Forum Discussion
Karen Pierson
Sep 17, 2018Copper Contributor
External users can't open documents in desktop application
Hi all! We are having issues with external users not being able to open a shared doc in the desktop program - they can only edit/view in the browser. The "Open in Xprogram" button isn't even an optio...
- Sep 18, 2018
Hi all,
This behavior is expected (external users not getting the "Open in Office" option) whenever the external user is authenticating via the new one time passcode (OTP) method. You can see a better overview here: Documentation
There are two states an external user can be in today: If they are authenticating via OTP, then they do not have a real AAD account and thus cannot open in clients. This occurs when you share a file or folder with an external user who is not in your directory (i.e. they have never been shared to before).
Inviting a user to a site or a group or using the Azure B2B platform will create an account in AAD for the guest user. These users must have an MSA or AAD account to sign-in with to accept the invitation. They can use Office apps.
This is definitely something we're looking to improve and I definitely suggest you check out the "What's new in External Sharing & Collaboration with OneDrive & SharePoint" talk at Ignite next week ;)
StephenRice
Microsoft
Jan 23, 2020Hi Oz Oscroft,
Where do we set them up as a Guest (directly in the M365 Admin Center; directly in Azure AD; by adding them to a Group; something else ...)?
All of these would work though I would recommend doing it directly in M365 Admin or in Azure AD. Both flows will guarantee that the user will be added to your directory (and also won't give them access to any content)
How do we then give them access to just the specific files / folders we want them to access, ensuring they don't get access to anything else within the Team / Group (Share icon; Grant access; other ...)
You can then select the specific files & folders and either use the Specific People sharing link or Grant Access (in the details pane).
Hope that helps!
Stephen Rice
Senior Program Manager, OneDrive
Alexander Orlov
Apr 16, 2020Copper Contributor
I just wanted to confirm.
If we add an external user, let's say with a Gmail account, in Microsoft Admin or Azure AD, they will not have access to our SharePoint/Office 365 content at all by default? Also, do they need to register a Microsoft account on their end when accessing the shared site for the first time?
After they are added to AAD, we can share a link "with specific people" with them and this is only content they would have access to in our environment?
Thank you,
Alexander
- Rex_PApr 13, 2021Copper ContributorYour playback is correct.
The external user was originally added by a share link only, but then I added them to our tenant as a guest and that made no difference.
I would be happy if all links just opened in the web browser or better yet in the Office 365 online apps but I've found no way to make that happen.
It'd be nice to have it work that way for external users and maybe even as an option for internal users.
As it is now, the files can't be used by external users.
Any advise?
Thanks,
Rex - StephenRiceApr 13, 2021
Microsoft
Hi Rex_P,
Playing back to make sure I understand: If an external user opens up one of the links to an Excel file, the file attempts to open in the external user's Excel client and then fails.
How is the external user authenticated in this case? I believe the expected behavior here is for the external user to have the file opened in the web browser but it's not immediately clear to me where things are failing. Thanks!
Stephen Rice
Senior Program Manager, OneDrive - Rex_PApr 12, 2021Copper Contributor
I'm very confused by all this.
We create a folder in OneDrive.
We create an Excel spreadsheet in that folder.
We create subfolders that contain data files (PDFs, Excel, etc.).
We create hyperlinks in the original Excel spreadsheet that links to the data in the subfolders.
When internal users open the original spreadsheet and click the links, the links open in the desktop apps (PDF files in browser, Excel spreadsheets in desktop Excel, etc.).
When external users open the original spreadsheet and click the links, PDF files will still open in the browser but other file types like Excel fail to open with the Desktop app with an error about unable to download even though these users have been given edit rights to these folders?
Is there option to have users (internal or external) open the hyperlinks in the web browser?
Why can't external users with edit rights open the hyperlinks in the Desktop apps like internal users?
Please explain.
Thanks,
Rex Poland
IT Director
Berkowitz Oliver LLP
- StephenRiceApr 16, 2020
Microsoft
Hi Alexander Orlov,
If we add an external user, let's say with a Gmail account, in Microsoft Admin or Azure AD, they will not have access to our SharePoint/Office 365 content at all by default?
This will depend on how you have set up your organization but in general, yes. The specific case to be aware of is that it is possible to directly permission content to "Everyone' which includes internal & external users. This is a pretty a rare case (and most end users wouldn't actually find it) but worth double checking.
Also, do they need to register a Microsoft account on their end when accessing the shared site for the first time?
No, only when they are invited to the organization.
After they are added to AAD, we can share a link "with specific people" with them and this is only content they would have access to in our environment?
Correct, users will only have access to content that was shared with them. Worth calling out as well that you can just share to them via the specific people option without first adding them to your AD as well if you're so inclined 🙂
Hope that helps!
Stephen RiceSenior Program Manager, OneDrive