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Nathaniel Ekdahl's avatar
Nathaniel Ekdahl
Copper Contributor
Jun 11, 2018

Open in client application when sharing link

I know it is possible to set files to open in client applications when opening up a file from a SharePoint library, but is it possible to set that as default behavior when opening a file from a shared link?  I have set the site collection default to open in client application and library setting to open in client application but when I send a co worker a shareable link out of sharepoint it will only open in the web version.

  • You can't set Shared Links to open directly in Client Application. You will have to manually create a link in below format and share it to open in client application.

     

    The following will open in the client directly:

    https://someurl.sharepoint.com/sites/site1/Shared%20Documents/WordDoc1.docx

    This link will prompt user to open in client application  

    ms-word:ofe|u|https://someurl.sharepoint.com/sites/site1/Shared%20Documents/WordDoc1.docx

     

     

     
  • Personally I think every possible way to open a document in SharePoint (or other apps like Teams etc) should be default to open in client application - The user experience in the online version is simply too poor to even consider in most cases. I cannot understand why MS has chosen to force users into a bad experience.

     

    However a relatively simple workaround for this is to (from within the Office app) go to "file" and then click "copy path" button. Paste the copied link into your email, Teams chat or wherever you want to share it and then remove the "?web=1" part at the end. 

      • ShelliG_N's avatar
        ShelliG_N
        Copper Contributor

        Just posted on this same issue at https://techcommunity.microsoft.com/t5/office-365/links-to-sharepoint-document-in-excel-opens-in-browser/m-p/183028 "I just shared an excel document stored on SharePoint link in Teams chat and it downloads the file.  I added the "?Web=1" after having to go into edit mode and create a link and that works to open in the browser.  WHY DOES THE LINK DOWNLOAD AND NOT OPEN IN THE NATIVE APP?   This is really getting frustrating.  I tried the "ms-excel:ofe|u|" prefix and the link creator said it was not a valid link and would not let me even try it.  Any help appreciated.  I agree with another poster that having to add extensions and prefixes cannot be sustainable, either.  Behavior of the link should not be based on settings in individual systems either for collaboration."

    • Never-Say-Die_97103_'s avatar
      Never-Say-Die_97103_
      Copper Contributor
      Thank you but this seems to only give you the option to open the files in MS Word as a read-only version instead of working with the live version saved on the site.
      • Erik Wettergren's avatar
        Erik Wettergren
        Iron Contributor
        Ok that's interesting. For us this trick works well. It do opens as read-only but if we click "edit document" on the yellow ribbon, make changes and save. those changes will be saved in the original document on SharePoint.
    • AaBlu's avatar
      AaBlu
      Copper Contributor

      To clarify, the steps are

      • File
      • Info
      • Copy Path

      etc.

      • MajidBhatti's avatar
        MajidBhatti
        Copper Contributor

        AaBlu I have copied the "Direct Link" and although i shared it to ANONYMOUS its still giving "Access Denied" message.

         

        i want to host a PDF file and provide link to public anonymously 

  • You can't set Shared Links to open directly in Client Application. You will have to manually create a link in below format and share it to open in client application.

     

    The following will open in the client directly:

    https://someurl.sharepoint.com/sites/site1/Shared%20Documents/WordDoc1.docx

    This link will prompt user to open in client application  

    ms-word:ofe|u|https://someurl.sharepoint.com/sites/site1/Shared%20Documents/WordDoc1.docx

     

     

     
    • Jonathan Klassy's avatar
      Jonathan Klassy
      Copper Contributor

      Deleted - How do you create that custom link? Where do you do this at in SharePoint?

    • KirstyC's avatar
      KirstyC
      Copper Contributor

       

      How do you create the link which prompts the user to open in client application?

      I tried copying the start of your example but it doesn't work.

       

      Many Thanks

      • Erik Wettergren's avatar
        Erik Wettergren
        Iron Contributor

        Well, if I (from within an office app) go to "file" and then click "copy path" (circled in blue in the attached pic). Then I can paste this link into e.g. Outlook and remove the trailing "?web=1" then, at least for me, it will open in the client app.

         

  • natanz's avatar
    natanz
    Copper Contributor
    i did just find that edge deals with this issue much better than chrome. now i have to decide if it's worth abandoning chrome for this. ugh!
    • Peter_Brodt's avatar
      Peter_Brodt
      Copper Contributor

      natanz I found the same thing. When deleting the ?web=1 part, Chrome responds with "Save as....", whereas Edge asks if I want to open in Excel (read-only), but with the option to read/write.

       

      Annoying to have to switch to Edge for this. It worked differently in Chrome a few months ago.

  • Ceicob's avatar
    Ceicob
    Copper Contributor
    You can just change link at the end. Change web=1 to web=0

    Problem solved 😊
    • Erik Wettergren's avatar
      Erik Wettergren
      Iron Contributor
      That was what I suggested in this thread back in 2018 - however, since then links are auto-converted to not show the path by default but to be more human friendly to read, making this workaround a little more cumbersome. On the other hand, at least on our tenant the links now open in desktop apps even if the url ends with web=1 (so in our case the problem is really solved)
      • Ceicob's avatar
        Ceicob
        Copper Contributor

        Yeah I was looking cause I just encountered this issue. However when I delete web=1 entirely it didn't work for me. But it inspired me 😉

        I copy link from SharePoint and paste it with Shift + Ctrl + V (this makes it paste normal link) and change web=1 to 0 and it works.

         

        Our SharePoint unfortunately still defaults to web app instead of desktop.

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