What Is Microsoft Sway? (All You Need to Know)

If you’re familiar with what the Microsoft company has to offer, you have most likely heard about Microsoft Sway. However, if you’re reading this article, you may not know what it is, or you’re simply hoping to learn more about the program. 

If this sounds like you, you are in the right place! Keep reading this article to learn more about Microsoft Sway, including how you can use it, who can use it, and other facts.

What Is Microsoft Sway in [currentyear]?

Microsoft Sway is a presentation program that allows you to build slideshows, newsletters, resumes, blogs, and more, and helps you to make your creations more professional-looking in [currentyear]. Sway has a variety of templates to choose from to start your projects, but you’re not limited to those. You can also share your MS Sway projects online with friends or co-workers.

Keep reading if you would like to learn more about Microsoft Sway, like what it can be used for, why you might want to use it, and much more!

What Really Is Microsoft Sway?

If you’re well-versed with Microsoft and the programs that it has to offer, you’re likely familiar with MS Word, PowerPoint, and Excel, and there are actually a lot more programs out there.

Perhaps you have even heard of MS Sway, which is a presentation-making app that can be accessed at sway.office.com for free, provided the user has a Microsoft account.

If you have a Microsoft 365 subscription, you can look forward to even more features that the program has to offer than in the free version.

PowerPoint is very similar to Sway, the main difference being that MS PowerPoint centers around the slideshow format, whereas Sway is more varied.

This program can be used to easily build professional-looking slideshows, newsletters, resumes, blogs, and so much more.

With Sway, you have the option to start from scratch if you have a specific design in mind.

Also, you can upload images, documents, and YouTube videos, and Sway will design something for you automatically. 

Microsoft Sway is also hosted entirely online, making it so easy to access and share your finished work anywhere you have an internet connection.

How Can You Use Microsoft Sway?

To start your project on Microsoft Sway, you will need to choose one of 3 options included in the application, which consist of the following:

  • “Create New” – allows you to create a Sway project from scratch.
  • “Start From a Topic” – will let you search for specific topics and create an outline for your presentation based on that topic.
  • “Start From a Document” – will prompt you to upload a personal document, which MS Sway will then turn into a presentation draft for you to adjust to your liking.

As well, you can click on one of the already-made templates for an instant outline to help you to create your project more easily. 

There are two main components to Sway’s interface, which are “the Storyline tab” and “the Design tab.”

The Storyline is your dashboard for organizing your presentation’s content, whereas the Design is where you’ll see how the presentation will actually look.

In simpler terms, you can create a presentation in the Storyline tab, and people who will view it will see it in the Design tab.

The Storyline breaks up individual paragraphs, images, and videos into “cards” in order for you to easily keep them organized, and move them around as you wish.

When presenting, it’s like the story you are trying to communicate is your presentation.

When you move items around on your Storyline, the Design tab will make those changes. When you’re ready to share your MS Sway project, simply click the “Play” button.

You can really play around with it and see what works best for you and what you’re trying to do. 

When you’re sure that you have completed your masterpiece and are ready for others to see it, all you need to do is hit the “Share” button and send it to whoever you want. 

Why Does Microsoft Need a PowerPoint Alternative?

Why Does Microsoft Need a PowerPoint Alternative?

Microsoft felt the need to create an alternative to its PowerPoint program that is easier to use and provides more narrative devices than simply showing slide after slide of bullet points.

This program is, of course, known as MS Sway, which is a more lightweight, cloud-only story-telling application.

Who Can Use Microsoft Sway?

Anyone who has signed up for a free Microsoft account or has a Microsoft 365 subscription can use MS Sway.

Note that there are some differences between the free version and the Microsoft 365 version.

However, these are mainly admin features like password protection or being able to remove the footer, which isn’t essential for everyone. 

As well there are some differences when it comes to how much content you can fit into a single Sway project. 

If you’re just an average user of Sway, the free version should suffice for your needs.

What Can You Create With Microsoft Sway?

You can create so many different things with Microsoft Sway, including a report, a presentation, a newsletter, a personal story, a photo album, a visual trip report, and so much more. 

Your imagination is basically the limit when it comes to what you can do with Sway. 

However, if you’re out of ideas, you can get inspiration by viewing and interacting with Sways that other people have created.

You will be able to browse through the featured content under the heading “Get inspired by a featured Sway” once you have signed in to Sway.

Then, to start your own creation, you can choose one of the featured templates and start playing around with the program and learn how to use it.

To know more, you can also read our posts on whether Microsoft Teams is secure, whether Microsoft is authenticator safe, and what is Microsoft DirectX.

Conclusion 

Microsoft Sway is a newer and friendlier alternative to Microsoft PowerPoint, a cloud-based app that brings a fresh new perspective to PowerPoint.

With this program, you will be able to easily create a newsletter, resume, or presentation with the minimum effort once you know your way around the program. 

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Marques Thomas

Marques Thomas graduated with a MBA in 2011. Since then, Marques has worked in the retail and consumer service industry as a manager, advisor, and marketer. Marques is also the head writer and founder of QuerySprout.com.

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