Cannot open link file types from with the Files tab
I dragged some URL link items from a folder in OneDrive into the Files section in Teams
When I click on these URL links from within the Teams Files tab they do not open to a website, instead they try to download
If I click to the actual library within Sharepoint, and then click these URL links, they open ok (ie. they take you to a website)
Why don't they open from within the Teams Files tab?
BTW - I noticed in the "New" menu in the Teams Files tab you can create a new folder or file, but you cannot create a new URL link. Whereas in both OneDrive and Sharepoint the "New" menu has a "link" selection (it's the globe icon)
First posted about this here
https://techcommunity.microsoft.com/t5/Microsoft-Teams/Cannot-open-link-file-types-from-with-the-Files-tab/m-p/94268#M6278

37 comments
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Sabrina commented
Dear Microsoft, could you please fix this basic function issue posted since 2017 ? Thank you
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UG commented
This is really annoying also as it is not possible to drag and drop files from Teams to the Desktop, only vice versa. Work around: Use the "Open in SharePoint" function and then click the .url file and it will open in the browser of your choice without downloading.
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Anonymous commented
So O365 is all about collaboration and you don't get a decent reference-instead-of-duplicate functionality done?
Sharing by link creates an unbelievable mess for the recipient, you have a local file-structure or a remote SP/Teams to collaborate, but you have to maintain a second list/hierarchy of all the links you've got.
So many cool features, and then such deal breakers.
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Scott Robertson commented
followed various referenced posts in uservoice and techcommunity. This appears to be a long-standing (>3 years - techcommunity post started 08-08-2017) issue with no feedback from microsoft. Guess I need to get more people to up-vote this to get some attention.
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Anonymous commented
Yes please fix this to a greater user experience and more efficient in every day working with links in Teams
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Anonymous commented
This is really needed to be able to add a link in files section (like can be done on sharepoint) and also when clicking the link that the file opens and not having to download the link before then opening from local drive. The workaround using a WIKI will not let us organize the files in the correct folders.
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Katie Bennett commented
i would love to see this too. temporary workaround (still not ideal) but you can embed that SP link as a tab in your TEAMS Channel or create a WIKI for list of links and list them there (kind of like a 2nd FILEs tab for external l inks). but i don't know why MS doesn't allow link types to open up in TEAMS. this should be fixed. is this a bug or intentional? if intentional what reason would they have to limit this?
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Christian Meißner commented
Definitely confusing since links are displayed but will not work (the referenced path isn't followed). So please correct this anoying obstacle.
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Kevin Kolack commented
Agreed. Ridiculous you can't add a link to your Files folders. I'm posting resources for students studying remotely, and I can upload files, but cannot point them to online resources.
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Pete Garvey commented
We really need to be able to use links in the Files tab! It's so confusing for users that the links don't work and leads to duplicates files and folders being created in different channels.
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Anonymous commented
Please fix this. I don't want to add a website or url on the tabs at the top of teams, I want various url links to appear in the files - document library, as it does in sharepoint. Frustrating.
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Morgan Fosstveit commented
For me it's working on pc, but not on the Iphone. There it still asks for a download if I click on the Tab with the link to the SP doc library.
But, if i click the three dot, and choose Open, then it opens fine???? -
Andrew Chandler commented
Add another complaint to the pile. It's embarrassing that it behaves like this and not in the same manner as the SharePoint web app.
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Craig Fisher commented
Sheesh. Another no-brainer that seems to have passed them by as a quick-win.
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Robert commented
Microsoft are you guys for real this was posted in 2017. I just found a use case for this, set it up, encountered this issue, and whalla first hit on google. Shaking my head..
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Anonymous commented
This is really 'broken', not just a missing feature. If you create a link-type document in a Sharepoint directory, then one should be able to open that from Teams. But right now, that DOES NOT WORK.
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Jamie Thomson Pate commented
I use the link function all the time within Sharepoint to provide links to avoid duplication of files when collaborating across teams or linking to archived work. Please add support within MS Teams file tab!
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John Gillanders commented
We just found this issue too - frustrating! I want to be able to keep resources organised into folders in a Team channel's File tab (including links to useful websites), but this makes it impractical to do so. It's really silly that it works in the Team's SharePoint site but not in Teams itself.
Microsoft, please stop duplicating functionality over and over again or it creates these kinds of issues. Web file management should all work the same everywhere within the Microsoft ecosystem (except there might be different additional features in different contexts, but the baseline should remain the same). -
Eric Burger commented
So you can add URLs to a SP doclibrary, but you can't open these from Teams in the file tab? I can't believe this isn't working.... do we really have to vote this up the Teams roadmap?
March 2020, 150 votes only - and still counting.... -
Mark Moore commented
It is odd that this functionality has still not been implemented still or any input from Microsoft in here. Adding links to Sharepoint document libraries was and still is an awesome way to prevent file duplication across libraries, the link that appears in teams is not in the least bit functionally. Please give us some feedback! Will see if I can mobilize my company to increase the vote count :)