SharePoint is a web-based collaborative platform that integrates with Microsoft Office. It is used by organizations for document management, intranets, task management, collaboration, and more. As SharePoint is such a versatile platform, having SharePoint skills can make you an attractive candidate for many IT and business roles. The good news is that you can learn SharePoint for free through a combination of online resources, books, and hands-on experience. Here are some tips on how to get started learning SharePoint at no cost.
Take advantage of free online SharePoint courses and tutorials
One of the best ways to start learning SharePoint basics is by taking free online courses. Here are some good options:
- Microsoft Virtual Academy – Microsoft offers a range of excellent free SharePoint training through its Virtual Academy platform. Some examples are Introduction to SharePoint Online, SharePoint Online Sites and Pages, and SharePoint Online Implementation. These courses provide a great overview of core SharePoint concepts.
- LinkedIn Learning – Formerly Lynda.com, LinkedIn Learning has many free SharePoint video tutorials covering topics like SharePoint Online Essential Training, SharePoint 2016 Essential Training, and more. You can access them by signing up for a free 1-month trial.
- YouTube – There are many free SharePoint tutorials on YouTube from a variety of experts and organizations. Microsoft and SharePoint community members have uploaded videos covering intro topics as well as more advanced functionality.
- Udemy – This online learning platform offers both paid and free courses. Filter your search results by selecting “Free” to find some introductory SharePoint development and administration classes.
- Channel 9 – Microsoft’s Channel 9 has training on older SharePoint versions like SharePoint 2013, which can still provide useful foundational learning. The concepts are largely transferable to newer releases.
Following step-by-step SharePoint tutorials is a great way to learn at your own pace. As you take more advanced classes, be sure to supplement them with hands-on practice.
Read blogs, documentation, and books
In addition to formal training, you can gain SharePoint knowledge for free through self-directed reading and research. Here are some options:
- Microsoft Docs – Microsoft provides extensive documentation on all aspects of SharePoint, with articles, developer guides, API reference, and more. This should be your go-to resource for official information.
- TechNet – Microsoft’s IT pro network offers many free ebooks on SharePoint. You can download ebooks on administration, deployment, development, integration, and more.
- Blogs – There are many SharePoint blogs that publish free tutorials, tips, and how-tos frequently. Examples include SharePoint Maven, SharePoint Diary, and SharePoint Chick.
- Books – O’Reilly and other publishers allow you to read some SharePoint books online for free for a trial period. Take advantage of the free previews.
- Reddit – The SharePoint community on Reddit can be helpful for asking questions and finding resources.
Consistently reading about SharePoint will give you a stronger theoretical foundation to apply in hands-on work.
Get free lab environments
One of the best ways to cement your learning is to use SharePoint hands-on. There are a few options for getting free SharePoint environments for testing purposes:
- Microsoft 365 Developer Program – This free program provides access to a renewable 90-day Office 365 E5 trial tenant, including SharePoint Online. This is an ideal sandbox environment.
- Microsoft 365 training tenants – As a student or faculty member, you can get a free 1-year Office 365 A5 trial tenant through Microsoft’s training programs.
- Trial VMs – Some training sites like SharePoint Maven provide trial SharePoint Server VMs available for download. These can be deployed locally.
- Azure free trial – Sign up for an Azure free trial and deploy a SharePoint Server VM in the cloud. This gives you temporary access to use SharePoint Server.
With a personal SharePoint site, you can start applying admin settings, building sites, managing content, and testing configuration changes safely.
Attend free local events
Look for free SharePoint events in your local community:
- User group meetings – Many cities have SharePoint user groups that hold free meetups. These meetings often include presentations and demonstrations that can help you learn.
- Conferences – Some SharePoint conferences offer free community passes for select sessions. Look for discount and student registration options as well.
- Webinars – Vendors periodically host free SharePoint webinars which range from intro topics to more advanced functionality.
- Office Hours – Follow local SharePoint consultants/firms and watch for notices about open office hours when they make themselves available for free 1:1 questions.
In-person and virtual events let you connect with experienced SharePoint professionals who are eager to share their knowledge. As an added benefit, these events can help grow your professional network.
