Sharepoint "Open in Desktop App" Option not visible while accessing online link for sharepoint

Question

Hi, 

I'm sorry if i sound like a noob but please assist, screenshots would be great.

One of my colleague is working on a project, he uses his work email which for example is ******@companyname.ae, however his Microsoft 365 Personal is registered with his outlook email for example ******@outlook.com. The Sharepoint link is shared to his work email so when he opens the link and enters the auth code for accessing the file on Sharepoint, the "Open in Desktop App" option doesn't show up even though the licensed application is installed on his laptop. The user can only view it online and this limits his work because there are graphs to work on as well and double clicking on it doesn't show up any data, it does only when you use it on the desktop app. 

Has it got anything to do with Microsoft 365 Personal account (i.e. ******@outlook.com) being different to the one used for sharing the share-point link (i.e. ******@companyname.ae)? Is it anything to do with the permission set? Has it got anything to do with using google chrome/Microsoft edge?

At first I thought its because Microsoft 365 business license is not installed and that could be the issue but then when I used my email and shared a ppt to his outlook email, I was able to see "Open in desktop app" option so I was wondering if the issue persist with the work email to which the access is given. 

Any help would be appreciated, thanks

Answer 1

Hi Sahar,

Thanks for posting the question on our forum.

According to your description, when the user opened the link online, he can only view the file.

I guess that it is not related to the browser or subscription, it may be caused by permission, when the user was shared the file, it may be assigned view permission not Edit permission.

When share files with the user, please assign edit permission via the following article:

Share SharePoint files or folders

If this is not your situation, you are welcome to post back and provide the following information, I will keep working on this:

1. Check if all files meet the issue.
2. Check if only the special user meet the situation.

Regards,

Qing

Answer 2

There is no issue in editing the file, the user is able to do so. The problem is only regarding not being able to open the file in the desktop app for editing. If the user downloads the file and edits it, it won't reflect online in real-time. This is why its very important for being able to open in the desktop app so that he can use all the features and have the changes reflected in the online file.

I have attached the screenshot of the option which is "missing" for the user. It only allows him to open in the browser, I need for him to be able to open in the desktop app. Please find the screenshot and the option underlined in yellow color.

Answer 3

Any response? is it because of my license not being MS 365 business? Or is it something else?

Answer 4

Hi Sahar,

Thanks for your reply.

I am sorry for the delay, as I am out of Office for the weekend.

About the question, I would like to confirm if the user has signed into with his account to open the file.

If not, there is not the option “Open in Desktop App”.

If this is not the situation, I want to collect the following information for further analysis:

1. Check if all files meet the issue.
2. Check if only the special user met the situation.
3. The screenshot when the affected user opened the file.

Regards,

Qing