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
    2024-06-14T20:38:25+00:00

    We are moving to Teams. I am not an admin or in IT and just a user with a bit of an interest and a bit of knowledge. I have Teams set to open MS apps in desktop by default and it works flawlessly. I have yesterday and today set up at least eight of my colleagues and all have worked perfectly. This afternoon one colleague did not have this option and I tried to various things including reinstalling etc. I did note after I had nearly given up that despite having 365 her MS apps were 2019 if I opened them separately from the desktop. Not sure it helps but it looked to me like an issue with installation of the 365 apps (or not)

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  2. Anonymous
    2024-06-11T15:40:38+00:00

    Yes. 100%. It's a huge oversight for such a simple fix. Extremely frustrating to have to jump through hoops to get an Excel file to open in Excel. What kind of monster would want to use Excel embedded within Teams?

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  3. Anonymous
    2024-06-11T15:31:14+00:00

    Hi Peter,

    Appreciate the attempt to help but I think Tasha and Greg have said most of what I would have already... the point is App is set as a default option and no longer works. Workarounds is a phrase I hate as it basically means developers can't be bothered to resolve an issue they created so we have to do it... Power BI is a prime example, the whole thing is workarounds because of the numerous flaws in it that MS won't fix while implementing new features that benefit one person in a thousand.

    Simple fact is, if they are implementing a change and a new version they should test all features work before release, regardless of how insignificant or small those features may seem. Note the numerous people on this thread loosing their proverbial S***, myself included because these things are overlooked. And the resolution is apparently not to use it but another version..... then why bother at all?

    Again, very much appreciate the attempt to help but the help we need is an update to the program that makes it work as expected and billed.

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  4. Anonymous
    2024-06-11T13:58:28+00:00

    Then why use Teams at all? This is a broken program. If I set the default to open a file in the App it should open in the app. The setting is broken and needs to be fixed ASAP.

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