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
    2024-01-19T21:53:42+00:00

    Not true.

    Screenshot of New Teams (notice top left corner) and option for Desktop App is there

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  2. Anonymous
    2024-01-11T12:41:13+00:00

    I have this same issue.

    I can only choose between "Teams" and "Browser" - neither of these is useful and both require a bunch more clicks to get to the desktop app where I need to be.

    Browser and teams options display the file oddly and the spacing is wrong, plus losing more of the screen to useless menus.

    Not sure why the useless option is the default option and the useful option isn't selectable.

    Been this way for years and every so often I spend a few hours trying to solve this problem...

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  3. Anonymous
    2024-01-07T17:04:30+00:00

    This is an ongoing nuisance. My company is considering moving to Slack, and some of our customers have done as well. This "tight" integration between instant messaging, file management, and applications is really a killer to efficiency.

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  4. Anonymous
    2023-11-21T10:07:53+00:00

    Thank you for your responses so far Oluwatosin,

    Can you confirm that the ability to open Office documents in the Desktop App by default is on the New Teams development roadmap?

    We're encouraging people to move to new Teams here, but will rescind that advice given how incredibly clunky it is to work with Officer documents via Teams.

    Thanks

    Sam

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