External users can't open documents in desktop application

Hi all,

I think I found a workaround.

First, open an excel file then click your name in the upper right corner. Then select "Sign in with a different account" and sign in with the external user account. After signing in, go back to web browser and try opening a shared file with desktop application.

I hope this helps!

StephenRice 

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

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 Rice

Senior Program Manager, OneDrive

StephenRice 

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

Thanks StephenRice , really helpful.  For info., the option to add Guest users in the M365 Admin Center seems to have disappeared - it was certainly there a couple of months ago.  I'll test this out over the coming days and let you know how it goes.

Hi 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

Thanks StephenRice and wpaulg.  This sounds like a gap for external functionality so hope it gets added soon.  In the interim, wpaulg's suggestion of adding them as a Guest could be an option.  To date, we've used Guests for full collaboration in Teams - i.e. added someone to a Team which is setup for a specific project and treated them as a full team member for the best collaboration on projects.

As we've never setup Guests with partial access to part of a Team / Group, are you able to advise the best way to do this please.  For clarity, we'd like to provide access to individual external people to specific files or folders within an Office 365 Group (which has a Team included).

I guess the main questions are:

• 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 ...)?
• 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 ...)

Many thanks again for your help, Oz

ChrisWebbTechThanks Chris. I will start a new thread. Yes, you would think that it would work for ALL users but it doesn't. I have even set the Advanced settings to "default" to the client's applications. 

I sure hope this is fixed REALLY soon because this is killing my company's site too as well as our productivity.  I never dreamed that this would be asking too much to have the users be able to open up the Excel file on their desktops. In my case, the users are all within our 365 network and ALL are internal users with Design permissions too. Only a few however can open files on their desktop/laptop while many cannot and it only opens online which is what they don't want. It's driving me crazy!

Hi Oz Oscroft,

This is expected behavior unfortunately. If the recipient has a full Office 365 (enterprise) account AND the new B2B integration feature is enabled, they should be able to open files in the desktop apps. For all other users though, they will only be able to open in the web apps. This is something the team is aware of and keeping in mind for future improvement though. Thanks!

Stephen Rice

Senior Program Manager, OneDrive

Oz Oscroft 

Try upgrading them from an 'external user' to a 'guest' I was able to do this by adding them to a group and then they can be treated more like an internal user and be able to use the desktop apps. Just watch what other folders they may gain permissions too. 

-let me know if it works!

Thanks StephenRice .  Unfortunately, we're still seeing the problem originally raised below.  We've shared a folder in a modern SharePoint site with an external user using the Share > 'Specific people' option and they do not see the option to open in the Desktop app.  I've also tried using the 'Grant access' option under 'Manage access' and the result is exactly the same.  We've used their business email address and their Office license is 'Microsoft Office 365 ProPlus - subscription product'.  Are you able to provide any guidance please?

Hi all,

As Chris points out, the new Azure B2B integration is coming soon (in fact, you should expect to see a preview here this summer). Once enabled, sharing to anyone who has a Microsoft account (consumer or business) will be able to edit using the Office desktop applications. There are still cases (such as when a user does not have any account in the Microsoft ecosystem) where the user will be limited to Online only and this is something we'll continue to look at for future improvement. Hope that helps!

Stephen Rice

OneDrive Program Manager II