Loosely Coupled Thinking: Open O365 Docs on the Desktop Instead of the Browser

LOOSELY COUPLED THINKING

Thursday July 7, 2022; 12:53 AM EDT

Open O365 Docs on the Desktop Instead of the Browser#

Do you despise the web app versions of Office as much as me? Now you can share URLs that open your docs directly on the desktop (as it should be!):#

1. Open your doc in an Office app from Office 365, then go to File...Info...and get the path to the doc#

#

2. Append the appropriate prefix to the URL as follows:#

WORD: ms-word:ofe|u|#
EXCEL: ms-excel:ofe|u|#
PPT : ms-powerpoint:ofe|u|#
Others: see here#
Your url should look something like this:#

ms-word:ofe|u|https://your-site.sharepoint.com/your-path/Shared%20Documents/your-doc.docx?web=1#

3. Use your new URL to link directly to your Office doc and it will immediately open in the Desktop Office app for editing. #

NOTE: Since appending the Office prefix will result in a non-standard URL, some tools will complain about the Office-specific URL and will prevent you from saving the link. Microsoft Teams is, surprisingly, one of many tools that will complain about this. I really wish the team would adopt a more standards-friendly approach (e.g. just use https://your-site.sharepoint.com/your-path/Shared%20Documents/your-doc.docx and let the browser invoke the associated application type).#

Thursday July 7, 2022; 12:53 AM EDT

Open O365 Docs on the Desktop Instead of the Browser#

Do you despise the web app versions of Office as much as me? Now you can share URLs that open your docs directly on the desktop (as it should be!):#

1. Open your doc in an Office app from Office 365, then go to File...Info...and get the path to the doc#

#

2. Append the appropriate prefix to the URL as follows:#

WORD: ms-word:ofe|u|#
EXCEL: ms-excel:ofe|u|#
PPT : ms-powerpoint:ofe|u|#
Others: see here#
Your url should look something like this:#

ms-word:ofe|u|https://your-site.sharepoint.com/your-path/Shared%20Documents/your-doc.docx?web=1#

3. Use your new URL to link directly to your Office doc and it will immediately open in the Desktop Office app for editing. #

NOTE: Since appending the Office prefix will result in a non-standard URL, some tools will complain about the Office-specific URL and will prevent you from saving the link. Microsoft Teams is, surprisingly, one of many tools that will complain about this. I really wish the team would adopt a more standards-friendly approach (e.g. just use https://your-site.sharepoint.com/your-path/Shared%20Documents/your-doc.docx and let the browser invoke the associated application type).#

Last update: Friday July 8, 2022; 5:48 PM EDT.