I'm in new teams and can't switch to open files in the app rather than browser

Anonymous
2023-10-24T14:47:38+00:00

Hi there,

I have had issues with old Teams when trying to open a file in the app, it always defaults to open in the browser which makes it hard to edit, then various error messages pop up when trying to open in the default app. From reading help in the community forums, it suggested to uninstall and reinstall. I can now only install the new app which won't even give me the option to try and change my default for opening files and says to use the previous version which I can't find to download.

Please help. I really struggle to properly edit ppt and docs through the browser as some of the functionalities are very limited.

Thanks

AC

Microsoft Teams | Microsoft Teams for business | Files | Other

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Mr. Trust_A 4,820 Reputation points
2024-10-22T14:38:21+00:00

Hello AC_89,

Microsoft is aware of the issue where the option to open files in the desktop app is missing in the new Teams. This could be due to not meeting one of the three prerequisites:

  1. You must be using the Teams desktop app for Windows or Mac.
  2. You need to have the corresponding Office desktop apps (Microsoft Office 2016 or later) installed from the Microsoft 365 portal.
  3. You must have an Office 365 E3 or E5 license.

For more details, please refer to the support article: Desktop app option is missing when editing Office files in Teams - Microsoft Teams | Microsoft Learn

Hope this helps!

Regards,

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  1. Anonymous
    2024-01-25T14:53:22+00:00

    Not a MS rep, but definitely not a licensing issue as all of my users are, and have been, on the same licensing model through both Classic and move to New Teams. For users that are new employees and started on New Teams, they do not have the option. For those on Classic that moved to new and had the option before the switch (toggle), they still also have the option in the New Teams.

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  2. Anonymous
    2024-01-25T15:07:49+00:00

    But has the licensing ever changed at all? I ask because in my situation we had an office full of people that had their office installs validated with an E3 license that has the feature. Then at some point the license was changed to a Business license that does not support the feature. Everyone still has the capability as long as they are using an office/teams instance that was activated with the E3 license. The feature doesn't just disappear for an existing activation once the license is changed. The loss of the feature only occurs when activating a new teams/office install instance (new computer, reimage etc) under the new not supported license. Your description of who has and does not have the feature sounds exactly what I experienced and it ended up indeed being a license cause.

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  3. Anonymous
    2024-01-25T15:52:46+00:00

    All of my users are A5 and have always been, no licensing chane. All users that opened and changed the default to "Open in App" in Classic also have the option once they toggled over to the new Teams. Any users that did not have the default turned on in Classic now do not have it in New Teams. Any new user that started with New Teams (and never was on Classic, therefore never had the default set) do not have it. No license change.

    Also note, that any user that had Classic but attempts to clear their Teams cache (Classic uses cache) after they toggle (not realizing New Teams doesn't create the cache folder) lose the option to change to the app as default.

    I, like all of my users, am on A5 and in New Teams and I have the options

    Doesn't sound at all like a license issue, but more like a New Teams issue.

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  4. Anonymous
    2024-01-25T16:08:03+00:00

    Sounds like both are true. The feature is definitely tied to license per https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/edit-a-file-in-microsoft-teams-257a5e88-205a-4fb5-bbf1-c78c3e64de86

    However you are EDU licensed at the same level as the E5 license that has the feature so I would think there is feature parity with those. So on top of licensing it can just be broken in the app too. All kinds of fun and different ways to lose this feature. I would not expect them to fix this since clicking on the files three dot menu and selecting to open in APP is a workaround and they are quickly working towards elimination of desktop suites for an online only model. Have you tried the New Outlook (webmail UI) preview?. Not a good time.

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