Forum Discussion
External users can't open documents in desktop application
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 ;)
Hello again baptistequidet
For it to be easier for me to understand, it would be nice if you could make a step-by-step description (preferably with screenshots) that shows how you do it and shows what it is that then doesn't work. Then I can see more clearly whether it is about "Sharing" or link copying and it will hopefully be easier for me to see and understand and be able to come up with some tips on possible settings that you may have to adjust. (sorry if I can be perceived as a bit slow-witted, but I have to excuse myself by saying that I'm Swedish 
and that I don't work at Microsoft. I work a lot with Microsoft 365 for many companies/organisations and I'm just a regular contributor to hopefully good solutions in this forum). Lets see if we can solve this together.
Thanks Magnus again.
Below in the pictures you can see the access list of person outside of the organization who has access.
But those person claim they can't download the file using the link
Thanks
Baptiste
baptistequidet Have a look at this (if you have not already done so) and see if you can find the "method" that is most suitable for you and/or any limitations that might affect you. https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/sharing-files-folders-and-list-items-74cab0bf-39c6-4112-a63f-88ee121722d0?ns=spostandard&version=16&syslcid=1033&uilcid=1033&appver=spo160&helpid=wssenduser_odspsharingoptions_fl846149&ui=en-us&rs=en-us&ad=us
And one question: Do all those "external users" (that you have shared the file with) belong to the same external company/organisation? If so, have you tried sharing with someone in another company/organisation? (just to rule out that the problem is not with one single company/organization and what they possibly allow/restrict)
Regards, Magnus
- Hi MagnusGoksoyrOLDProfile,
All users includes people from various companies that all also have their won SharePoint. The problem for us all is that the HOST of the documents in SharePoint can share and the guests can edit but they can only edit in browser, not in desktop app which the host CAN. We have tried various methods between the companies and the result is always the same, the guest can never open the documents in the desktop app, only browser.
So far this is true with 3 different external organisations of reasonable size (e.g. banking institutions).
Thanks!- I have the same problem with 3 organizations, no one can open files in app no matter the license or the organization, all 3 organizations have b2b setup with each other. Only way we made it work was by creating guest accounts for people that need to open some files in apps...
I don't know if this is an ongoing bug or it was planned to be done this way, but ether way it makes no sense...
