Does embedding Excel Online via Graph API preview endpoint require SharePoint Online license for full toolbar?

Question

We are building a web application that embeds Excel Online workbooks using Microsoft Graph API.

Our setup:

• Azure AD app registration with client credentials flow (app-only authentication)
• Using the Graph API /driveItem/preview endpoint with viewer: "office" to generate an embed URL
• The embed URL uses embed.aspx format and loads in an iframe

Current behavior:

• The embedded Excel view loads successfully but shows a limited experience
• There is no toolbar/ribbon, no formula bar - only a basic spreadsheet grid
• When we tried other approaches, we received the error: "Tenant does not have a SPO license"

Questions:

1. Is a Microsoft 365 Business plan with SharePoint Online license required to get the full Excel Online editing experience (toolbar, formula bar, ribbon) in an embedded iframe?
2. Is there any way to achieve full Excel Online editing in an iframe without a SharePoint Online license?
3. What is the recommended approach for embedding Excel Online with full editing capabilities in a web application?

Thank you for your help.

Answer 1

Hi @NehaTanwar,

Welcome to Microsoft Q&A, and thank you very much for reaching out to us.

Please note that, as a forum moderator, I don’t have access to your configuration, and my testing environment is limited. As such, I can only assist based on available documentation and resources. That said, I’ll do my best to help clarify this behavior.

Based on your description and my research, the /driveItem/preview endpoint is designed for lightweight file preview, not for hosting the full Excel for the web editing experience (such as the ribbon, formula bar, or full toolbar). Microsoft mention this API as a temporary, embeddable preview surface, which might explain the limited UI you are seeing.

The documentation also notes that this endpoint is available only for SharePoint Online and OneDrive for Business, which leads to your licensing question.

Regarding the SharePoint license requirement: yes, based on my research, this is expected. In Microsoft Graph, while the Graph API itself is free to use, access to the underlying data requires the corresponding service licenses. In your scenario, a SharePoint Online license is required.

I looked further into similar cases, and other users who encountered the “Tenant does not have a SPO license” error were only able to resolve it by using licenses that include SharePoint Online. I did not find any supported workaround that avoids this requirement.

At this time, I’m not aware of any supported approach for embedding Excel Online with full editing capabilities (ribbon, formula bar, full toolbar) inside an iframe.

That said, if you’d like deeper insights from engineers or developers with hands-on experience, I recommend posting this question on the Microsoft Tech Community. It’s a great place for in-depth technical discussions and often provides valuable perspectives beyond what’s covered in public documentation.

I hope this helps.

---

If the answer is helpful, please click "Accept Answer" and kindly upvote it. If you have extra questions about this answer, please click "Comment".      

Note: Please follow the steps in our documentation to enable e-mail notifications if you want to receive the related email notification for this thread.