Open files from the File menu

Open an Office file for Windows 

Open your ​​​​​​​Office app, select File > Open, select the Open icon, or press CTRL+O.

Recent files

The Recent list shows the files that you opened recently from any of your devices. If this list gets too long, you can remove files from it. Just right-click (or press and hold) the file name and then select Remove from list. You can also select Clear non-favorite items to remove all files that you haven't selected as favorites.

To make other changes to the Recent list, see Customize the list of recently used files. If you don't use the list of Recent files, and you'd rather jump straight into browsing folders, press Ctrl+F12 to access the Open dialog box directly.

Shared files 

Select Shared with Me to open files others have shared with you. 

OneDrive or SharePoint files

To access files from OneDrive or SharePoint libraries, select the location you want and browse to your file. 

Local files 

Select This PC to open local files, including removable drives.  

Files on the cloud 

To add a new cloud location select Add a Place.

Search for your file

To find a document on your computer but aren't sure where it is, select Browse. Select Browse to open the file browser and search for your file. In the Open dialog box appears, type a whole or partial file name, or text that may be in the file in the Search box at the top right and press enter. A list of matching documents will appear for you to choose from.

Open an Office file for Mac

Open your Office app, select File > Open, select the Open icon, or press ⌘+O).

Recent files

Select Recent to show files you recently opened from any of your devices. If this list gets too long, you can remove files from it.

Select the context menu () or press control + click on the file name to:

• Open

• Add to Favorites

• Share

• Copy Path to share a link to the file

• Show in Finder

• Remove from Recent

• Delete the file

Shared files 

Select Shared to open files others have shared with you.

OneDrive or SharePoint files

Select Open > and then the location where you'd like to access files from your OneDrive or SharePoint Online libraries by selecting the location. You can press control + click on a file and get options to Open, Repair, Share, Copy Path, Rename, or Delete files. 

Local files

Select Open > On My Mac to get to local files, including ones stored on the desktop, in favorite folders, on removable drives, or other cloud locations you have set up.