How do you open in app instead of browser Excel?

You can open files directly within Teams to have a single context in which you’re able to do your work. However, when dealing with complex files you may wish to change how files are opened to be able to utilize the full functionality of the desktop app instead.

Note: You must use the desktop version of Teams to enable this feature (doesn’t apply to web version). If you’re still not seeing it, make sure you have updated to the latest version of Teams.

If you don’t make any changes to your default settings in Teams, documents will open in Teams automatically. Here are the three Teams file experience options you have:

• Teams (default) – uses the Office web app, just like browser, but with Teams as a wrapper (see following screenshot)
• App (desktop or client application) – opens outside of Teams and browsers in the fully-featured application (Word, Excel, or PowerPoint)
• Browser – opens outside of Teams in the Office web app but in your internet browser

And, of course, you can always open a file in Teams then choose Open in Desktop App at the top, but that’s the long way around. We can choose where to open a file before we even open it.

In this post, I’ll cover how to open a file in a different context (Teams, desktop app, or browser) for one-time needs as well as changing your default setting to force all files to open in the desktop version if you wish.

How to open a file from Teams in the desktop/client app without changing default settings

If you right-click a file in Teams and hover over Open, you’ll see you can choose to open that one file using the default or your preferred experience (Teams, app/desktop, or browser). This is great for those one-off files that require the full desktop application.

So if you need to open a Word, Excel, or PowerPoint file outside Teams, using its full desktop app:

1. Right-click the file
2. Select Open
3. Select Open in app

Or if you already have the file opened in Teams, just click Open in Desktop App at the top.

How to change default file opening behavior of Teams to always open in desktop app

If you’d rather change the default setting for yourself so that a single left-click opens in the desktop app always, there are two places you can change your file opening preference – a file’s open menu or your Teams settings.

Note: Desktop/app will only be available as an option if you have Office version 16 or newer.

Always open Teams files in the desktop app | Method #1 (from a file)

To change your default file opening preference from an individual file’s menu, right-click the file, select Open, then select Change default.

Then choose Desktop app and Save. Now Teams will always open Word, PowerPoint, and Excel files in the appropriate desktop application.

Always open Teams files in the desktop app | Method #2 (in your Settings)

Alternatively, you don’t need to find a file first. Simply use the ellipsis (three dots) in the upper right corner of Teams and choose Settings.

Then select Files from the left and choose Desktop app from the dropdown menu. You change is saved automatically.

Always open Teams files in the Desktop app | Bonus method (prompt after opening one-time in desktop)

There is one more way to change this setting, but it’s less straightforward so I’m deeming it a “bonus method.” 🙂

If you do choose to right-click > Open > Open in app one time for a file, when you return to Teams it will prompt you to let it know if you were just opening in the desktop app this one time, or if you would like to go ahead and change your setting to always open Teams files in the desktop app.

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