Can't View Excel File on OneDrive without Excel App

Question

This is the first time I've tried sharing an Excel workbook with a client on OneDrive. I sent them the view-oinly link and when they tap on it, the workbook opens and they can view things just fine for about a minute. Then this message comes up and they ccan't get rid of it. Everytime they click the x, the message disappears and then immedicately reappears. They don't have enough space on their device to install the app. I"ve never had trouble sharing a workbook before with others; I'm only having trouble with this one lient. Am I missing something? It's possible, although unlikley, that all my other friends had the app installed.

Answer 1

Wanted to add that I don't want to collaborate with the client or let them edit the worknook. I just want them to be able to view it.

Answer 2

Dear Herrick，

Welcome to the Microsoft Community! Here, we will do our best to offer assistance to Microsoft users.

I understand that you have shared an Excel workbook with a client, and the client has been getting a pop-up prompt to switch to the Excel mobile client when accessing this file online using an Android device, and is unable to close it.

We understand that this is a real inconvenience for you. Generally speaking, you can use the following methods to access the shared file online on Android without downloading the Office client.

• Open a web browser on your Android device, such as Chrome, Firefox, or Safari.
• Visit the OneDrive website: OneDriveSign in to OneDrive using Microsoft account.
• In the web version of OneDrive, you can see your files and folders. If you have access to Office files shared by others, you can find them in the Shared or Shared with Me section.
• Click on the Office file you want to access (such as a Word, Excel, or PowerPoint document), and it will open in the web version of OneDrive.

However, if you keep getting prompts to switch to the Excel Mobile app when viewing an Excel file on OneDrive, it's usually because the Excel file exceeds the limitations of the web version of Excel. The web version of Excel only offers some basic features, but for more advanced features such as certain formulas, pivot tables, or macros, you may need to use the Excel app for mobile.

This may not be the answer you were hoping for, but unfortunately this is due to the limitations of Excel on the browser side, which I hope you understand.

In order to resolve this issue, you can choose one of the following methods:

Clear space to install Excel mobile app: you can clear your device space to download the Excel app, Excel for Android is not a bloated app, so the storage space required is not that big. You can download Microsoft Excel from the Google Play Store. Once installed, you can open and edit files directly in the Excel app without getting prompts to switch apps.

Use Excel on other devices: If the Excel app is inconveniently installed on the Android device you're using, you can let your customers open and edit files in the Excel app on other devices, such as laptops or desktops.

Thank you for your patience in reading this content, we hope this information has been helpful to you. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact us again, we are always at your service.

Best regards,

Ian - MSFT | Microsoft Community Support Specialist

Answer 3

The only possible extra feature I have in my workbook is 670 hyperlinks. If that's a limitation, why doesn't OneDrive tell the user why it's telling them to install the Excel app? But worst, why can't it tell them just once? Why does it have to be repeated. Just like with VBA code ,wny can't the user view the workbook even though they can't use the extra features. I'll try removing all the hyperlinks, but, even if that works, it still sucks because my clients who do have Excel can't benefit from the links unless I publish two different copies of the same workbook, one with hyperlinks and one without.

Also, I didn't say they can't delete the message. I said they can delete it, but it comes right back. How annoying

Answer 4

>>but unfortunately this is due to the limitations of Excel on the browser side, which I hope you understand.<< I do understand. What I don't understand, and what is NOT a limitation, is why Microsoft OneDrive/Excel doesn't tell us why, and why it keeps repeating the message. I used to be dev lead on the Visual Studio team at Microsoft and worked a lot on the Office products because of the interop between the two products. In my time, we never would have let something like this happen. I hope developers are still following the Six Sigma practices like we did back in the early 2000s. Something like this would have been part of all regression testing and never missed as detailed in the developer FMEA document.

Answer 5

Dear Herrick,

Thank you very much for your detailed reply! I read your text carefully, and I think you have a very good point.

If the web side can normally display Excel documents, that even if you can not complete more advanced editing operations, should also enable users to browse the document normally. If the user only need to browse the document online rather than complete more advanced editing, repeatedly prompting the user to switch to mobile is really not necessary.

If this issue was occurring on a single user's Android device, then it could be related to browser caching, etc., but based on your description, this pop-up appears to be occurring on multiple customers. So it's safe to assume that this is by design.

This may be due to Microsoft preferring to encourage users to install & use the client side of Excel rather than the web side as it has more powerful features for a wider range of tasks.

I understand that you have been an important part of the Microsoft team and I feel honored to have the opportunity to discuss issues related to Microsoft products with you!

For this design shortcoming, I recommend that you submit your feedback to the development team through the official channels, as our development team collects user feedback and works to continuously improve the quality of our products.

Here is a link to submit your feedback: <Excel · Community (microsoft.com))>.

Thank you again for your feedback, it means a lot to Microsoft products!

Sincerely.

Ian - MSFT | Microsoft Community Support Specialist