Workplace Productivity and Office Skills
Digital literacy and computer essentials
Before anyone can be good at Excel they have to find the file. Digital literacy is the layer under every office application: saving to the right place, telling a genuine login page from a fake one, managing passwords, searching well and typing without looking at the keys. DigComp 2.2 sets it out as citizen competences, ICDL examines it in Computer & Online Essentials, and employers assume it without asking. The sections below cover what that baseline includes.
Why this topic exists: Files and folders, the browser, accounts and passwords, safety habits and typing: DigComp 2.2's information, safety and problem-solving areas and ICDL's Computer & Online Essentials; the entry point of the whole field.
Next to this topic
- SpreadsheetsCells, ranges, tables, formulas and charts in Excel and Google Sheets: the MO-210 blueprint's five areas and ICDL Spreadsheets; the single most examined office skill.
- Documents and word processingStyles, sections, references, tables and document collaboration in Word and Google Docs: the MO-110 blueprint and ICDL Documents; mail merge and templates are the daily craft the exam leaves out, and the skill hiring managers assume and rarely test.
- PresentationsSlide masters, layouts, themes, notes, transitions and export in PowerPoint, Google Slides and Keynote: the MO-310 exam and ICDL Presentation; design taste is the part no exam covers.
- Email and calendarRules, folders and labels, shared mailboxes, delegation, scheduling and etiquette in Outlook and Gmail: DigComp's communication area and the MO-400 Outlook exam that still counts towards MOS Associate.
- Collaboration, file sharing and meetingsCo-authoring, version history, sharing and permissions, channels, document libraries and online meetings in Teams, SharePoint, OneDrive, Drive and Meet: DigComp 2.2's communication and collaboration area (six competences) and ICDL's Teamwork module.
- Notes and personal knowledge managementNotebooks, tags, links and search in OneNote, Loop, Notion, Evernote and Obsidian: DigComp's managing of data, information and content; a field with practices and products but no examining body, an honest gap.
- Workplace automation: Power Automate and Power AppsFlows, triggers, connectors, approvals and canvas apps built by the people who use them, plus Copilot Studio agents: the PL-900 blueprint's five areas; robotic process automation for the desktop belongs here too.
- AI assistants in the officeCopilot in Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Outlook, Gemini in Workspace, ChatGPT for everyday work, and the questions of grounding and data protection: the Applied Skills business-user lab, ICDL AI Essentials, DigComp 2.2's AI examples.
- Enterprise systems for end users: SAP and OracleModules, transactions, master data and the daily screens of SAP S/4HANA, Oracle E-Business Suite and Fusion, Dynamics 365 and Workday: SAP Learning's certifications name the consultant behind each module; the end user is who this topic serves.
Courses on this topic
130 courses cover this topic. The first 6 are listed; details and the provider link are on each course page.
Last reviewed 26 September 2026 · Getting Digital