Microsoft Teams public preview now lets users choose where to open Office files

Earlier this month, Microsoft unveiled a new feature for Teams that should let users choose a default app to open shared Office files. The company has now announced that this update is now generally available for public preview users in the Windows 10 and macOS desktop apps.

Previously, Microsoft Teams on the desktop used to open Microsoft Office files via its built-in Office viewer, but this new feature now lets users set a default option for opening Word, Excel, and PowerPoint files shared in Teams chats or channels. “The Teams desktop and web apps for Windows and Mac now enable users to configure the default app used to open Word, Excel, and PowerPoint files that have been shared in Microsoft Teams. Users can configure Teams to open the file directly in Teams (default), open in the web browser, or open in the Word, Excel, or PowerPoint desktop apps,” the company explained.

To change the default setting, users will need to click their profile picture, then navigate to Settings >> General >> and find the Files section by scrolling to the bottom of the page. Finally, use the dropdown menu to choose between the “Teams,” “Desktop app,” and “Browser” options.

Alternatively, users can also manually choose the target app for viewing or editing a specific Office file without changing their default setting. To do this, navigate to the file, and select the More options menu ( … ). From there, click the “Open” option and then select any target app from the list. The menu also provides an option to change the default app used to open Office files.

This new feature should make it easier for users to open and edit documents, presentations, or spreadsheets, and it’s available for all public preview users running Office version 16 or higher. However, it only supports Office files for now, and the app will continue to use Office viewer to open PDF documents. Have you received this update on your PCs? Sound off in the comments down below.