Links to Excel documents on SharePoint are downloading instead of opening in app or browser

ShelliG_N I hope your day is great but the behavior you are experiencing with Excel files downloading instead of opening in the native app might be related to the file association settings on your computer, as well as how SharePoint handles links to files.

Here are a few things you can check and consider and hope this makes your day wonderful. 

1. File Association Settings
Make sure that Excel files (.xlsx or .xls) are associated with the Excel desktop application on your computer. Here's how to check and change file associations on Windows:

- Go to "Control Panel" > "Default Programs" > "Set Associations."
- Look for the .xlsx and .xls file extensions and ensure they are associated with Microsoft Excel.

2. SharePoint Library Settings
You mentioned that you are using direct links to the files on SharePoint. In SharePoint, when you click on a file link, the behavior can be influenced by library settings. You can try the following steps:

- Navigate to the SharePoint document library where the Excel files are stored.
- Click on the "Library" tab on the top ribbon, then click on "Library Settings."
- Under the "General Settings," click on "Advanced settings."
- Look for the "Opening Documents in the Browser" section. Ensure that "Open in the client application" is selected. This should force the file to open in the Excel desktop application instead of downloading.

3. SharePoint Site Collection Settings
If the above steps do not resolve the issue, check the site collection settings on SharePoint:

- Go to the SharePoint site's home page.
- Click on the gear icon (settings) in the top-right corner and select "Site settings."
- Under the "Site Collection Administration" section, click on "Site collection features."
- Check if the "Open Documents in Client Applications by Default" feature is activated. If not, activate it, and this should force documents to open in the client application instead of downloading.

4. Office Web Apps
The behavior could also be influenced by the Office Web Apps server configuration. If your organization uses Office Web Apps server to handle file rendering in the browser, there might be settings that affect the behavior of links to Excel files.

Please note that the settings and options described above might vary depending on your SharePoint version and configuration. It's recommended to have the appropriate permissions to make changes to SharePoint settings.

If the issue persists after checking the above settings, you might want to reach out to your organization's SharePoint administrators or IT support team for further assistance. They may be able to identify any specific configurations or issues that are causing the files to download instead of opening in the native app.