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Open in Word/Excel/PowerPoint as Default

It would be great if Teams would have the ability to always launch the desktop app when opening Office documents as opposed to launching the online version.

Rest of teams is awesome.

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Jannie van der Walt shared this idea  ·   ·  Flag idea as inappropriate…  ·  Admin →

138 comments

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  • Daniel Kemper commented  ·   ·  Flag as inappropriate

    agree too. can't really see an operational reason not to use the desktop app. seems like 99% of teams users will have desktop apps -O365 right? Users without the app still have current method to choose how to open. Seems like a better default to use what has the greatest functionality.

  • KHelder commented  ·   ·  Flag as inappropriate

    This workaround by ahilburn2019 works for me, it's basically Sharepoint as a tab in Teams: https://techcommunity.microsoft.com/t5/sharepoint/how-to-change-default-document-behavior/m-p/234683

    - go to the document library in Sharepoint and copy the link to the main folder
    - adjust the default settings in Sharepoint: Library settings - Advanced - change "Opening Documents in the Browser" to "Open in the client application"
    - Back to Teams: add a new TAB via the plus icon and select "Website"
    - Paste the URL and save (prompt to log in again)
    - now you have the sharepoint layout/UX, but at least documents open in Desktop apps by default.

  • EdoP commented  ·   ·  Flag as inappropriate

    Agree, really need this... its almost 2020. sounds like a very simple feature request.

  • DamienB commented  ·   ·  Flag as inappropriate

    Opening in the Teams desktop could have been a good thing if you were not losing conversations, losing editing, have on par capabilities with their desktop counterparts etc... But since the Teams desktop app is not MDI but instead follows the Internet Explorer 5 convention (aka a web browser without tabs), it's a hurdle on the path of productivity.

  • Sipke van der Meulen commented  ·   ·  Flag as inappropriate

    although i can understand the sarcasm, we have a very legit reason to want this: We try implementing Azure information protection, but protected documents can't be opened by the teams client for word, excel powerpoint etc.

  • Anonymous commented  ·   ·  Flag as inappropriate

    When you click links to Teams folder from Outlook or Excel, it opens with Teams Web app.
    We would like to open it with desktop app because we use Web app for external tenant communication and use desktop app for internal communication. So, we prefer opening Teams folder with desktop app.

  • R commented  ·   ·  Flag as inappropriate

    I can't think of any situation where I want a file to open in Teams or the web app by default, when I have the actual applications installed. Such a time waster. Reduce the amount of clicks for me to get to my documents please.

  • Michael Kelley commented  ·   ·  Flag as inappropriate

    Hi Warren and MS Team. It has been over a year since an update has been given. can we please have a new update so we know that this functionality is still on track for a solution?

    Thank you for all you are doing,
    M

  • Matt commented  ·   ·  Flag as inappropriate

    This is an absolute must.
    Opening within Teams: Awful. Where's my chat now?
    Opening on Desktop: Great, I can switch back and forth! Functional and expected user experience.

  • James commented  ·   ·  Flag as inappropriate

    I'm going to add to the comments on this one. Its an extremely annoying feature to open online as default. working online or within teams extremely cuts back on the features available in word, excel, etc.

    I have never wanted to open a file on teams or online as default.

    Support for opening non microsoft program files in their native program should be a goal as well.

  • Tom commented  ·   ·  Flag as inappropriate

    When a file includes macro it will not work in online. And when editing online we get a copy of the file (without macro) with extension "- Editable.xlsm" ?? This is a complete mess!

  • Anonymous commented  ·   ·  Flag as inappropriate

    If you post a message with attachment and change the file name or folder after posting, the link gets invalid, and you can’t access the file via Open in Desktop App. You can open it via online as alternative method, but I would like to open it via desktop app.

  • MikeM commented  ·   ·  Flag as inappropriate

    I REALLY hope a fixed is announced at Ignite this year! The inability to open Office doc's in the desktop app makes deploying Teams company-wide impractical!

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