Forum Discussion

Karen Pierson's avatar
Karen Pierson
Copper Contributor
Sep 17, 2018

External users can't open documents in desktop application

Hi all! We are having issues with external users not being able to open a shared doc in the desktop program - they can only edit/view in the browser. The "Open in Xprogram" button isn't even an optio...
SharePoint Online
  • StephenRice's avatar
    StephenRice
    Sep 18, 2018

    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 ;)

StephenRice's avatar
StephenRice
Icon for Microsoft rankMicrosoft

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

Mas000's avatar
Mas000
Copper Contributor
Jan 07, 2022

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!

Resources