With a Microsoft 365 E1 license, your phone and tablet, combined with a browser, give you everything you need to do your job. There are no desktop Office apps to install. This article shows you which apps to download, how to sign in, what works best where, and how to handle the Intune Company Portal prompt.

 

📱  Your two tools: The Microsoft 365 mobile apps for quick, on-the-go tasks - and the browser (office.com) for anything more involved, like creating or editing documents. Together they cover everything your E1 license includes.

 

📋  What's included in your E1 license: E1 includes Outlook, Teams, OneDrive, SharePoint, and the web versions of Word, Excel, and PowerPoint. It does not include the installable desktop Office apps (Word.exe, Excel.exe, etc.). All document creation and editing is done through your browser at office.com or through the mobile apps.

 

Part 1: Which Apps Do You Need?

Download these apps from the App Store (iPhone/iPad) or Google Play Store (Android). All are free and published by Microsoft Corporation.

 

App	What it does	Best for on mobile
Outlook	Email, calendar, contacts	Reading and replying to email, checking your calendar, managing meetings on the go
Teams	Chat, meetings, calls, channels	Messaging coworkers, joining meetings, staying on top of channel activity
OneDrive	Access your personal cloud files	Opening, uploading, sharing, and scanning documents from your phone
SharePoint	Access team and company document libraries	Browsing and downloading files from shared team sites
Authenticator	MFA approvals and verification codes	Approving sign-in requests - keep this app installed and working at all times

 

💡  Note on the Office app: Microsoft offers a free Office mobile app for light viewing on phones. However, with an E1 license, editing features in the mobile Office app may be limited or require a premium upgrade. For document creation and editing, use office.com in your phone or tablet browser - it is fully included in your license and works better on larger screens.

 

Part 2: Downloading and Signing In

 

🍎  iPhone and iPad 1.  Open the App Store and search for each app by name - Outlook, Teams, OneDrive. 2.  Tap Get - confirm the publisher says Microsoft Corporation. 3.  Open each app, tap Sign in, and enter your full work email address. 4.  Enter your password on the Microsoft sign-in page and complete the MFA prompt. 5.  Allow notification permissions when prompted - these are needed so you receive emails and Teams messages. Tip: Sign into Outlook first - it often prompts you to add Teams and OneDrive automatically.

 

🤖  Android Phone and Tablet 1.  Open the Google Play Store and search for Outlook, Teams, and OneDrive. 2.  Tap Install - verify the publisher is Microsoft Corporation. 3.  Open each app and sign in with your work email address. 4.  Enter your password and complete the MFA prompt. 5.  Allow notification and permission requests - these are needed for full functionality. Note: Steps may vary slightly by manufacturer (Samsung, Pixel, etc.).

 

📷  Video cue: Show downloading Outlook from both stores side by side, signing in with a work email, the Microsoft sign-in redirect, completing MFA, and the inbox loading. Use an iPhone and Android device - keep footage separate for each platform.

 

Part 3: Mobile App vs. Browser - What Works Best Where

With E1 you have two ways to work on your phone or tablet: the dedicated apps and the browser. Each has strengths - here's when to use which:

 

Task	📱  Mobile App	🌐  Browser	Notes
Read and reply to email	✅  Full	✅  Full	Outlook app is ideal on mobile; browser works great on tablet
Manage calendar / meetings	✅  Full	✅  Full	Full calendar in Outlook app and Outlook on the web
Teams chat and @mentions	✅  Full	✅  Full	Apps are nearly identical experience
Join a Teams meeting	✅  Full	✅  Full	Both work well - app gives best audio/video reliability
Share your screen in a meeting	⚠️  Limited	✅  Full	Mobile screen share shows your phone display only - better from browser on a tablet or laptop
View and download files	✅  Full	✅  Full	OneDrive and SharePoint apps are excellent for this
Light document editing	⚠️  Limited	✅  Full	Browser (office.com) handles editing better than mobile apps for longer documents
Create new documents	⚠️  Limited	✅  Full	Use office.com in browser for creating new Word/Excel/PowerPoint files
Access SharePoint sites	✅  Full	✅  Full	SharePoint app or browser on tablet both work well
Approve MFA requests	✅  Full	N/A	Authenticator app handles this - no browser equivalent
Scan documents to PDF	✅  Full	❌  No	OneDrive mobile scan feature - not available in browser
Offline file access	✅  Full	❌  No	Make files available offline in OneDrive app - browser requires internet

 

✅  The E1 workflow in practice: Use the Outlook and Teams apps for staying connected throughout the day. When you need to create or edit a Word, Excel, or PowerPoint file, open office.com in your phone or tablet browser - the full web apps are included in your license and work best on a tablet or larger screen.

 

Part 4: Using office.com on Your Phone or Tablet Browser

office.com is your hub for document work on E1. Open it in Safari (iPhone/iPad) or Chrome (Android) and sign in with your work account.

