Forum Discussion
Desktop Shortcut to Sharepoint Files
Hi,
I currently have a lot of users sharing a small excel file which is currently over OneDrive but im seeing a few minor teething issues with so many people connected (<15 people).
The file itself is stored on sharepoint.com site and so I wondered if its possible to directly open this file with the desktop app?
The problem im experiencing is, I can browse the folder structure and open this in Windows explorer, however if I close the webpage down it appears to drop the credientials and the location is no longer available through windows explorer.
I've tried desktop shortcuts directly to the file, to the parent folder but all drop the access once the webpage is closed.
Is there another way of achieving this? I really wanted to strip out any middle software such as OneDrive or Teams and just go straight to the Sharepoint File.
Thanks
Have you tried getting a link to the file from SharePoint and then creating a Shortcut in Windows using the link?
Right click the file in SharePoint and choose 'Copy Link'
In Windows, create a Shortcut and paste the link as the path.
Users can also pin the link in Excel recent files.Hi Steve,
Yes I've tried this and the link within the shortcut will work however it always opens the web page version of the office file as opposed to the desktop App.
The shortcut is along the lines of;
https://xxxxx.sharepoint.com/:x:/r/sites/Design/Shared%20Documents/General/Panels%20Tracker/Panels%20Planner.xlsx?d=w9f62aa2e5f34439089b7b5bcad64b5b6&csf=1&e=b5Z1mn
I've tried cutting it back to;
https://xxxxx.sharepoint.com/:x:/r/sites/Design/Shared%20Documents/General/Panels%20Tracker/Panels%20Planner.xlsx
and it simply downloads a copy of the file.
- C:\Windows\System32\cmd.exe /c Start EXCEL "https://xxxxx.sharepoint.com/:x:/r/sites/Design/Shared%20Documents/General/Panels%20Tracker/Panels%20Planner.xlsx?d=w9f62aa2e5f34439089b7b5bcad64b5b6&csf=1&e=b5Z1mn"
- This worked out perfectly for me. Thank you.
Hi Adam1V how about coaching your users to open the Excel desktop app and then clicking on the file in the list of recently opened files (even pinning this file in that list)?
Adam1V I found a solution but only problem is the lenght of the file name 🙂
First, create a desktop shortcut links to excel.exe on local adress & give the sharepoint link with a space.
If the name of the file is too long you won't be able to add shortcut link (ridiculous)
"C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Office\root\Office16\EXCEL.EXE" https://company-my.sharepoint.com/:x:/r/personal/erkan_ates_company_com/Documents/Cycle%20Management/X%20Files/Book1.xlsx?d=wc3afc623160f47d4a31d18&csf=1&web=1&e=vgNbst
It worked for me!
Just to confirm, adding the mycompany.sharepoint.com to the list of trusted websites has resolved the issue. I can now browse the folder structure anytime without first having to open the browser and connect. This allows me to create a desktop shortcut direct from SharePoint Online.
If you want a desktop shortcut to be opened by your desktop app then do the following.
Install Onedrive app -> In your browser, go to the folder containing the desired file in sharepoint -> on the upper ribbon select add shortcut to OneDrive (if not showing, click on the three dots), this action creates a shortcut for the folder containing the file -> Open your OneDrive folder on you PC (the fastest way is clicking on the OneDrive icon on the taskbar and then on the "open folder" icon) > Locate the wanted file > Create Desktop shortcut > Enjoy! Adam1V
- Indeed, I can do that.
But then I will miss the collaborative features: if I open the file via windows explorer, I can't see other people editing it and it won't be synchronized.
It's a major downside to using onedrive sync.
I had this same issue/ challenge and believe I have a solution.
[First let me say] I was having variations of the issue where I couldn't get a desktop shortcut to the ACTUAL file on SharePoint. Best I could do was to get a shortcut to a file which would only download a copy of it. That is, until I figured out this workaround:
- Go to the SharePoint folder which contains the file you want to create a desktop shortcut to.
- Select the file/ click the [3 vertical dots] dropdown menu to the right of the file and select 'Copy Link'.
- Copy the link, with permissions set to 'people with existing access can use the link'.
Now, if you went to your desktop and did the right click/ create shortcut option, and then pasted this URL into which you just copied, it would not work for you... well, it would not work for me anyway. So here's the trick:
- Right-click the command bar at the top of the chrome browser (the space directly below where the web address is displayed). Select 'Add page'.
- An 'Edit Bookmark' window will appear. Give whatever name you want to the bookmark, and then notice directly below where you type the name is an area for the URL... This is where you will paste what you copied from step #3 above. Click Save.
- Click on the new bookmark which has now appeared in your bookmarks bar. It should open the file directly from the SharePoint site. You'll notice that the web address for the file is displayed at the top of the web page though (hint- you didn't have a direct web address to the file before). Copy the full web address.
- Now you can go to your desktop, and follow the usual steps to create a Chrome shortcut by RIGHT CLICK/ NEW/ SHORTCUT and accomplish your objective. For whatever reason pasting the web address which you copied from the page you added (in steps A & B above) works, when trying to paste what you copied from step 3 above would not.
- Now you can just distribute that shortcut to your team in whatever way works- thumb drive, share drive, WinZip, etc. Anyone who has SharePoint access to the file will be able to use this new desktop shortcut now to get to the same file.
At some point I hope the SharePoint development team will learn about this problem and make it easier for people to make desktop shortcuts to the various files they need to work on within SharePoint. If or when that happens this workaround will probably no longer make sense to anyone and this great discovery will be rendered obsolete 🙂
In the meantime, I've reached to a solution: using the URI format for office apps.
https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/office/client-developer/office-uri-schemes
In Windows Explorer, create a new shortcut and use the URI format:
ms-excel:ofe|u|https://xpto.sharepoint.com/sites/Sasfdasfdsdaf20LEasdf%20-%20Tracker.xlsx?web=1
From Windows Explorer, it will open Excel and the sharepoint file online with collaborative features.
It's a pity that sharepoint web pages themselves don't accept URI format (only http: or https:), so that you could create a "homepage" with links to documents opening in office apps.
- Thanks, this is the solution i was looking for, a link every user can use that isnt broken by having a different office installation folder location.
workaround2300thanks for all that work, 2024 and AFAIK there's still no simple process.
I've tried your method and it (sort of) works, it DOES open the file but opens in the browser - not in the 'always use the app' default setting in sharepoint.
Anyone in the meanwhile solve this issue? One of the whole points of sharepoint is connectivity but at this point it seems impossible still?
What's really sad is that in previous versions of sharepoint, you could directly create a shortcut as a file in a SP document Library....or simply drag and drop.
