How do I set OneDrive to Open in App by default?

Back to FAQs homepage | Back to File Storage / Microsoft 365 / OneDrive for Business category

---

When working with files in OneDrive you can open them with Office for the web or the native Office 365 applications. When using the OneDrive website, right click on an office document then choose Open to reveal the options.

You can select from the three following options:

• Open in browser (Default)
• Open in app
• Open in Immersive Reader

Please note that this is a personal setting on a per user basis, it will only affect your own experience. Please share this FAQ with anyone that would also like to change this setting.

---

Open Documents in Client Applications by Default

By default, clicking on the title of a document will open it in the browser using Office for the web. You can change this behaviour to ‘Open in app’ by following the steps outlined below:

1. From your OneDrive page, click Gear Icon > OneDrive settings

2. Click More Settings

3. Click on Site collection features

4. Click Activate next to Open Documents in Client Applications by Default

Please note: The above technique only works for documents opened from your OneDrive library, not sharing links. When you share or copy links to files – they will always open in the browser

Click on OneDrive in the top left corner to return to your My Files area.

---

How to disable ‘Open Documents in Client Applications by Default’

To disable this option and revert back to the default behaviour you will first need to navigate back to the Site collection settings by following the steps above. Once you have reached the settings, find ‘Open Documents in Client Applications by Default’ on the list and select the Deactivate button.

You will receive a warning when deactivating this feature, select ‘Deactivate this feature’ to continue.

---