Opening an Office 365 Collborative Excel Document from Dropbox (Not Website)

Copper Contributor

Hi all,

 

My team all have to access an Excel file which is stored on Dropbox which they access through their file directory (not Dropbox website).

 

There are obvious issues with multiple people accessing the file at once.

 

I discovered the collaborative Excel environment on 365 but everything is stored by default on One Drive (which we don't use) making it harder for my team to locate.

 

I would really like to know how to allow my team to open a file from Dropbox directory (not website) that takes you straight to the file in the office 365 environment for live collaboration.

 

Is this possible?

 

Thanks,

Tom

 

6 Replies

Co-authoring in Office 365 is only supported when the file is stored in SPO/ODFB library, I'm not aware of any way to make this work with a document stored in Dropbox.

Hi Vasil, thanks for your reply.

 

I think I may be able to work around this with an internet shortcut stored in dropbox that takes the team to the file in Office365. 

 

Thanks,

Tom

I am trying to figure out how to set default save location of Excel Online files from OneDrive to Dropbox.

 

At the moment I have my team able to access the Excel Online file via an internet shortcut which is stored in dropbox, but the Excel Online file is stored in OneDrive. Any idea how to set the default save location of Excel Online files to Dropbox? Or does Office 365 require the files to be stored in OneDrive to work?

 

Thanks,

Tom 

 

Hi Tom!

Just a few questions in order to make me understand your needs.

You have Office 365 and as Vasil said, co-authoring in Office 365 is only supported when the file is stored in SPO/ODFB library. I addition to that, Excel Online is meant to be used for files stored in SharePoint/OneDrive. If all users are in Office 365, Why do you want to use Dropbox instead of OneDrive? Is it because people are used to it or are there any specific demands/rules/regulations that stops you from using OneDrive?

Regards, Magnus

Hi Magnus,

 

Thanks for your reply. Our company uses Dropbox as the default storage location for most files. If I have to use OneDrive to store some files (like the Excel Online ones) and Dropbox for others, this means I will have to manage and maintain two different file storage areas.

 

Why wouldn't Office365 integrate with Dropbox to allow this? Seems unproductive to me!

 

Thanks,

Tom

Hi again!

 

Provided I do not know your environment or general requirements, I recommend the following:

 

Migrate your Office files (Word, Excel, PowerPoint) and Pdf´s from Dropbox into SharePoint Document libraries and/or OneDrive for Business. Personal/Private files goes to OneDrive and the files you "collaborate" on within teams, departments etc goes to SharePoint/Microsoft Teams.

 

With a good plan for migration and user adoption, the advantages of (more or less) going "all in" into Office 365 give so much value and gain in seamlessness that it's worth the job of migrating and standardizing. Not least, it's great gain not to manage third party tools and multiple logins. If you also wish to be able to centrally manage/protect/govern your services and information from the central point, they should be stored, handled and directed from the same platform.

 

Here are some additional sources of information:

https://support.office.com/en-us/article/move-documents-and-files-to-your-sharepoint-online-site-2c0...

 

https://support.office.com/en-us/article/move-files-to-onedrive-for-business-eb8244aa-a302-481a-b2b5...

 

https://techcommunity.microsoft.com/t5/Microsoft-OneDrive-Blog/Migrate-Your-Files-to-OneDrive-Easily...

 

That was today's sermon from me. Hope it resolves in the best possible way :)

Regards, Magnus