Sign up as a developer tenant admin
If you want hands-on experience managing real organizational SharePoint environments, consider signing up as a “developer tenant admin” for companies on sites like Call for Microsoft Cloud. Essentially, you get temporary admin access to practice SharePoint administration for real clients. Just be sure to be transparent that you are learning!
Follow a learning path
Rather than trying to learn SharePoint all at once, break it down into manageable steps along a learning path. Here is one recommended sequence:
- Learn SharePoint basics – Start with fundamental concepts like SharePoint architecture, sites, libraries, lists, content types, etc. Get a high-level overview first.
- Explore common use cases – Understand how SharePoint powers intranets, document management, project management, etc. See how the pieces fit together.
- Prioritize what’s most relevant – Focus your energy on learning the aspects of SharePoint that align to your goals, whether that’s administration, development, end user functionality, etc.
- Get hands-on experience – Set up sample sites to experiment with permissions, workflows, customization, integrations, and more. Apply your knowledge.
- Advance your skills – Take more advanced training on SharePoint Server, PowerShell, development with tools like Visual Studio, JavaScript customization, and so on. Go deeper into what interests you most.
- Stay current – Follow communities and official news to stay on top of new features, cloud releases, best practices, and more. SharePoint changes over time.
Following a roadmap helps ensure you have a strong foundation before moving onto more complex SharePoint concepts.
Contribute to the community
As you learn SharePoint, give back to the community by sharing your knowledge. Some ideas:
- Blog about solutions you develop so others can learn from them.
- Answer SharePoint questions on sites like Reddit and Stack Overflow.
- Participate in local SharePoint meetups and events as an attendee and presenter.
- Create video tutorials for YouTube based on common questions you receive.
- Organize a free SharePoint user group in your local area if there isn’t one already.
By actively contributing as you learn, you further your own skills while helping other community members.
Get volunteer experience
If you can’t get SharePoint experience through your own work, look for opportunities to volunteer your services. Some ideas include:
- Local non-profits – Small organizations often need help implementing solutions like SharePoint on a budget.
- Schools and universities – Offer to help schools adopt SharePoint for intranets, document management, and collaboration.
- Open source projects – Contribute your skills to open source SharePoint development projects.
- User groups – Volunteer to help run a local SharePoint user group by speaking, organizing events, managing the website, etc.
Pro bono and volunteer work is a great way to quickly gain experience when just starting out. Just be transparent that you are looking to build up your skills.
Practice with SharePoint application templates
SharePoint provides a variety of templates for standard intranet sites, document management systems, task trackers, calendars, and more. Set up sample sites from these templates to examine and experiment with the default functionality:
- Team Site – Great for collaboration with document libraries, lists, wikis, blogs, and more. Learn content management.
- Project Site – Includes tasks, schedules, and other project tracking tools. Understand managing projects.
- Document Center – Centralize documents with libraries, metadata, retention policies, and search. Learn management capabilities.
- Contacts Site – Stores contact information from Outlook and relationships between contacts. Learn integration.
The templates provide sample scenarios to see SharePoint capabilities in action. Reverse engineer them to understand the underlying configuration.
Shadow SharePoint professionals
One of the best ways to complement self-directed learning is by shadowing an experienced SharePoint administrator or developer. If your own organization uses SharePoint, ask if you can observe the resident experts to see how they:
- Troubleshoot issues
- Roll out new sites and templates
- Manage governance and security
- Perform upgrades and migrations
- Develop custom solutions and integrations
- Run training sessions
Most professionals will be flattered that you want to learn from them. You’ll gain invaluable knowledge by watching over their shoulder in real scenarios.
Conclusion
With the right combination of online training, reading, hands-on practice, community participation, and real-world experience, you can master SharePoint without having to pay for formal training and certifications. Take advantage of the wealth of free resources available both from Microsoft and from the broader SharePoint community. Learn fundamentals, focus on the skills that align to your goals, and work your way up to more advanced topics at your own pace. SharePoint is an incredibly versatile platform – get started unlocking its possibilities today.