 

What you can do at office.com

• Create and edit Word documents, Excel spreadsheets, and PowerPoint presentations
• Open files directly from OneDrive or SharePoint without downloading them
• Co-author documents with coworkers in real time
• Access your full Outlook inbox, calendar, and contacts
• Use Teams on the web if the app isn't available

 

Tips for using office.com on a phone

• Request desktop site: On iPhone, tap the AA icon in the Safari address bar → Request Desktop Website. On Android Chrome, tap the three dots menu → Desktop site. This gives you the full office.com experience instead of the mobile-scaled version.
• Add to home screen: On iPhone, open office.com in Safari → tap the Share icon → Add to Home Screen. On Android, tap the three dots → Add to Home screen. This creates a shortcut that opens like an app.
• Tablet is better than phone: The web apps work significantly better on a tablet's larger screen. If you regularly need to create or edit documents, a tablet is worth it.
• Auto-save is always on: Any file you open from OneDrive or SharePoint in the browser saves automatically - no Ctrl+S needed.

 

Part 5: App-by-App Mobile Tips

 

📧  Outlook Mobile

• Focused Inbox: Outlook separates important email (Focused) from everything else (Other). Swipe between tabs - check both throughout the day.
• Swipe actions: Swipe left or right on an email to quickly delete, archive, or flag it. Customize these in Settings → Swipe options.
• Schedule send: Hold the Send button to schedule an email for later - useful when you're working outside business hours.
• Calendar: Tap the calendar icon at the bottom to view your full work calendar, RSVP to meetings, and add events.
• Search: The search bar finds emails, contacts, and calendar events across your entire mailbox instantly.

 

💬  Teams Mobile

• Activity feed: Tap the bell icon to see all @mentions, replies, and missed messages in one place - check this before scrolling through channels.
• Join a meeting: Tap the meeting in your Outlook calendar or the notification when a meeting starts - you can join directly from the notification.
• Mute shortcut: In a Teams call, hold the mic icon to speak and release to mute - useful in noisy environments.
• Files tab: In any channel, tap the Files tab to browse and open documents stored in that team's SharePoint library.
• Status: Tap your profile picture to set Do Not Disturb outside working hours to silence notifications.

 

☁️  OneDrive Mobile

• Scan documents: Tap the + button → Scan to photograph a paper document and save it directly to OneDrive as a PDF. Great for receipts, forms, or physical paperwork.
• Make available offline: Tap the three dots next to any file → Make available offline. Opens without internet once downloaded.
• Share files: Tap the three dots → Share to send a link - works the same as sharing from a computer.
• Camera backup: OneDrive can auto-back up your camera roll if you enable it in Settings → Camera upload. Note this uses your work OneDrive storage quota.

 

 

💡  PFM self-managed device note: When signing into OneDrive on a laptop using the self-managed device process, you chose "No, sign in to this app only." The same caution applies on mobile — if you see a device management enrollment prompt and are unsure, just tap no.

 

Part 6: Security Tips for Mobile

 

• Lock your screen. Use a PIN, pattern, Face ID, or fingerprint. No screen lock may block you from accessing company apps under IT policy.
• Avoid public Wi-Fi for work tasks. Use your phone's mobile data or a personal hotspot instead of open public networks when accessing company email or files.
• Sign out before lending your phone. Sign out of Outlook and Teams before handing your phone to someone else - your work data should not be visible to others.
• Enable Find My / Find My Device. iPhone: Settings → [your name] → Find My. Android: Settings → Google → Find My Device. Lets you locate or wipe your phone remotely if lost.
• Report a lost phone immediately. Contact IT — they can revoke your account access on that device before anyone can access your email or files.
• Keep apps updated. Enable automatic app updates. Microsoft releases security patches for Outlook, Teams, and OneDrive regularly.

 

✅  Mobile done right: Locked screen + updated apps + signing out when sharing = your company data stays protected wherever you are.

 

Part 7: Troubleshooting Common Mobile Issues

 

• App won't sign in or loops back to the login screen: Force-close the app, reopen it, and sign in again. If MFA isn't working, see the Setting Up Microsoft Authenticator article.

 

• MFA prompt not arriving: Check your internet connection and that the Authenticator app is not blocked by Do Not Disturb mode. Switch to the SMS code option as a fallback.

 

• Email not syncing or updating slowly: Pull down on the inbox to force a refresh. Check that Background App Refresh is on - iPhone: Settings → [App] → Background App Refresh. Android: Settings → Apps → [App] → Battery → Unrestricted.

 

• Teams notifications not arriving: Phone Settings → Notifications → Teams → make sure notifications are allowed. Also check Teams Settings → Notifications inside the app.

 

• office.com won't load properly on my phone browser: Try requesting the desktop site (see Part 4). If still broken, clear your browser cache and try again, or use a different browser.

 

• OneDrive files unavailable offline: Must be done while connected - tap the three dots next to the file → Make available offline. The file downloads and stays available without internet after that.

 

• Company Portal prompting repeatedly: This will not stop until enrollment is complete if IT policy requires it. Contact IT before completing it if you have questions.

 

• Apps draining battery: iPhone: Settings → [App] → Background App Refresh → set to Wi-Fi only. Android: Settings → Apps → [App] → Battery → Optimized. Also reduce email sync frequency in Outlook Settings → Mail → Sync frequency.

 

🛟  Still stuck? Contact the IT Help Desk. Have your phone model, OS version, and a description of what you see ready.