Edit an Office file in Microsoft Teams

In this article

Edit a file directly in Teams

Additional tools

Edit an Office file in its desktop or web app

Edit a file directly in Teams

1. Select a file from any of these locations:
   • The files list when you select Files on the left side of Teams
   • The Files tab at the top of a chat or channel
   • The message where the file was attached
   
   By default, the file opens inside Teams with the standard Office tools available at the top of the screen.

2. Start editing.

Additional tools

Depending on the file type, you’ll see the some of the following buttons in the top right of the Teams screen.

• Editing    Here you can indicate whether you want to work with the file as an editor (the default) or reviewer, or simply view the file.
  
  

• Share   To share the file with others, select:

  • Share - Enter names of people you want to send your file to and select Send. You can also manage editing access by selecting People in your organization with the link can edit. 

  • Copy Link  - Generate a shareable link to send others and manage editing access by selecting People in your organization with the link can edit.

  • Manage Access - See the links to your file and who has access.
    
    To change who can open the file and whether they can edit or download it, select People in your organization with the link can edit and make your choices.

• Catch up    See the changes others have made since you last viewed the file..

• Comments  This will show you any comments made in the file.

• More options  Here you can choose to open the file in its web app or download and open it in your desktop app.

• Close  This will close the file and take you back to where you were in Teams when you first opened the file.

Edit an Office file in its desktop or web app

Before attempting to edit an Office file in its desktop app, make sure you've met these prerequisites:

• Be using the Teams desktop app for Windows or MacOS

• Must have an Office 365 E3 or E5 license

• Download the desktop apps for PowerPoint, Word, and Excel (Office version 16 or newer)

1. Right-click a file from any of these locations:
   • The files list when you select Files on the left side of Teams
   • The Files tab at the top of a chat or channel
   • The message where the file was attached

2. Select Open in and choose Desktop app or Open in browser.

If you’re using Teams on the web, you’ll be able to choose between Teams and Browser.

You can also manually choose where a file is opened without changing your default setting by going to the file and selecting More options   > Open.

Alternatively, go to Settings and more   at the top right of Teams, and select Files > File open preference. From the dropdown options, select the default app you want to open Office files in.