Forum Discussion
SharePoint Online won't open Excel in client app for some users
I have a user who is trying to open an Excel file in the client app from a SharePoint library. The library defaults to opening files in the browser, but some users like to open the Excel files in the client for access to more features. When he selects the option to Open in Desktop App, he gets the following message. He can't seem to save the file in its location and has been saving a copy back into the library, which isn't ideal.
Not everyone is having the same problem, so I'm not sure what's wrong in his case. I've tried clearing the Office cache and deleting the MS temp files, but that didn't make any difference.
2 Replies
Hi Steveareno ,
users can do it on their own, but you can also force everyone to open in a native app.
How users can do it?
Select the file in OneDrive or SharePoint.
Select the More icon > Select Open > Open in app.
How admins can force for everyone to use native app?
Click the gear in the upper right-hand corner of SharePoint and select Site Settings. From the Site Settings page, under the Site Collection Administration section, click on Site collection features. You should be able to see Open Documents in Client Applications by Default. click on Activate.
If you can't find Site Collection Administration, follow below:
Adin_Calkic How would you do this for all files (Excel, Word, etc) on a SharePoint site for all users?
