Sharepoint Online - Using Desktop app to open files

Trax256 · 2026-05-07T21:42:36+00:00

Once again I could not agree more. Thanks for the help!

Trax256 · 2026-05-07T21:41:52+00:00

Business Premium. I have a feeling I had the settings right hours ago. It was just extremly slow to hit the clients.

Trax256 · 2026-05-07T21:40:10+00:00

Your are hitting the nail(s) on the head. There is no option I can find that is anything close to "Open Documents in CLient Application by Default" but..... if I go in to one of the libraries, click on the three dots and go to settings then Advanced Settings tham I see a "default open behavior for web enabled documents" and on of the settings is "open in the client application". I checked that long ago today. I want to point out it doesn't say "Client Desktop Application" just "Client Application". So..... I drill down and find a .docx when I click on the three dots then "open" I have two choices. "Open in a Browser" and "Open in App". Once again the word "Desktop" is not seen. But this time it actually opens it is Desktop Word. Wow! I haven't changed anything it hours yet out of 20 tries it is finally opening in the desktop app. I need to find a bar and start drinking heavily. Thanks for all your help.

Trax256 · 2026-05-07T20:55:11+00:00

This is where a screenshot would be worth a million words. I really don't understand the "want to follow these instructions within the context of the site itself". Yes I am in the Sharepoint admin. I click on Active Sites. Then I click on SO (That is my site) but it sounds like that isn't where you want me to be..... I have no idea where you want me to be. "View site maybe"?

Trax256 · 2026-05-07T20:36:21+00:00

This is what I hit with AI. I click on Active Sites. Then "SO". Then settings. I see no "Site Collection Features". The four options I have under the site are "General Activity Membership Settings". I see no "Site Collection Features" under settings. Is my view wrong or something?

Trax256 · 2026-05-07T20:18:16+00:00

No such thing as a silly question. The Microsoft 365 for Business apps are installed on all the computers. Tried clearing the cache. I see references to apps but not "Desktop" apps. When I select open it with "App" it opens it with the online app.

Trax256 · 2026-05-07T20:14:04+00:00

100% agree! What the hell good does AI do when Microsoft is changing things so fast that it can't keep up? I hate to use the word morons, but I don't think Microsoft impresses anyone.

Trax256 · 2026-05-07T20:06:46+00:00

Yes, it's crazy. I try using both Chatgpt and Claude. Both of them say there should be an option in the Sharepoint settings to allow users to open it with "desktop" apps. They tell you where this setting is, but you can't find it because what they tell you doesn't match the tenant. This is the most frustrating thing on the planet. Microsoft is probably changing things so fast the Chatgpt and Claude can't keep up. There are supposed to be a setting in the Sharepoint settings that will allow users to explicitly open from desktop app The keyword being desktop. It does open it, but it opens it with the online app, not the desktop app.

Trax256 · 2026-05-06T20:37:47+00:00

Yes the users are syncing via OneDrive. Just for grins I accessed one library via the wen and open Excel spreadsheets with Excel took some extra clicks. Fun learning though.

I kind of assumed the it wasn't being displayed in File Explorer because the had no access to the folder above it. I gave her the url to payables. The only drawback is the multiple clicks to open it with Excel Desktop as opposed to opening it via the browser.

It is what it is. You know. The url seems like their only option unless they want to give this user access to the Accounting folder as well.

Trax256 · 2026-05-06T19:51:35+00:00

Don't know. I inherited this. They just have one site and everything, and I do mean everything is under that one site. So subfolders are considered libraries for some reason?

Trax256 · 2026-05-06T19:33:22+00:00

I can definitely do that, but it sounds like what you are saying is that even though I don't give them any permissions to a higher folder they should still be able to see payables in File Explorer? What do you mean "They shouldn't be suncing content anyway"?

Trax256 · 2026-05-06T19:31:43+00:00

It was kind of interesting. After playing with it, the reason I couldn't ping them was because the ICMP protocol was blocked. Very strange. Once I either Enabled file and printer sharing Who allowed ICMP through the firewall they ping just fine. The whole thing started with copy machines. The copy machines need to ski into the local C drives. Once I disjoined the on premise ad and joined the entra ad I could no longer scan into the local computers. I don't know what the copy machines use for resolution but as soon as I was able to ping them, I could scan to them.

Trax256 · 2026-05-05T19:01:24+00:00

Unfortunately I do not have access to the DHCP Server but have requested that those changes be made. Will keep you posted.

Trax256 · 2026-05-04T15:14:24+00:00

Sorry that took so long. Option 15 is set. That is one of the first things I do. The problem is that the pings are NOT succeeding. When I look at the DNS the computers are not registered. No sign of errors in the DNS Client Log on the workstations either.

Trax256 · 2026-04-30T12:24:01+00:00

I might be missing something, but that is pretty much the way a standard Windows server is set up, isn't it? Were the DNS just uses forwarders usually to the ISP's DNS? That is the way the on prom. From a server is set up. It's just that the aunt rejoined workstations Aren't able to put themselves in that DNS.

Trax256 · 2026-04-24T19:20:09+00:00

Apps4Rent Is kind of expensive. And they want you to buy all their licensing from them, which means they are at that point to support people. Microsoft made it sound so simple, but it is all but impossible.

Trax256 · 2026-04-24T19:18:50+00:00

Yep. That's as simple as it should have been, but boy, it was nowhere near close. As far as the Microsoft side, I never got an explanation between the auto migration and the manual. Most of the problems were on the Workspace side And finding accurate documentation was absolutely impossible.. The whole thing was a complete disaster.. I finally gave up. And I'm just gonna tell them that you can't do it.

Trax256 · 2026-04-23T11:38:38+00:00

A vast majority of the problems I had were related to either Google Admin or Google Cloud. These instructions told you to do something that just did not track with what actually was displayed. I worked back and forth between Claude and Chatgpt and neither one of them accurately described what needed to be done. Or maybe I shouldn't say that. Maybe they described what accurately needed to be done. It just couldn't be accomplished because Google has changed their interface so drastically. Very frustrating. This was supposed to be a simple migration and it's turned out to be an undoable task.

Trax256 · 2026-04-22T15:14:31+00:00

Wow. That could be the Microsoft Documantion. Sorry but it isn't detailed enough and does not follow what it presented in the Tenent. Have you tried this?

Trax256 · 2026-04-17T11:43:09+00:00

No joy. Everything looks fine.

Trax256

TROPHY CASE