Microsoft Project is a project management program designed to help project managers in developing plans, controlling the budget, allocating resources, tracking progress, and studying workloads. Microsoft Project is used in various industries including manufacturing, construction, retail, government, financial services and health care.

Learning Microsoft Project is very helpful for project managers, planners, engineers and entrepreneurs as it helps them in; creating realistic goals, getting an insight about their project’s various aspects and more importantly it helps them control every aspect of the project.

This post is a road map for anyone willing to start learning Microsoft Project online for free from scratch, the post will present and compare between the best online sources where beginners can start from and follow along, the sources stated in this post is for full structured courses so you won’t find a link to a single video or a group of unrelated tutorials.

Getting Started with Microsoft Project

Udemy (Update: Paid)

Udemy is the first free online outlet where beginners can start learning MS Project through video tutorials; you need to register in order to have access to the course. There are many Microsoft project courses available on Udemy, the best course to start with at the time of writing this post is the course entitled “Introduction to Microsoft Project 2013”.

Structure: The course is divided into 11 sections, each section is divided into one or more lesson and each lesson covers a certain topic in MS Project.

Interface: The interface is very simple, just click on the lesson you’re interested in and the video tutorial will start right away.

Now, the pros and cons:

Pros

Free. The course is well-structured and organized for beginners. The files used throughout the course are available for download, so it’s easy to follow along. The course covers the latest version of MS Project.

Cons

The only minor drawback about that course is that it doesn’t cover the basics of project management as a whole (e.g. critical path, over allocation etc.) though that might not be a problem for many beginners.

Verdict: This’s the best place for beginners to start learning Microsoft Project online for free.

Oregon State University

Oregon State University is the second free online outlet where beginners can start learning MS Project through video tutorials; you don’t need to register in order to have access to the course.

Structure: The course is divided into 31 tutorials; each tutorial covers certain topics in MS Project.

Interface: The interface is very simple, just click on the tutorial you’re interested in and you’ll be directed to a new window where you can play the video.

Now, the pros and cons:

Pros

Free. The course is well-structured and organized for beginners.

Cons

The only drawback about that course is that it covers an old version of Microsoft Project (MS Project 2010).

Verdict: Though this course covers an old version of Microsoft Project, it’s an excellent source for beginners to start from.

Microsoft

Microsoft website is the third free online outlet where beginners can start learning MS project through video tutorials; you don’t need to register in order to have access to the training, just go to the website and you’re ready to go.

Structure: The training is divided into 2 sections (beginners and intermediate), each section is divided into lessons (5 in total); and each lesson covers a certain topic in MS Project.

Interface: The interface is very simple, just click on the lesson you’re interested in and you’ll be directed to the lesson’s window where you shall find the video.

Now, the pros and cons:

Pros

Free. The training covers the latest version of Microsoft Project.

Cons

The training isn’t enough on its own for any beginner to start using Microsoft Project; it’s more of an overview about the software.

Verdict: The training is more of a Microsoft Project overview and it’s not suitable for those who want to learn the software to actually use it.

Learn That (Updated)

Learn That is the fourth free online outlet where beginners can start learning Microsoft Project, this training is text-based only, you don’t need any registration in order to have access to the training.

Structure: The training is divided into pages (no lessons or sections) and each page covers some topics in Microsoft Project. The course covers a very old version of Microsoft Project (MS Project) and the training is available as text only.

Interface: Simple interface, just search for the topic you want through the pages.

Now, the pros and cons:

Pros

Free.

Cons

The training covers a very old version of MS Project. There’s no structure for the training.

Verdict: There are better outlets to start from as the training has no structure and it covers a very old version of MS Project.

Profsr.com

Profsr.com is the fifth free online outlet where beginners can start learning Microsoft Project; the training is text-based tutorial. What is unique about that outlet is that it starts with the basics of project management which isn’t covered in any other outlet.

Structure: The course is divided into 5 sections; each section is divided into lessons that cover various topics in Microsoft Project. The course is well-structured and organized for beginners, though it’s worth noting that the course covers a very old version of Microsoft Project (MS Project 2003).

Interface: The interface is very simple, just click on the section you’re interested in and you’ll be directed to the section’s window.

Now, the pros and cons:

Pros

Free. The course is well-structured and organized for beginners. The course covers the basics of project management before starting with MS Project.

Cons

The course covers a very old version of MS Project. The two sections that covers project management, just gives an overview about project management.

Verdict: This outlet is suitable for those who want to get an overview about project management, but it’s not suitable as MS Project starting point.

Bottom Line

The recipe for learning Microsoft Project:

Oregon State University Is the best place for beginners to start learning Microsoft Project for free. If you prefer books, then the free book “Using Microsoft Project 2010” from the University of North Texas is your best choice.

Remember that the first step is always the toughest step, and the aim of this post is to provide you with resources that will help you take your first step in Microsoft Project.

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