"Cannot Connect to Server" Error when using MS Office for iPad to open OneDrive files

Question

I just purchased an iPad Air 2 specifically to use MS Office for Ipad with my OneDrive Account.  When I open Word for iPad and attempt to access my OneDrive, the following error occurs:

"Cannot Connect to Server. The server may be unavailable.  Check your internet connection and try again."

My internet is fine.

OneDrive through a Web Browser is fine.

OneDrive through the iOS App is fine.

When I select my OneDrive account through the File Open function in Word for iPad, I can see the Documents folder, but when I select it to see what is underneath, the error appears.

I have done the following:

Stopped all Office for iPad Apps

Deleted and Reinstalled all Office for iPad Apps

Restarted my iPad.

I realize I could go into the OneDrive App itself, find the file, and open it.  I also realize I can open any file that was recently used on connected Office Implementations on the PC.

But I need Word for Ipad to work.  Microsoft please send a status on this issue.

Answer 1

Hello,

Thank you for posting on Microsoft Community.

I am sorry to know that you are facing issues with opening OneDrive files in MS Office apps on your iPad. I will be assisting you with this issue.

In order to resolve this issue let us try the following steps. We shall try resetting Word and OneDrive on iPad. Please follow these steps.  

1. Ensure to close the Word for iPad and the OneDrive App.
2. Go to Settings and select Word for iPad.
3. Now scroll down and click on Reset Word.
4. Follow the same steps for OneDrive for iPad as well.

Try the above steps and let us know the result.

Thank you.

Mohan:

Can you PLEASE provide a fix to this problem?  From the start, all of the Office for iPad Apps, Word for iPad, Excel for iPad, PowerPoint for iPad could not open or save to OneDrive Directly.  On various threads, Microsoft acknowledged the problem, but was only able to provide the OneDrive App work around---opening files from within the OneDrive App.  This is not a real workaround as users are UNABLE to save files back to one drive directly from within the app.

So please provide a SOLUTION.  Or even just an acknowledgement that this problem has stumped Microsoft.  Just do SOMETHING.  

It is embarrassing that Microsoft Technicians, when confronted with this same problem, follow the same pattern:

MS:  Reset Office for iPad Apps

Response: That did not work

MS: Delete and reinstall Office for iPad Apps

Response: That did not work

MS: Silence

Response: Hello, MS....

MS: Silence

Response: Hello, MS...

MS: Silence

Please respond with a solution soon.

Thank you.

Answer 2

I previously tried deleting both the OneDrive and Word Apps and restarting, and the error persisted.  

Resetting Word as you have outlined above did not fix the error.  There is no "Reset" option in the settings for OneDrive.

Do you have any other fixes?

One other point---in other threads online, Microsoft Support has said they are aware of this problem and are working on it.  Those messages were dated back in May.  Can you please determine if this is a known bug, and if so, why it is happening and what can be done to fix it.

One Microsoft Technician said that a work around was to open the document on the PC and then use "Recently Used" list to open documents.  This is not a solution or a real work around.  As it is now, you cannot save or open document directly to one drive, and this is a MAJOR problem.

Answer 3

Hello,

Thank you for posting on Microsoft Community.

I am sorry to know that you are facing issues with opening OneDrive files in MS Office apps on your iPad. I will be assisting you with this issue.

In order to resolve this issue let us try the following steps. We shall try resetting Word and OneDrive on iPad. Please follow these steps.  

1. Ensure to close the Word for iPad and the OneDrive App.
2. Go to Settings and select Word for iPad.
3. Now scroll down and click on Reset Word.
4. Follow the same steps for OneDrive for iPad as well.

Try the above steps and let us know the result.

Thank you.

Answer 4

I'm having the same problem. I ran into the same problems with the above recommended solution. This needs worked on Microsoft.

Answer 5

Mohan:

I have the same problem. The steps that you gave have not resolved the issue.

Prior to upgrading (to iOS 8.1) I did not have this problem.

To clarify, I have access to all files directly through the one drive app. However through the word app I have access to only "recent" files.

Can you help us out here? Thank you.

Dan