Forum Discussion
PerEkholm
Mar 19, 2026Copper Contributor
Issue with viewing mode for E5 licensed users
I'm a sysadmin for a Health care provider in Sweden and we have an issue with users with an E5 license loading into Office apps in view-mode. As far as I know we are a coupe of organisations providin...
Kidd_Ip
Mar 20, 2026MVP
The observed issue stems from the fact that the Group Policy configuration for Office Viewer Mode is applied at the device level rather than the user level. As a result, all users including those with Microsoft 365 E5 licenses are forced into view-only mode. According to Microsoft’s official guidance, organizations should instead leverage Shared Computer Activation (SCA) for Microsoft 365 Apps. SCA ensures that licensing entitlements are applied on a per-user session basis, thereby allowing properly licensed users to access full editing functionality without being restricted by a device-wide viewer mode policy.
https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-365-apps/licensing-activation/overview-shared-computer-activation