Make an option to open files in default desktop app

Question

Please make an option to open files in default desktop app.
No preview, no bulit in modules, no nothing.
Just please make an option to open files in default desktop app. Simple as that.
This rant is mostly about pdf files, but all files in general.
Please implement this most simple and user friendliest solution on the planet and let us choose.

Answer 1

Hello @Bartonicek, Richard

Thank you so much for taking the time to share your thoughts with us. First, I’d like to sincerely apologize if this experience has caused any frustration. Your feedback is important, and I truly appreciate the clarity and passion in your message. 

Regarding your request to open files directly in their default desktop applications, this is absolutely possible for Office files such as Word, Excel, and PowerPoint. You can change the default file-opening behavior to do exactly what you described. 

Here’s how to set Office files to open in their desktop apps: 

1. In the top-right corner of the Teams window, click the three dots (…) next to your profile picture. 
2. Select Settings from the dropdown menu. 
3. Navigate to the Files and links section. 
4. Under File open preference, choose Desktop app instead of Teams

Once you make this change, any Office file (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, etc.) you click on from that point forward will automatically launch in its respective desktop application, completely bypassing the internal Teams preview. 

For your reference: Open file links directly in Microsoft 365 desktop apps from Teams and classic Outlook

For PDF files, the situation is a bit different. You can set Adobe Acrobat as the default PDF viewer in Microsoft Teams, but this feature requires access to the Teams Admin Center. 
For your reference: Adobe Acrobat as a default PDF viewer in Teams - Microsoft Teams | Microsoft Learn 

Personally, I completely agree that it would be very useful to have a simple, consistent option to open all file types, especially PDFs directly in their desktop apps. It’s a feature that would greatly improve usability and workflow. 

Many users have expressed similar concerns on our PDF · Community, and we encourage you to share your experience there as well. Your feedback is incredibly valuable and helps guide future improvements to our products and services. 

To submit feedback: Click the … (More options) menu in Teams > Select Feedback > Choose Suggest a feature 

This is the best way to ensure your suggestion reaches the product team and is considered for future updates. 

Please understand that as a forum moderator, my role is to assist based on publicly available documentation, research, and community experience. I do not have access to backend systems or internal tools, and I cannot directly implement product changes. 

Thank you again for your passionate feedback. If you have any additional questions or ideas, I’m here to support you. 

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