You can usually find this on the email provider’s website.

  1. Enter the email address for your first email account. And then tap Add Account.

  2. Enter the password for the account and the Display Name (the name you want email recipients to see when you send email).

  3. Tap the Use Advanced Settings toggle to turn it on.

  4. Enter the information requested on this form, including details for the IMAP Incoming mail server and the SMTP Outgoing mail server.

  5. Finally, tap Sign In.

    Add Account and Advanced Settings toggle in Outlook

Adding Email Accounts Later

If you want to add new email accounts to Outlook later, you can do so at any time.

  1. Tap the icon for your account at the top left of the Outlook screen. In the sidebar that opens, tap the gear icon.

  2. Tap Add Account > Add Email Account.

  3. Follow the steps to add a new email account.

    Profile icon, Gear icon, Add Account button in Outlook mobile